
Doctor Sleep Book Detail
Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books; Reprint edition (June 10, 2014)
Language: English
Publisher: Gallery Books; Reprint edition (June 10, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451698852
ISBN-13: 978-1451698855
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.7 x 8.2 inches
What ever happened to Danny Torrance? For the 36 years since The
Shining was first published, the answer has been left to our
imaginations. Finally we catch up with Dan as his creator envisions him:
a flawed middle-aged man with a tragic past — his special gift,
“shining,” dulled with age and alcohol. He’s “Doctor Sleep” now, a
hospice worker who eases the end of patients’ lives. He also happens to
be the only one who can help a little girl with her own special gift.
This is not simply The Shining II. Not only does this story stand on its
own, it manages to magnify the supernatural quality that first drew us
to young Danny, expanding its mystery and its intensity in a way that
might even reach beyond this book into the rest of the King-iverse… and
beyond. (Easter egg alert: look for the nod to King’s son Joe Hill’s
recent book N0S4A2.)
Doctor Sleep Book Synopsis
Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his
most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel
about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The
Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a
tribe of murderous paranormals.
On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot
travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of
polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and
spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are
quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining”
produce when they are slowly tortured to death.
Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one
horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to
shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally,
he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him,
and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides
the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he
becomes “Doctor Sleep.”
Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular
gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons
and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an
epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill
the millions of devoted readers of The Shining and satisfy anyone new to
the territory of this icon in the King canon.
Doctor Sleep Book Review
The return-to-form King displayed with 11/22/63 and the novella
JOYLAND continues for the most part with King’s long-awaited
36-years-later sequel to 1977’s THE SHINING.
Picking up only a few years after the conclusion of events in THE
SHINING, the prologue features one of the most memorable apparitions
from The Overlook making a welcome return “haunting”. From there, the
novel jumps ahead a couple of decades, picking up with Danny at his
lowest point in his late twenties before coursing ahead several more
years. The pacing is a little disjointed at times and I was disappointed
that some of Dan’s arguably more compelling years (his teenage years) –
and characters such as Wendy and Dick Hallorann – are never really
explored to the extent or depth I had hoped they would be. A little more
detail and padding here would have been welcome. However, King has
often been criticized for his meandering, overlong style so many readers
may relish this slightly more concise style.
The constant references throughout to even minor events in THE
SHINING will have most readers inevitably comparing it to the earlier
book (throwbacks to “REDRUM” and many other references abound). While
DOCTOR SLEEP does work as a stand-alone novel, it works best as a
sequel. There are two main threads to this novel: the exploration and
expansion of the character of the now adult ‘Doc’, as he battles with
his demons (alcoholism, his past, and his shining ability); and the new
story and characters such as Abra, Chetta, Lucy, Doctor John, Dave, and
The True Knot. The new characters, especially Abra, are well drawn but
the villains come across as a little hammy and the overall plot pales in
comparison to Dan’s inner ruminations. Get online Doctor Sleep today.
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