The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Fosse, Jon. A Shining. Transit Books, 2023.

Jon Fosse's novel A Shining is written from the first-person point of view of the unnamed protagonist. Since the novel is a stream-of-consciousness narrative, it toggles between the past and present tenses throughout. The narrator's unrelenting internal monologue also inspires the narrative's unconventional structure and form. For the sake of clarity, the following summary relies upon the present tense and a linear mode of explanation.

One night, the narrator feels bored at home. In an attempt to alleviate his boredom, he gets into his car and takes a drive. He has no plan, no direction, and no destination in mind. While traveling down the main road, he takes random turns whenever the road forks. Eventually he finds himself driving down a narrow, forest road with no perceivable outlet. Finally, the car gets stuck in the road's deepening ruts. The narrator tries to accelerate and reverse, but the car will not move.

The narrator turns off the car and stares out the windshield. It starts to snow and he watches the flakes gather on the car. He tries to remember if he saw any houses on his way down the road. He thinks he might have seen an abandoned farm or cabin, but he cannot be sure. He starts to feel hungry and cold. He turns the car back on and turns on the heat. He realizes that he has not made himself a proper dinner in some time. Living alone always makes cooking feel insurmountable.

The narrator tries to reverse and accelerate again, but the car still will not budge. He turns the car off and decides that he should go in search of help. He notices a path going into the forest, and decides that if he walks down the path, he might find someone to help him dig or pull out the car.

The snow continues to fall as the narrator ventures into the forest. He notices his footprints in the snow. Then he sees a large rock up ahead. He is feeling tired, and decides to rest on the rock. The rock makes him feel colder. He realizes what a bad decision he has made. He should never have come into the forest. He could go back to the car, but the snow has now covered his tracks. The sky is dark and moonless.

The narrator sees a presence in the distance. As the presence draws near, the narrator is flooded with light and warmth. He tries to engage the presence, asking who they are and why they are with him. The presence responds with a loving voice, but reveals little.

When the presence disappears, the narrator is unable to discern what he just experienced. He could have been hallucinating, or the presence might have been a vision.

It stops snowing. The narrator looks up to see the stars and moon. He is thankful for the light, but still cannot decide what to do or how to get out of the woods. Then he sees an elderly couple walking up ahead. He engages them like strangers, unaware that they are in fact his parents. His parents try to get him to come out of the woods, repeatedly telling him that they are worried about him and want to help him. The narrator still feels unsure what to do. He returns to the rock and sits down again. He knows that he can do whatever he wants, but feels too tired to do anything at all. He tries to rest without falling asleep.

The narrator sees a man in a suit up ahead. The man does not have a voice or a face. He approaches the narrator's parents. The presence's light floods the forest. The narrator decides to join his parents and the man and go into the light. As they venture out of the forest and into the white void, the narrator feels buoyant. He can breathe for the first time, and things seem to have meaning again.