A Parent's Worst Nightmare: Book Review of Stephen King's Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you, again, to my parents, who bought me Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep to read while my family was in Covid isolation. It offered a good respite, and I appreciate it.

Most Americans know of The Shining, at least the Stanley Kubrick movie, even if they don’t know it was a book first. The famous scene of Jack Nicholson sticking his head through the door he just broke through with an ax and saying, “Here’s Johnny!” is enough to give any kid nightmares. The sequel, Doctor Sleep, is enough to give any parent nightmares.

Dan Torrence, no longer Danny, cannot stay in one place because he cannot hold a job. Between his alcoholism and his temper, Dan finds himself causing trouble in many different places, until he finally lands in Frazier, New Hampshire. There, he gets sober through Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), gets a job at a hospice facility, and sets roots. As those roots deepen, Dan begins to hear from Abra, a young girl who, like him, has the shining, or the ability to tap into other people’s minds, make contact with the dead, and have premonitions.

Abra’s powers go far beyond Dan’s, a scary amount, and her abilities bring her into opposition with the True Knot, a band of immortals who murder children who have the shining and feed off their essence. When Abra realizes the danger she is in, she reaches out to the only person she knows who might understand and believe her--Dan.

Doctor Sleep is slow, taking time to bring the reader through Dan’s alcoholism to sobriety, to show the beginning of Abra’s life through to her adolescence, and to introduce some of the members of the True Knot and their lives. King takes care to bring the audience into Dan’s life, learning his struggles with drinking and anger, how he tries to use his powers for good and prevent himself from being driven mad by them.

In Stephen King’s “Author’s Note” after the final chapter, he discusses how part of the idea for the sequel came about when he thought about how things might have turned out differently for Jack, the father in The Shining, if he had joined Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). AA plays powerfully through Dan’s life, not only changing his behavior and relationship to his shining, but also the friendships that will save him. King also uses AA sayings to punctuate the books of the novel. It reminded me of his candid discussion on his own alcohol and drug abuse which he discusses in On Writing, which is both a reflection on writing and a memoir. (I highly recommend reading it, especially for writers).

Would I teach this book? I can see teaching this book in a few different cases, for example in a class on monsters or writing sequels. It is definitely entertaining, and it creates real characters that hit the heart of the reader. There is plot, there is conflict, there is real danger. There is the supernatural, as King almost always does.

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