"Doctor Sleep," Stephen King's sequel to "The Shining"

[Paladin]

Sounds very dark, but very worthwhile: the little boy in the big hotel, Danny Torrance, grown into a troubled, alcoholic adulthood. He's up against a vampire-like cult ("the True Knot&quot which subsists on the lives of children who "shine."

Looking forward to this one.

[Enthusiast]

1. "Looking forward to this one."

Me too.

[AngryOldDem]

2. I am, too.

I stopped by to see if anyone has read it yet. I'm looking forward to reading what people think.

I've read some stories and interviews with King, and this sounds like it could be one of his better works.

It's on my hold list at the library, so God only knows when I'll get to read it.

[exboyfil]

3. Worthy successor to The Shining

best supernatural horror from Stephen King in a long while. I personally think you have to go back to It (Misery is not supernatural) to find one as good. It is more streamline than many of his later works (clocking in at 544 pages) vs. the massive 1074 pages of Under the Dome which had a far less interesting story. It also has another feature rare for Stephen King books (I won't reveal it because it would be a spoiler).

Not as good as The Shining but I was not disappointed.

[grillo7]

9. Did you read 11/22/63?

I haven't read Doctor Sleep yet, but I thought 11/22/63 was the best thing he had written probably since It as well. Definitely since the accident. He must be on some sort of streak...you should check that out if you haven't yet. I plan on reading Doctor Sleep after I finish up my current books.

[exboyfil]

10. I did read it and enjoyed it

but

SPOILER ALERT



I thought it was a cop out to have a time change cause such disruptions to lead to massive earthquakes and other events that distort what the timeline would have been like with a two term JFK. I guess I would have liked King to explore that a bit more (he does talk about the civil legislation may never have happened with a powerless Johnson as VP).


It was also mostly an SF story. A pretty good time travel yarn. A sweet ending (he is getting better at that in his old age).

In retrospect I still think I enjoyed Doctor Sleep - it also is a less cruel Stephen King, but the primary protagonist did need more work. I would probably elect to reread The Shining ten years from now over Doctor Sleep though.

[gratefultobelib]

4. I read it.

It took me awhile to really get into it, mainly because I had to read the first half kind of piecemeal due to my schedule, and I thought it was somewhat confusing and ponderous. However, kept at it and the 2nd half really grabbed me and I was practically desperate to see how it would turn out! I've been mad at Stephen King since Cujo. Spoiler alert if you haven't read it--was it really necessary for the little boy to die in the end???

I'm sure Stephen King is really relieved to have me back in the fold!

[Paladin]

5. Thanks for the input.

I'm still patiently awaiting "Doctor Sleep" on the local library's reserved list; as you might imagine, there are a number of people ahead of me.....

[gratefultobelib]

6. I was just lucky.

My cousin buys his books from Amazon, and he loaned it to me. You're probably right about the wait at the library. It's a long book as you know.

[Paladin]

7. No sweat. There are plenty of other worthwhile books for the time being. (nt)

[closeupready]

8. Re: your spoiler, as with Pet Sematary,

way too grim to be enjoyable, IMO. I enjoyed The Shining, and some of his short stories, but not much else he's done.

[russspeakeasy]

12. Definitely worth the read.

[Rowdyboy]

13. Finally finished the book and pretty much agree with everyone upthread-its a worthy

successor to the Shining. maybe not as good but damn fine in its own right.

[raccoon]

14. About halfway through it now. Not King's best but good and readable. nt

[Paladin]

15. Got it, read it, thought it was terrific.

Now....I hope there's a decent movie made of it (as opposed to the inferior TV mini-series treatment that "The Dome" received). I know that Stephen King doesn't care for the movie version of "The Shining" that Stanley Kubrick did, but I'd like to see a director with comparable skills do a film treatment of this novel. It deserves it.

[Enthusiast]

16. I read Doctor Sleep recently.

But first I read The Shining since I had never read it.

I think the movie, The Shining, sort of colored the book for me in a negative way.

I liked Doctor Sleep much better than The Shining. But that could just be my particular perception.