well....i very much enjoyed "the shining". it's a well written novel for sure. i really liked danny's character development throughout the book. interesting to compare it to the movie.....as was said in class, the book was far better than the flick! all of the characters were much more alive--even the hotel was more "alive" in the novel. as it should be, no? i thought the psychological aspect of jack's "breakdown" and danny's "breakthrough" was brilliantly written by mr. king. of all of his novels, i'm starting to think that "the shining" could be my new favorite. :-)

with respect to the new novel we're reading, i'm already falling for it! i love southern based novels and am already enjoying the dialect, the scenes, the scents, and the memories this book is conjouring up for me. (i have a lot of family down south.) great characters so far--all of the extended family and accompanying drama/trauma has been great! mama's obsession with bone's "bastard" title--her love and loss of lyle--granny and aunt alma's stories about bone's daddy---excellent stuff. i truly didn't expect what happened to bone while her mama was in labor with glen's child. i was absolutely horrified!! i know it's just a book, but i was moved. and isn't that what it's all about? being touched/moved/shaken by a book? getting excited about reading a well-written work of fiction is so rare...i embrace it when it happens.

thankfully we've read a whole list of books that i like and love. it's been a challenge to reread these books (like my fave, "the bean trees") and assess/critique them. a whole new light really...being shed on them. i like it. it's difficult--sometimes i would like to just "enjoy" the book without having to analyze and digest it so thoroughly. but, again, isn't that what this is all about? to challenge and teach us how to better critically approach fiction??!?!?!? looking forward a nice warm weekend with my new novel and not much else on my plate. aaahhh....don't you just love spring?