I found The Shining to be dull. I also thought that even though it was to be a horror book full of suspense, I was not at all enertained by it until the end. The Shining was full of good potential. Had the book been more realistic, for example, Jack goes crazy in his mind from flashbacks that keep haunting him because he has nothing other to occupy himself with while at the Overlook. Jack then relates all of those hard memories to his wife Wendy and his son Danny and becomes enraged with anger. Jack then kills them both out of his own created insanity. I enjoy the more real point of view vs. "The underworld". Overall it was a good book, way better than Beloved. Bastard Out of Carolina is disturbing, but sends a real message about families. This book is the second best, next to The Bean Trees.