The Shining

"One reason that the Overlook has lost so much money lies in the depreciation that occurs each winter. It shortens the profit margin a great deal more than you might believe, Mr Torrance. The winters are fantastically cruel." (pg. 7)

As a fan of the Kubrick movie, I was surprisingly disappointed by the source novel. I know Stephen King disapproved of the film adaptation, but I also think the book would have faded into obscurity (well, relative obscurity – this is bestseller Stephen King, after all) if not for the class given to it by Kubrick. The movie is responsible for many of the iconic lines, scenes and shots that have cemented The Shining's place in pop culture, all of which are not found in the novel. King does have some show more legitimate grievance regarding the movie's characterization and the removal of the father/son theme which was so personal to him, but the film's addition of the writer's-block theme also suits the story well – the 'all work and no play' typewriter reveal (absent in the novel) is genius. 'Book vs. movie' is a never-ending debate regardless of the book, and the debate is never so fruitful as it is with The Shining. At the very least, there are enough substantive differences between the novel and the film to avert any sense of redundancy from experiencing the story of Jack and Danny Torrance in a second medium.

This made it more rewarding to read, but I have to say I was otherwise underwhelmed by King's book. It did not scare or unnerve me (and I do not have an especially high tolerance in that regard) and, for all the reviewers' talk about it providing more background to the story than the film, we are still left with very little when it comes to the nature of the supernatural haunting, or its motivations. Elsewhere, my usual misgivings about King as a writer bubble up, not least the needless length and the gamey prose in sore need of an editor's red pen. The characterization is better than the film, but in my opinion that is the only point I can score for King in the 'book vs. movie' debate with any conviction. The cruel winter at the Overlook Hotel is a great concept though, and I suppose we should be grateful that we had two stellar creators, King and Kubrick, each provide their idiosyncratic take on it. show less

The Overlook Hotel is a special place – a playground for the fabulously wealthy with a lively past, its location in the Colorado mountains makes it impossible to visit in the winter, thereby requiring a caretaker to maintain the property, monitor the heating system, and prevent the winter months from destroying this beautiful castle in the sky. Jack Torrance and his family are this year’s caretakers. Without any forthcoming job opportunities and still working through his sobriety, Jack sees this as a chance to improve his struggling relationship with his wife and spend even more quality time with his adored son, Danny. However, in the Overlook Hotel, things are not what they seem, and Jack’s plans are quickly hijacked for show more something more sinister. Stephen King’s The Shining is the quintessential haunted house tale, and while the story itself may be familiar, Mr. King adds his own twists to make it uniquely his own.

One has to admire the Torrances. It takes a special soul to even attempt to spend an entire winter snowed into an empty hotel. Even though Wendy and Danny are not overly excited about the prospect, they still recognize the importance of Jack’s caretaker role for their family’s future. Perhaps the Overlook Hotel has infused the collective consciousness with the potential dangers of abandoned hotels, but the idea of spending even one night in one, let alone eight months, is akin to going outside when there is a serial killer on the loose. The fact that they not only consider the role but move forward with it is a testament to their love for each other and their willingness to work through their problems, making what occurs that much more tragic.

The book version of Jack Torrance is nothing like those iconic images of Jack Nicholson breaking through the door. Those who have grown up seeing those posters and watching those snippets of the Stanley Kubrick movie will be quite surprised at how likable Jack is. He has his faults – namely a horrible temper and a drinking problem – but he adores his son, loves his wife, and would do anything to avoid hurting them. In the beginning, he is fun, nurturing, and incredibly sweet in his interactions with Danny. His past behaviors are behind him now that he is sober, and the future really does look bright. The subsequent descent into madness that follows after a few months in an evil hotel is all the more upsetting. He is as much a victim as Danny and Wendy, if not more so because his future is lost.

The Shining is not just a novel about an evil hotel, but it is almost a parable about the sins of the father visiting the son. Jack’s past, told in flashbacks and dream sequences brought on by the hotel’s possession, unveils a highly abusive and alcoholic father. While Jack does not intend to mirror his father’s behavior and has taken steps to avoid doing so, the hotel has other plans. Similarly, Wendy’s relationship with her mother is just as fractured, and many of her actions are in direct response to her mother’s imagined reaction to her family situation. Had Jack’s father been less abusive, would Jack have ended up at the Overlook Hotel? Had Wendy’s mother been more supportive and less full of indignant blame, would Wendy have chosen to leave Jack before they ever got to the hotel? This raises the question of whether one can ever truly avoid passing along the lessons learned from parents, no matter how traumatic they were.

Campbell Scott is an adequate narrator right up until Jack starts feeling the effects of his isolation at the Overlook. Before then, he is quiet with a sing-song quality to his narration that makes it easy for a listener to zone out the story altogether. His performance of the different characters, from five-year-old Danny to the much older and culturally diverse Dick Hallorann, is subtle but distinct, and while he does not move into a falsetto to portray Wendy, the higher pitch he does use is simultaneously pleasant and appropriate. However, when the tension becomes intense, and the drama is at its highest peak, Mr. Scott comes into his element. His vocalization of evil and anger is downright disturbing, made even more so by his mildness in prior, happier scenes. This anger and malevolence that Mr. Scott articulates make the story even more horrific and intense, as it is all too easy for a listener to envision that anger directed to her. Mr. King’s novels are known for their excellent audiobook narrators, and while it may not seem that way in the beginning, Mr. Scott is another one that fits the bill. He captures perfectly the atmosphere of the story, and his performance is so realistic that it might be some time before one is willing to listen to another novel narrated by him.

The Shining is an intensely creepy novel that succeeds in both charming and scaring readers with its gradual build towards its exciting and horrifying climax. Jack Torrance is surprisingly sympathetic, as his love for his wife and especially for his son is the motivating factor for taking the job and staying on the wagon. Danny’s struggle to understand things beyond his years is heartbreaking, while his innocence stands out as a direct counterpoint to the insidious evil permeating the hotel. The menacing feel of the novel makes even the most benign of scenes unnerving. It is a novel that is unsettling from the very first page, and one that makes those dark, stormy nights that much darker and eerier. It is further proof of why Mr. King is the King of Horror. show less

Well, it was pretty scary...enough to make me nervous after reading it into the night. But - and maybe this is King's genius, or maybe this is just because I'm reading it, for the first time, as a 41-year-old -- I feel so overwhelmingly sad and terrified for poor little Danny Torrance, who has the awful gift of Shining. Worse than the haints of the haunted hotel (and there are plenty), the true horror of the book lies in Danny's alone-ness. Sure, other people Shine a bit, but Danny (unwillingly) Shines with unbelievable power and strength, and for that, he suffers.

I read this in preparation for King's sequel this fall, Doctor Sleep. If I wanted to know Danny Torrance as a grown-up, I needed to know him as a five-year-old.

Talking about Stanley Kubrick's film version of The Shining seems to be ineluctable when reviewing the original book. So, just to be awkward, I won't.

The story is fairly well known: a recovering alcoholic, newly fired from his teaching position for beating seven shades of mauve out of a student, his wife, and their son move into a creepy old hotel in the Rockies to act as caretakers over the harsh Winter. The son has (and, it's hinted a few times, to a lesser extent both parents have) the ability to "shine", a kind of telepathy-cum-precognition. There's a whole lot of foreboding about staying in the hotel, and with good reason as it's slowly revealed many atrocities have taken place therein.

I found the book sad and scary in fairly equal show more measure. The father of the family clearly loves his son a great deal. He repeatedly tries to do the right thing despite his rather terrible upbringing under a drunk, abusive father and simpering mother, and also despite living inside a huge malevolent hotel that's trying to turn him against his family. And indeed, ultimately the hotel doesn't succeed in turning him against his family, just in getting him to drink again and taking advantage of his drunkenness. And as for scares, I think this book just did to me with topiary what Doctor Who's Blink did to me with statues. show less

When you think about it, life is scary. Normal, everyday life. If we dwell on all of the things in normal, everyday life that are scary, we soon won’t leave our house. And then we won’t leave our room. Before long, we’re hiding under the bed. That’s one of the many reasons Stephen King is so effective at horror: he lays a foundation of pedestrian fears: tall ladders, wasps, hurting our kids, failure, betrayal, nightmares, DIVORCE, addiction, humiliation, the unknown, the dark. Then, when we’re good and rattled, he throws us a paranormal curveball or two: “Did Daddy have an accident?” By the time he unleashes the bloated bathtub ghosts and rampaging topiaries, we’ve got no chance.

King magnifies this horror by comparing show more it to the good we find in The Shining, especially the two most blameless characters, Danny Torrance and Dick Hallorann. Danny and Dick not only require us to care about the story’s outcome, they expose the depth of the Overlook Hotel’s evil and the breadth of the other characters’ imperfections. The fact that most readers will admit that Wendy and Jack’s petty, dysfunctional thoughts and impulses are our own, makes us feel all the more vulnerable to the Overlook’s sinister influence. show less

Oh this book. It is brilliant. There's no doubt about that. Stephen King definitely knows how to set the scene and keep you pinned on the edge of your seat. I can't say that I loved it. Or even liked it. It made me extremely uncomfortable. It is by far the scrariest thing I've ever read. And if I'd had a brain in my head there's no way I'd have finished the last 120 pages at close to midnight. It took hours to get to sleep because my heart was pounding so hard. Anyway, I will concede that this book is a work of genius. And then I never want to think about it again.

A third or fourth read of The Shining, which remains my favourite of Stephen King’s novels and the basis of my favourite adaptation of his work. Kubrick's movie is an incredible piece of work, but does not fully do justice to the novel. Written early in his career, it avoids the flabbiness and lack of restraint that mark some of his later books, instead building tension with patience and control.

The Overlook in winter is the perfect setting for this tale of ghosts and evil stirring in the mountains. The horror is expertly layered, beginning with Danny’s profound sense of unease, the fractures in Jack and Wendy’s marriage, and the misgivings of Hallorann. The supernatural intrudes gently at first, then with increasing force, show more building steadily to the novel’s fiery conclusion.

Even on a reread, The Shining remains disturbing and quietly, persistently creepy. show less