Book #15: The Shining by Stephen King

I know I said that the next book would be War and Peace, but it has taken me awhile to get through it. This is partially because I’ve been reading other books while reading it (I know! I should just suck it up and power through!). I read a chapter of War and Peace, I read a chapter of something else, and so on. So I decided to continue the challenge as I read this huge monster of a book, especially because the next book on the list was Stephen King’s The Shining (a fun The Shining. I have seen countless of other classic horror films, but never got around to seeing this one. You know, based on this blog, you probably think I haven’t read or seen much of anything…I promise you that I have!

read!). Anybody who claims to be one of my friends knows that I love a good scary story. Horror movies, in particular, are my favorite. It may come to a shock to you, then, that I have never seen the movie version of

            I first read The Shining about ten years ago when I was a sophomore year in high school. Geez, I am old. Wow. Because it had been so long, I decided to reread it. I remember reading it the first time and not being blown away. I wasn’t sure if this was because I was too young to appreciate, didn’t quite understand it, or just wasn’t a fan. Before reading it this time, I finally sat down and watched the movie. I enjoyed the movie, but it is one that I only need to watch every ten years or so. I can understand why it is a classic and why it is a Gilmore favorite. It is actually the movie of The Shining that Lorelai mentions when she is on the phone with her mother talking about installing a DSL line (oh, the days before wifi). However, because it was a book first, of course, it is on the list. This brings me to my first topic:

Book vs. Movie

            Whenever it comes down to the book vs. movie debate, I usually side with the book. 99.9% of the time, the book is better than the movie or television adaptation. There is a very short list of movies that are better than their source of adaptation. That list, in my eyes, is Bridget Jones’s Diary, Twilight (because you can visually see the abs), and Harry Potter. I’m sure there are a few more, but I’ll let you know as I think of them.

            In this situation, I do think that the novel The Shining is better than the movie The Shining. Watching the movie and reading the novel in such quick succession made me more certain in

my opinion. Both are enjoyable, but there are major differences which helped me make my decision. For one, the main character Jack is presented in very different lights. In the movie, it is made clear from very early on that something is wrong with Jack. The movie presents this as something that is inherently within Jack before the story starts and that the evil that manifests in the character was present there all along. In the novel, King presents Jack as a flawed human character. He is not evil when the story begins, but is a man struggling with alcoholism, losing his job, and the tension in his marriage. He is not perfect by any means, but he is NOT an inherently evil man. King makes it abundantly clear that Jack loves his wife, Wendy, and his son, Danny. The movie makes Jack extremely unlikeable from very early on making it hard to sympathize with him and, therefore, not making us feel any sympathy for Jack as he loses himself. The novel makes Jack's inner turmoil evident to the reader. We learn about how his father abused him and why he succumbed to alcohol. We see how the voices of the ghosts of the hotel slowly take over Jack’s mind so that he eventually gives his soul up to the hotel. The movie makes it clear that Jack is the bad guy while the novel presents the hotel as the bad guy.

            This difference is one of the reasons why Stephen King dislikes the critically acclaimed

movie adaptation of his work. King is not shy about voicing his ideas and opinions to the world. This is something we see to this day as he was recently blocked by Donald Trump on Twitter. I can only imagine how difficult it is for an author to give up authority of their work. If I ever write a book (and mark my words, I will write a book!) and it is turned into either a movie or TV series, I’d want to be intimately involved in the process.

The Uncanny

Freud coined the term the “uncanny” which refers to something that is familiar, but slightly off. It is unsettling because it is so close to something we know yet there is part of it that does not fit our normal schema for the world. This is my paraphrase of what the uncanny means and it explains why scary stories are so popular, specifically Stephen King’s stories. If you look at most of King’s works, what makes them the most unsettling is that the horror comes from something that connects to our human world. Sure, he includes ghosts, vampires, aliens, etc. but these are all rooted in something that connects to human nature. What is scary about The Shining isn’t just that it is about a haunted hotel, but it is that it takes a normal man and takes him to the edge of madness. We know that ghosts are not real (debatable), but losing your mind is. What scares us is not the supernatural, but what the supernatural represents. Although, the cheap scares in slasher movies can be a bit scary for some of us.

Random Thoughts

- I once tried to trick a guy into watching a scary movie with me. This did not end well as he opened the door, saw the television scream, and yelled “HELL NO” as he slammed the door. I had to earn my forgiveness by giving him all the Kit-Kats in my Halloween candy mix.

- The most haunted room in the Overlook Hotel is room 217. My classroom is 217. Coincidence? I think not. I always joked that my classroom was haunted because the TV would randomly turn on and things would fall off the walls. Now it makes a lot more sense.

- King takes inspiration for The Shining from his own struggle with alcoholism and parenting. It is often said that you write what you know. This makes sense, but writing what you know tends to get you in trouble sometimes. I’ve been there.

- One of my favorite author feuds is between Stephen King and James Patterson. Personally, I like both authors for different reasons. However, it is extremely interesting to read about. I think it should be the next season of that FX show about Feuds.

- Colorado is the setting of this novel so I have to ask: Why is Colorado so popular? At least two of my good friends have moved out there and several other people I know have done so as well. Of all the places I would move to, Colorado would not be first on the list.

- Since this book is about a psychic boy, I would like to share that my mother believes that certain members of our family are slightly psychic. But, she likes to point out that I did not inherit this gift.

- The Shining has a sequel: Dr. Sleep. It is about a grown up Danny. I wonder how it compares to The Shining. I’ll let you know.

Pictures

Movie Poster:http://static.rogerebert.com/uploads/movie/movie_poster/the-shining-1980/large_zc5y5OwKSV9MDXpfWxwrOjyRHsq.jpg

Book Cover:http://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309974274i/231786._UY200_.jpg

Movie Still:http://www.heyuguys.com/images/2014/08/The-Shining.jpg

Meme:https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/86/ee/a0/86eea0092015a877a024271bed9a3ced.jpg