The Shining by King

So, I have always been one to nudge read the book because movies do their own thing. The Shining has always been one of these duos I pushed because the film changes damn near everything. Bonus for this post is that I rewatched the movie before rereading this novel just so my anger could be on point for the comparison. I will point out early that the film fails to capture the complexity of Wendy and Jack's relationship and the characters. While Duval and Nicholson do great for their slotted parts, the movie's plot/story is much different from the complexity we see in the novel.

When you think of The Shining, I assume you think of either a giant hotel with a huge ballroom or a crazy man with a bat saying, "I'll bash your fucking brains in." But, in the novel, Jack Torrance is not as horrible right out as he comes off in the film. Jack is a man struggling with his own life choices and addiction. Later on, the hotel feeds off this to use him in its ploy. As far as the hotel goes as a character, the Overlook is by far one of the novel's best characters. It comes to life and leeches off what it can from the living. It needs damaged souls to thrive. Jack was the perfect candidate for this. I also have no doubt the hotel influence Ulman's choice of hiring in some way. Jack's progression from all his progress to an absolute lunatic was fabulous to follow. You feel it because everyday things we would think of rationally went out the window for Jack when he became a part of the hotel. Many tiny details catch the reader's attention to show his descent into insanity throughout this novel. One example is Jack raps on about how Wendy had locked him out of their quarters. However, we know Jack as the caretaker, has the passkey to open any room. Why didn't he think of this? Because he was manic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Wendy, in fact, didn't snag the extra key.

Jack was very family-oriented in the beginning. He was not always cold or harsh. He was a very caring father and husband (to a sense). You watch the hotel take this from him, slowly but surely.

I want to note Wendy is just as insignificant here as she is in the film. And I am open to answers as to why that is? She is too passive of a human being. She often tries to reassure herself throughout the novel; however, her bits are relatively insignificant until the end. When she locks her husband in the food pantry and then also attacks him with razor blades, those were her single best and only moments for me. As a woman, it makes me sad. It could be when it was written, but women are by far from passive creatures like we see in older works—much more than needing to be pushed over the edge as we see here.

One of my favorite things from the hotel was the animal hedges. I adored the scenes of terror that involved these from Jack's first encounter when trimming them to Hallorann getting to the hotel and attacked by a lion. It's a rather unique thing that the hotel displays. See, we cannot merely chalk them up as possessed bushes. They are a part of the hotel's character. The film replaced these with a giant hedge maze. The film's ending was also good as we watch Danny retrace his steps to avoid his father getting him, Wendy, and he escapes, Jack freezes, FIN. A genius move on Danny's part but shadowed the hotel as a character. I wonder why such an essential part of the Overlook was left out in the film adaptation. Granted, it is a stupid question because the transformation went its own way anyway. 

The title refers to the unusual gift that Danny has, like Dick Hallorann. It is still hard to distinguish if it is telepathy, mind-reading, psychic ability, or sixth sense. I think it is meant to be a mix of them all, which is why it became a unique trait, known as "the shine." Danny, in the end, somehow feels it was his fault. The Overlook wanted him, not Jack. Jack was merely the most vulnerable of the bunch to get ahold of for it. To a sense, it was Danny's fault. But other than me, who else is going to blame the five going on six years old?

Jack's death with the boiler exploding made sense. If you followed through how often he cared for it up until the last part, you were more than likely like me, wondering when it was going to blow, or someone was going to turn it. His death did not feel cheated. The book is also rather violent in the sense of Jack's beatings on Wendy and Hallorann. However, I am unsure what it could have been, other than adrenaline, that let both Wendy and Hallorann escape. Even in burning, the hotel takes one last-ditch effort to get Danny through Hallorann. It fails, which is more than likely because what it gained from Jack was lost in his passing from living and the fire. It couldn't keep it's boot up to end what it started. 

Lastly, let's look at the living aspect of the hotel. Every previous event slowly came to life after the hotel started on Jack successfully taking him. It was madness at its finest. I do not believe one particular ghost possessed Jack, not even the common thought of Grady. The hotel took him and influenced him. I say the Overlook may be one of the best haunted characters we have read this term. It was more than just a haunted hotel. It was a living thing that had desires and used the living to get them.

P.S. Ah, the epilogue. A happy ending? Do you absolutely want my opinion on happy endings in horror? I despise them. Yes, it is nice the Hallorann lived compared to his film's cheap death. I personally wanted Danny and Wendy to lose to the hotel. I loved the Overlook, and I wanted it to win. Why do the damn haunted places NEVER win outside of the fundamental theme the writer wants? LOL