The past always
comes back to haunt you. For most of us, this phrase merely expresses the
tendency of our actions to have consequences. For Daniel Torrance, however, the
haunting is very real. Since the events of Stephen King’s landmark novel The Shining, Danny has grown up. Still,
no matter how far he goes or how much time passes, the events of that novel
seem to follow. Scarred by the horrors of his past and his constant psychic
contact with the living and dead (the shining) around him, Dan has turned to
booze to dull his gift.
Following a
brief introduction that gives us Danny’s history, we discover him— now going by
Dan— at the place where all alcoholics finally find themselves . . .the bottom.
Hung-over and broke, Dan makes a decision that will plague him for decades.
After a visit
from his childhood imaginary friend Tony, Dan throws away his last bottle of
booze and eventually decides to settle in the small town of Frazier, New
Hampshire. Assisted by new friends, Dan joins A.A. and gets a job at the local
hospice. There, Dan comes to accept his talents and puts them to good use by shepherding
the dying across to the afterlife. Word of his late night visits to terminal
patients quickly spreads, and he gains the moniker Dr. Sleep.
As the Overlook’s
chef Dick Hallorann explained in The
Shinning, Dan isn’t the only one with these gifts. Many people possess a
spark, and a special few shine like the sun. A few towns over, Abra Stone comes
into the world with a light inside of her that makes Dan’s own powers seem like
a sputtering candle. This immense power causes her to make a connection with
the closest person with a significant amount of Shine, Dan Torrance. While the
two slowly foster a relationship based on their shared talents, Abra becomes
the subject of someone else’s attention.
The True Knot,
an evil group, have existed for centuries, roaming the country’s highways while
seeking nourishment and youth in the pain and destruction of those who possess
the Shining. When Abra witnesses the True consuming the essence of a young boy,
she is not the only one watching. The leader of the True Knot, Rose the Hat
notices the unwanted guest. Consumed by desire for the massive power contained
within Abra, Rose begins to obsess over the girl and plan her demise.
With nothing but
his abilities and a few friends, Dan must protect the young Abra from becoming
the prey of the True and try to rid the country and himself of the demons
hiding just below the surface.
Let me preface
everything I am about to say with this: I enjoyed this book, and thought it was
great. Still, I have a few qualms to raise about the book itself and the way it
was marketed.
The first and
largest problem I have with the book is that I didn’t find it scary. Dr. Sleep was marketed by King
and his publisher as, “…a return to balls-to-the-walls, keep-the-lights-on
horror…” that the author built his reputation upon. I didn’t find this to be
true. Certainly it has scary moments, especially in the beginning, but as I
moved to the middle and end of the book, I didn’t feel fear for the characters
or myself. At the beginning of the book, I got the sense that Dan is haunted.
He constantly sees apparitions that nearly drive him insane. This, combined
with the foreshadowing associated with Rose the Hat and her future role to play,
made me truly worried for Dan and his wellbeing. As the book moved forward and
the “ghostie people” became less common, I began to accept that Dan had things
under control. Dan’s control of his Shine was an important point of the novel, but I wish that Abra could have faced a
similar kind of struggle with her own Shining a bit more.
My next
complaint is one that I feel plagues many sequels. There was no buildup and
ultimate payoff. I felt as if Dan’s abilities were treated merely as a given
fact. One of my favorite parts of The
Shining was slowly discovering the extent of Danny’s powers and the descent
into chaos. I feel that as that story progressed, more and more supernatural
things occurred. For example, the Overlook slowly populated itself more and
more with spirits over the course of the novel. This buildup is what made The Shining so engrossing. This element combined
with a persistent doubt that I had that there were any actual supernatural occurrences.
In the original novel, the animal topiaries were never described as moving.
Rather, they were simply described as being closer every time you looked back,
becoming more and more imposing, closing in on Danny, and blocking him in the
playground. This made it all the more terrifying! The entire novel I questioned
whether it was ghosts or insanity that drove the story forward. In Dr. Sleep, there is no slow buildup or
reveal of supernatural elements, causing what could have been mystery and magic
to become predictable and ordinary.
These nitpicking
issues aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing is magnificent. The
pacing, dialogue, and imagery are all on the level that I’ve come to expect
from Stephen King. Further, the vast majority of the characters are genuine and
fascinating. The evolution of Dan from haunted drunk to recovering alcoholic
was extremely well done, and his coming to grips with his life and gifts were
expertly portrayed. This combined with his constant internal struggles made Dan
my favorite part of the book.
I also enjoyed the supporting characters.
Chief among these are the amazed Dr. John, the fatherly Billy and the witty
Concetta. I also thought that Rose the Hat was a great villain. King allowed
Rose to express a full spectrum of emotions that elevated her from thing-going-bump-in-the-night
to a well rounded, yet despicable monster. Accompanied by a crew of less
abominable yet useful attendants, Rose made the True Knot a truly abhorrent
band of villains.
Abra is an
interesting case for me. I loved that she was allowed to vary in her internal
fortitude throughout the book through a juxtaposition of emotion. She was kind,
yet cruel, old-at-heart and childish. These fluctuations in character made her
one of the most dynamic characters in the novel. I also appreciated how King
wrote her with a common sense of invulnerability that most teens and pre-teens
experience. Abra very rarely thinks that anyone else can harm her, and I felt
that this added a level of realism to her character. Despite this, I feel that
she accepted her own shining too easily. Certainly it would be familiar to her
as she grew up with it, but she very rarely questioned the origins of her
abilities or the fact that no one else seemed to be able to do what she does.
If this had been added, I feel as though Abra would have been a slightly deeper
character.
Overall, I found
that the plot and its many twists and turns made for a thrilling drama. Some
aspects of the ending are a tad overly sentimental, but the basic story is
solid. There are many exceptional moments of character discovery and internal
conflict. While I have expressed some complaints about Dr. Sleep, I still enjoyed reading it. It is a wonderful piece of
fiction, if not a masterpiece of terror. I think it portrays not only the
progression of time in the characters, but also provides a glimpse of how
Stephen King has evolved over the past 35 years. I miss the elements of the old
school King novels, but appreciate the growth this story shows and the legacy
it continues. I was surprised to realize that Dr. Sleep does a large amount of world building, which is extremely
important considering King’s large multiverse. This refers to characters from
other novels (Dr. Sleep and The Shining take place in the same world
as King’s son’s book NOS4A2).
Altogether, I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of King’s work,
or has read The Shining and wants to
continue with that story. I also think that anyone who read NOS4A2 should read both The Shining and Dr. Sleep, as they are related—The
Shining more so in tone and Dr. Sleep
in plot. While this is not the classic Stephen King novel I hoped for, it
serves as a reminder that King is one of the most celebrated and reliable
authors of our time.
Review by Brett Schneider
(2015, 14)
