Doctor Sleep - The Wrap Up!

I missed last week's check in for the Doctor Sleep readalong hosted by Tif Talks Books and Cheap Thrills so I am going to skip ahead for the final discussion questions below.  


Warning! If you have not read The Shining or Doctor Sleep you will probably be spoiled!

Discussion #3 - Chapters 14-end

Before we started reading, we asked if you had any expectations for Doctor Sleep.  Did you get what you were hoping for out of the book?

I got SO MUCH MORE out of this book than I was expecting! The Shining was lackluster for me, and I saw this book as representing a greater possibility for Danny's character and story line.  I read very few synopses and tried to limit my expectations as much as possible so I wouldn't be let down.  Stephen King delivered this time - I was so enraptured by this story that I blew threw the book in 2 days and put everything (eating, sleeping) aside until I was done.  Even after I was done reading I stayed up for a few hours to read what others thought about the book too.

Having finished the book, do you think having read The Shining is important for enjoying this one?

I think reading The Shining is essential for understanding the interpersonal connections between characters.  However, the True Knot brought so much to the story that didn't directly involve the Overlook Hotel that anyone could pick up Doctor Sleep without feeling lost.  The prologue to the book also did a great job of recapping what happened in Danny's childhood to provide a good knowledge base for Doctor Sleep.

In one word, one phrase, one sentence ... describe Doctor Sleep.

Wow - it's difficult to pick just one. I think closure is a good one.  Danny, Abra, Abra's grandmother, the Overlook - everything wraps up at the end of the book.  Bad feelings are put to rest and people are able to move on with their lives without fear of their shining.

Anything else you feel like discussing about the end of the book?  Or, about the book as a whole?

Yes - the True Knot! Who are they, where did they come from, how did they start.. I need to know! The True Knot could be a separate novella with an explanation to their history.  The mystery surrounding the group enhances to story but the fan in me needs to know whats going on!

As for the True Knot's hunt for Abra using "the grid" (basically the Internet), I think Stephen King was trying to make commentary on how much of our lives are spent, conducted or stored online or in electronic records that are vulnerable to groups or people trying to harm us (like the True Knot).  When the True Knot was trying to find Abra and able to so easily determine her location it felt like the internet was the enemy, and it was unsettling.  If the True Knot were coming after us, who is to say we couldn't be found just as easily?

So tell me - what are your thoughts?? Did you love it, hate it, couldn't get enough of it?