"To Die, To Sleep" - A Brief Review

Last night, I finished reading Stephen King's Doctor Sleep, which was released a few months ago. Now, before I get into the whole review thing, let me supply a little back-story. My father has been a huge Stephen King fan for decades. Our bookshelves contain upwards of thirty of his novels and short story collections. When I hit the tender age of 13, my dad handed me 'Salem's Lot and told me to get cracking. This trend has continued with my brother (The Stand) and my sister (The Shining). Since then, I have read around twenty of King's books, some of which I will surely write about at some point.

The three "S" books listed above are my father's favorite of King's books--in addition to The Dark Tower series--with The Shining topping the list. My dad's profession lands him in a lot of hotels, and that was where he read the most chilling haunted hotel story ever written.

It stuck with him.

Imagine his excitement, though, when it was announced that King, a man known for stand-alone novels in a connected universe, would be releasing a sequel to The Shining. My dad was beside himself.

I had to wait a few months before I finally got my hands on the book, and when that happened, it only took me a few days to read its 531 pages.

Such an elegant and simple cover.

The plot follows Danny "Doc" Torrance, all grown up after his horror-filled winter in the Overlook Hotel. Struggling with various demons, including his past and alcoholism, Dan finds solace working in hospices, where he uses his "shining" to aid dying patients. Elsewhere in the country, a group of inconspicuous and seemingly harmless people travel the back-roads of America in their RVs and campers. Their name? The True Knot. Their mission? Kidnapping and torturing young children--who possess the shining. When Dan moves to a small town in New Hampshire, he becomes aware of a young girl named Abra who possesses the most powerful shining that he--or the True Knot--has ever sensed. Soon enough, a chain of events sets in motion one of Stephen King's most personal and emotional battles between good and evil yet.

(I'll try to avoid revealing specific spoilers, but from here on out, expect thematic spoilers at the very least)

This is the 22nd book I have read that was written by Stephen King, which has granted me a solid survey of his style. I generally lump his books into two rough categories: super-grotesque and not-so-grotesque. The first category includes such classics as It, The Stand, and of course, The Shining. The second (and smaller) category encircles books like The Green Mile and Hearts in Atlantis. 

Doctor Sleep falls into the second group.

I have several reasons for this, and they're pretty simple. First, the book did not contain nearly the amount of physical/body horror (aka blood&guts) for which King is famous. In addition, the amount of cursing was toned down, and there was nothing explicitly sexual.

Rather than focusing heavily on the misdeeds of the villains, King instead chose to build his two main characters and their relationships. Dan and Abra are flawed and supernaturally talented, but oh-so-very human. Their "normal" friends and family members behave rationally and admirably, given the strange circumstances that befall their lives. Their choices, both those based in understanding and in stubbornness, are reasonable to the reader. There are no caricatures--just people. Even the "bad guys" have sympathetic traits, and their lost humanity sometimes shines through. In one memorable scene, two of them, upon facing their deaths, embrace each other and die with the words "I love you" upon their lips.

The book contained many touching scenes, two of which affected me strongly. The first was closer to the beginning of the book, soon after Abra was born, during the night of September 10, 2001. I won't ruin what happens, but suffice to say that there's something surreal in reading about the events of the following day in a piece of fiction. The second scene I will also try not to ruin, and it comes near the end of the novel. During the final showdown between Team Dan/Abra and the True Knot, our heroes receive aid from an unexpected and highly appropriate source. Let's just say that my roommate walked in on me crying as I sat in bed finishing the book. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but you'll know the bit when you see it.

As much as I could wax on about the merits of Doctor Sleep, I would like to discuss a few of its weaknesses. The book could have been twice as long, and just as interesting. As it is, King holds back on information about the True Knot in favor of developing the protagonists. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this; it would have been nice to know more about them. They have done horrible things - so, what horrible things? Where do their nicknames come from? King introduces at least a dozen of these people, but gives us so little information about them that it is difficult to even leave things up to the imagination. Another bit that confused me was the sudden shift in tone and genre at the beginning of the story. Within the first few pages, it seemed as though a horror story was developing...but that disappeared in favor of the "personal journey"-type plot.

As much as Dan is a wonderful character--how can you not root for Doc?--his story-line is too predictable for my taste. After he reaches the lowest of low points from his alcoholism, he starts on the upward track, and just keeps going. There is never any strong danger implied of him returning to the bottle. In fact, the danger factor of the book is very low. The protagonists, especially Abra, are so powerful that the "bad guys" never really have a chance to succeed. One of the things that makes so many of King's books succeed is the sense of suspense that he creates, which is lacking in Doctor Sleep.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, and my sentimental heart loves the continued adventures of Danny Torrance. I just wish that the adventures had been a little more rocky.

(For the record, my father, Stephen King fan extraordinaire, very much liked the book, saying: "It's a great book, even if it's not one of his best. It's still, at the heart of it, a battle between good and evil. Just differently than you might expect.")