The Shining: Describe The Setting Of The Novel

My novel is The Shining by Stephen King. The setting of this book is a hotel in the 1980's. The family is living there for the winter because the dad is the caretaker. It is called The Overlook because the hotel is in the mountains and overlooks the scenery in the mountains. An example from the book describing the scenery seen from the road near the hotel is, "They were standing near the top of one peak. Across from them- who knew how far?- an even taller mountain reared into the ski, its jagged tip only a silhouette that was now nimbused by the sun, which was beginning its decline. The whole valley floor was spread out below them..."(King 63) This is a description of the view from a stop in the road below the hotel. The scenery is the main reason the hotel is so popular despite it's  history of crime and death there.

Another important aspect of the setting is how they are isolated The closest thing to the hotel is a small town awhile away and is down a steep mountain. The next major city is even farther. This shows how if there is any trouble at the hotel it might take awhile to get help. This causes the parents to be very overprotective of Danny. It also means that the only thing that the kid, Danny, can do is explore in and around the hotel.

Another thing about the setting is the climate. Part of the build up for the climax is that there will be tons of snow in the winter. This will make it hard for them to leave the hotel, let alone get down the mountain to the nearest town. It also means the phone lines and such are down, meaning they can't call anyone for help. Even if they can call for help, people won't be able to get up to the mountain to them. This all adds up to show that because of the setting of this novel they are isolated from other people and unable to leave the hotel.

Overall the setting of this book and it's attributes are very important to the plot and help cause conflict later on in the book. 

Such Good Girls: Text to Society

Text to Society Blog

A central idea from my book Such Good Girls by R. D. Rosen is the idea of loss. In my book one of the main characters, Sophie, and her mom have to get new identities, move to a different country, and pretend to be of a different religion so that they don't get caught by the Germans and taken to concentration camps or killed. In this period of moving, Sophie loses many things. Shortly before they are planning to leave, the building Sophie's dad was in got raided by Nazi's and he wasn't seen again. Soon after that she and her mother move and she loses the comfort of home and familiarity. She even loses her identity since she has to act christian and be called a different name to make sure the Germans didn't suspect her and her mom as runaway Jews. Then, at the end of the war when her mother could tell her about how she used to be Jewish even though she didn't remember it much she suffered another loss of identity, after thinking she and her mother were Christian for 15 years.

Sophie around age 2 and her mom

An outside article I found that also talks about loss is http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-07/features/ct-talk-brotman-holocaust-20131007_1_aaron-elster-former-children-holocaust. This article talks about other hidden Holocaust survivors. It talks about how some people say it was better to be hidden than to have gone to a concentration camp and the hidden survivors didn't lose as much. However, this article talks about how some of the children had to leave their families and friends behind to die or had to come back to their families being gone and house raided by Nazi's and they are the only ones left. It also talks about how even though they're older they still remember the loss they had to deal with and how it still affects them.

One of the hidden Holocaust survivors

Explain Why You Chose The Book You Did

I chose the book The Gunslinger by Stephen King. One of the main reasons I chose to read this book is because I have read a couple other books of Stephen King and like his writing style. Two other books I've read by him are, Thinner and Insomnia. I feel like the way he writes helps keep the plot interesting throughout the whole book. However, it also doesn't move too fast so you don't get confused about what's happening. I also like the way he tends to end many of his books.

I also liek reading fantasy fiction. I have read the book Hyperion which I've heard is like the Dark Tower Series. Since I really enjoyed Hyperion I thought I would also enjoy The Gunslinger. Hyperion was about a group of people traveling to the Time Tombs. The Dark Tower series is like this, however in the Gunslinger it's a single person and he is traveling to the Dark Tower.

Another reason I chose this book is my mom, dad, and older brother have all recommended it to me. My brother says the series that this book is part of (The Dark Tower Series) is Stephen King's best work. I liked reading some other books he has recommended to me so I decided to read this one too.