# The Shining ## Thoughts I really like this book, and I think I would put it at the top of my list of [[Stephen King]] novels. There's so much more detail in it compared to the movie adaptation (see: [[Starcat Games/Wiki/Movies/Films/T/The Shining|The Shining]]), which is typical, but it makes it more fun to see all the differences between the two. ## Observations From The Novel > [!warning] > ***Spoilers Ahead!*** Jack doesn't get along with Mr. Ullman at all. The film has Stuart Ullman as a very personable and friendly character, whereas in the book he's extremely fond of the hotel and a bit abrasive to most people. He is, however, pretty reasonable when he feels that other people respect him and, more importantly, the Overlook. > *As a contrast to the novel, the film version of Jack gets along fine with Mr. Ullman, and the latter is quite personable and friendly to Jack.* There's way more backstory and context to the Torrances' past before getting to the Overlook Hotel, especially when it comes to his drinking problems as well as how he lost his job as a teacher at a prestigious school. Further, in addition, he was shown to be a well-regarded writer with a very promising future. Jack gets along really well most of the time with Wendy and Danny in the beginning, and you can definitely see how much he cares about them when he's not being influenced by the Overlook (or drinking). > *In the movie, it seems a bit less clear as to how he feels about Wendy and Danny. Jack's character seems to steer more into that stereotypical abusive husband role where he seems to only really* tolerate *them, versus actually have real relationships with them*. It's much more clear how insidious the Overlook is in its efforts to influence Jack's thoughts and feelings on things. He regularly has moments of clarity where he doesn't understand how he could have been thinking something just a second ago. That said, all of the feelings that he's having are genuine, it's just that the Overlook is amplifying the worst of them: fear of failure, laying the blame of his past behavior on Wendy, repeating the mistakes of his father, and so on. He knows that it's best for all of them if they were to leave the hotel, but his fear of throwing away what he perceives as his last opportunity for salvaging his career gets the better of him. This also comes into play when he feels Wendy is to blame for, in some twisted sense, wanting him to fail by abandoning the Overlook. > *In the movie, due to the limited time available to convey the nuances of the plot, it's much less gradual as far as Jack's decline. It seems to be a little ambiguous as well, with Ullman providing the possible explanation of Grady's breakdown just having been cabin fever.* Some of the biggest differences between the film and the novel are at the end: 1. Jack manages to break through the hotel's influence to talk to Danny. 2. Hallorann survives the ordeal, although not without taking some physical punishment of his own. 3. The Overlook's boiler explodes, destroying much of the hotel and starting a fire which consumes the rest. > *Watching the movie and reading the book at about the same time really puts into perspective how different the same story plays out. I found myself imagining what a TV show adaptation or mini-series would look like while reading. There's a lot of potential to explore that the movie simply didn't cover.*