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Maybe it's just age, or combination of age and reading experience, but I don't find horrifying books as horrifying as I used to 30 years ago. Or maybe, it's because I read the book The Shining when I spent winter break in my dorm unlike Michigan which was an old hotel bought by the University and converted to dorms, and it was basically empty… I don't know, but somehow this book, although it should've been wasn't as terrifying as the original! I loved the characters of Dan and Abra (sp? -Since I only listened, I couldn't see how the name was actually spelled…), and "The True Nut" (again, I can only go from what I heard in terms of spelling) were truly evil and distasteful! And once the reader realize what "cycling" was, the importance became quite clear.
Even though it didn't terrify me as I think it was supposed to do, it was a great book! My son's mother-in-law, Annie Iverson, recommended that, and I'm glad I read it. It does leave kind of tingling and questioning feelings. I haven't read a lot of Stephen King, but this was good.

I really enjoyed this, and like the author, I think it was really interesting to get re-acquainted with Danny Torrence (Who now goes by Dan) and find out what he's been up to all these years. Not surprisingly, he's a womanising alcoholic, just like his father, and his father before him. He also still shines.

I disagree with people who say it's not as good, or not as scary, as [b:The Shining|11588|The Shining (The Shining, #1)|Stephen King|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1353277730s/11588.jpg|849585]. I think it's on a par. Not that I found The Shining all that scary (it made me feel uneasy and "creeped out" at times, but I didn't lose any sleep). Not nearly as much as [b:It|18342|It|Stephen King|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1309376909s/18342.jpg|150259], anyway. But I digress.

I think the fear in Doctor Sleep is a different kind of fear. Firstly, the fear hits you from the very beginning, which is very unlike those of King's other books that I've read, where it builds up slowly. Secondly, it's far more of a "thrilling" type of fear than a "horrific" one; you're more biting your nails because you're worried about what's going to happen next, than you are covering your eyes because you can't bear (and yet you can't bear NOT to) to look at the grotesqueness of what's happening.

People have also been saying that you don't have to have read The Shining to appreciate Doctor Sleep. Well, I DID read The Shining (obviously), and I think you'll probably pick up the story if you hadn't, but there are LOADS of references and in-jokes that are just so satisfying that I strongly recommend you read the prequel.

Doctor Sleep deals with childhood trauma and nature vs nurture a lot. It's about breaking the chains that bind us to the past. It also (like a lot of King's books) touches on the question of life after death. I highly recommend it, and will leave you with a quote from the book that I found particularly powerful:

"Death is just as much of a miracle as birth"

L’histoire reprend quelques mois après la fin de Shining, Danny est encore un enfant, et tente de retrouver une vie normale malgré son don et la tragédie de l’Overlook. Le temps passe, Danny devient Dan, arrivé à l’âge adulte, alcoolique, à moitié SDF, il parcourt les États-Unis au gré de son humeur et des possibilités d’emploi. Pour mieux fuir son don et ses visions cauchemardesques, Dan s’est réfugié dans l’alcool, rompant sa promesse de ne pas reproduire les erreurs de son père. Au bout de plusieurs années d’errances et de précarité, il finit par trouver sa « voie » et devient aide-soignant dans un hospice, et accompagne les mourants dans leur dernier voyage. Mais ne nous y trompons pas, cet aspect-là n’est pas le principal du roman, car sa rencontre avec Abra va prendre le dessus et le contraindre à mener une mission autrement plus importante. Le Nœud Vrai, une étrange équipée de nomades en camping cars sillonnant le pays, menée par une troublante femme à chapeau, va convoiter le don exceptionnel d’Abra.

L’évolution de l’intrigue nous laisse le temps de découvrir Danny adulte, de voir comment il a survécu à l’Hôtel Overlook, et nous sommes bien obligés de constater qu’il n’a pas grand-chose d’un héros. Je pense qu’il est indispensable de lire Shining avant Docteur Sleep, pour mieux comprendre son personnage ainsi que ses faiblesses. On trouve de nombreuses allusions et des rappels à son passé et au drame de l’hôtel, mais je ne pense pas que tout m’aurait paru aussi clair sans avoir lu Shining auparavant. Là encore, l’alcoolisme et ses conséquences sont le thème central du roman. Mais contrairement à son père, Dan connaîtra une abstinence moins précaire, à l’issue plus bénéfique. Dan fait tout pour ne pas replonger, et le but qui lui sera imposé par sa rencontre avec Abra le mettra au pied du mur, l’obligeant à accepter et à exploiter pleinement ses dons. Les personnages secondaires sont tous parfaitement dépeints, King prend le temps de les construire, il leur donne de l’importance et ne font pas office de figurants. Si le père de Dan s’est retrouvé relativement seul face à son alcoolisme et l’Hôtel Overlook, Dan est quant à lui bien entouré pour faire face à l’avidité et à la convoitise du Nœud Vrai. Cette folle bande de vampires d’un genre nouveau est d’ailleurs elle aussi très bien campée. Si bien qu’elle aurait mérité un roman dédié à son histoire, car King laisse tout de même planer le mystère sur les origines et l’histoire du Nœud Vrai.

Docteur Sleep est une superbe suite au non moins superbe Shining. On y retrouve des personnages denses au passé compliqué et hors norme, et un rythme qui permet aussi bien l’action que la réflexion. Un très bon cru que celui-ci.

Okay, this wasn't nearly as scary as I was thinking it was going to be. Mostly I was stressed out about the impending bad things that I knew were just around the corner. Is anticipation the main ingredient of a horror novel, the little bit that makes one book more scary than another? Who knows. It did take Mr. King an awfully long time to get to the point, though. There was a lot of exposition for a book that was a sequel. Yes, I know there was a large gap between "The Shining" and "Doctor Sleep" and we needed to get that in between stuff to make sense of who Dan Torrance is now, but sheesh, it took a while. Don't get me wrong, I was never bored. Stephen King is another of those writers who always makes me wonder how an author can be a good storyteller but not necessarily a good writer. Fascinating conversation starter, that. Overall, a damn good tale.