Sleep Along: Kick Off

Posted by Charleen on September 30, 2013
Posted in: Announcements, Readalong. Tagged: , , , , .

All Sleep Along posts may contain spoilers for The Shining.

Sleep Along, September 30 - October 21

Today, Tif (Tif Talks Books) and I are kicking off our read-along of Stephen King’s latest release, Doctor Sleep. Our discussion schedule is as follows:

  • Monday, October 7: Chapters 1-6
  • Monday, October 14: Chapters 7-13
  • Monday, October 21: Chapters 14-end

You’ll notice I call this a “discussion schedule” rather than a “reading schedule.” With a book as highly-anticipated as this one, we expect people will want to read at their own pace. Just be careful to avoid spoilers – I plan on making notes to myself when I hit the check-in points – or make sure they’re clearly marked. We don’t want to ruin the story before other readers get there!

Again, we have a few introductory questions:

Have you read The Shining? Was it recently or ages ago? Or is your knowledge of The Shining from the movie and mainstream pop culture?

I’ve now read The Shining twice, most recently as part of our read-along that ended last week.

In a few sentences, describe your feelings on The Shining. Did you like it? What thoughts or images stand out for you?

Overall I really enjoy it. For me the strongest part of the story is the characterization, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what Dan is like as an adult.

What do you expect from Doctor Sleep?

I’m hoping to find out what happened to the survivors of The Overlook – Dan, obviously, but also Wendy and Dick Hallorann. I’m also curious how the rest of Danny’s childhood went… not only did he live through a horrific experience, but he lost his father (whom he was extremely close with), not to mention he still has the shining to learn to deal with. Even though the book is primarily about Dan as an adult, I hope we find out how those events affected him as he was growing up.

(But I also know Doctor Sleep has its own story; it’s not just The Shining, Part II… so I don’t know how much of that we’ll actually get. However King balances it all, I’m hearing tons of good things about it so far.)

If you’re interested in joining us, answer the questions on your own blog (please keep them spoiler-free), and then head over to Tif’s to link up. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to leave your answers in the comments on either of our blogs. And if you’re on Twitter, don’t forget to use the hashtag #sleepalong to share your thoughts and connect with other readers along the way.

I’m looking forward to another great read-along!

9 comments on “Sleep Along: Kick Off”

  1. I read The Shining for the first time just a few months ago. It TERRIFIED me. No exaggeration. I even tried putting it in the freezer.

    (Post about my reaction to The Shining: http://btweenthecovers.com/2013/02/08/dearest-joey-putting-it-in-the-freezer-didnt-make-me-feel-safer/ )

    I really liked The Shining, despite the way it made me feel. I hadn’t been upset by a book like that in YEARS. In fact, maybe not ever.

    Then I watched the movie…and it SUCKED.

    I’ve gone into Doctor Sleep with no expectations. The Overlook has burned down, so Danny’s story has to be something completely different. I’m actually on Part Two of the book, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it so far…and it’s freaking me out a bit. Heh.

    • Heather, I’m curious … what was so upsetting to you in The Shining? I know that there were multiples pieces that were definitely upsetting, but I am always curious as to what affects people the most! I think it is the morbid side of me coming out!

      • I listed them in the post I linked above, but I’ll be happy to list them here, too. Heh.

        I have a hard time with alcoholism and domestic violence; Danny’s nightmares; the tight space Danny had to dig himself out of on the playground + the moving topiary; REDRUM (because I was slow enough not to catch what that meant until I was well into the book); the dead lady in the bathtub; the feeling of staring at something like a fire hose and wondering if it’s going to move on it’s own; the general tension in the book; and EVERYTHING that happened in the last hundred pages. Hahaha!

        • I really should have read your post before I commented! I just left a comment on your site with more detail! Thanks for answering here though, despite me doing a bit of head-desk! :)

  3. I raced through the audiobook of Doctor Sleep so fast and was so busy at work I completely forgot I had signed up to do this readalong! I forgot to tweet and everything. I plan to do a combined #1 and #2 post on Monday!

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