The Shining (1977)

– by Stephen King

Welcome to my new series. This is where I reveal my coveted thoughts and divulge sound analysis on classic books. This being the Halloween season, I’m beginning with stories that haunt our dreams and deliver frightful spooks when we’re alone under the covers in the dead of night. Let’s begin with The Shining, often regarded as Stephen King’s greatest work. It’s not technically a “classic” but it’s nearly 50 years old and I’m not picky about specific categorization if you aren’t.

“I don’t think anything here can hurt you. I don’t think” – The Shining

The Synopsis

Jack Torrence can be aptly described as the world’s greatest dad. He terrorizes his wife and 5 year-old son by attempting to beat the life out of them with a croquet mallet. He chases the pair through the hallways of a nefarious and haunted Hotel deep in the Colorado Rockies. Technically it’s a Roque mallet. But Roque is a sport no ones ever heard of so I thought it easier to write croquet instead.

Jack is a recovering alcoholic. His failed stint with the drink leads him down a path of wanton self-destruction. He loses his first job. He accidentally injures his son Danny, which causes his wife Wendy to consider divorce. Jack’s addiction isn’t the main issue. It’s a catalyst that fuels his unhinged rage that takes hold of an otherwise decent family man.

Looking to mend his relationship with his wife and son, Jack accepts employment at a distinguished and historic hotel called the Overlook. It’s located deep in the Rockies in the heart of western Colorado. Jack will serve as the resorts custodian during the winter months when the doors are shut and the staffers, guests, and management have long absconded. Soon the winter months settle in. Fierce snows that blanket the surrounding area leave the Torrence family cut off from civilization. Isolation and cabin fever soon threaten the struggling trio. But The Overlook is more dangerous than even they imagined. The resort harbors a foul and insidious horror hidden within its corridors. And that horror wants Danny. Jack’s son, sometimes referred to as Doc, possesses an unusual gift. A mystical phenomena called the shining. It helps Danny see things others can’t, but it also powers the hotel, animating the darkness that dwells within. The hotel is hungry for Danny’s gift. And to get it, the entity will slowly corrupt Jack and convince him toward the unthinkable. The murder of his son, and the destruction of his beloved wife.

What I Liked

1. The story itself. It’s a creative premise that falls under the category of “slow burn” horror. Jack’s gradual slip from a loving father into a vile, murderous creature is unsettling but frighteningly realistic.

2. The novel’s climactic confrontation between Jack and Danny, which is really just a simple conversation, is one of King’s best written segments. It’s full of suspense as Danny stands with his back against a wall, staring down the vicious, blood-thirsty monster wielding a mallet that was once his Dad. The ball is very much in Jack’s court until Danny reveals the only card he has, and it might just be the very thing that saves his life and restores his dad’s humanity.

3. Despite the ghosts, demons and other mystical elements depicted in the book. The Shining is at its most haunting and disturbing when describing Jack’s terrible bout with alcoholism. This book is the closest to an autobiography King has ever written. The author himself suffered from addiction and the book does not shy away from how unrestrained indulgance can lead to the ruin and collapse of ones entire life. If anything, the book serves as a warning to those disposed toward harmful habits.

4. Much of the book explores the checkered history of The Overlook. Despite its distinguished reputation on the outside, there is hidden underneath an ugly back story of murder, violence, and depravity that the owners do their best to cover up. It’s interesting as part of the story. And most books in the horror genre that center around a haunted place usually involve a troubled past that either might have, or certainly did, transform the dwelling into a place of terror.

5. Dick Hallorann. He’s the real hero of this tale. Dick is the esteemed Overlook cook and he’s introduced as another carrier of the mystical shining. He teaches Danny how it works, and warns him about disturbances in the hotel. He and the other staffers abandon the Rockies for the beaches of Florida 2,000 miles away and leave the hotel to Jack’s care taking. But when things really start to spiral south for the family, Danny employs his gift as a spiritual channel and contacts Dick begging for him to come back and help. Dick, a true man of courage, reverses course and heads all the to the Overlook in the middle of winter. He rescues Danny and Wendy after taking two serious blows to the head, courtesy of Jack’s mallet. He remains a mentor figure to Danny for years after the book ends.

What I Didn’t Like (spoilers below)

1. Stephen King’s writing style. There is copious fluff in this nearly 700 page novel. It didn’t need to exceed 350 pages. But Stephen King’s writing style is often described as “stream of conscious” writing. King himself admits that he plans very little before blanketing his pages with words. He’s known for bulldozing through the writing process, finishing his work at breathtaking speed. As a result his stories, like this one, suffer from long winded-paragraphs, poor pacing, lousy organization, and filling the pages with incoherent ramblings and bizarre dialogue with odd references to songs and movie quotes. In short, this book that requires serious editing.

3. Jack’s “sort of” redemption. In the novel, Jack’s love for Danny begins to ward off the hotel’s influence. This angers The Overlook and the spirits coerce the father to kill himself with his own mallet, ending Jack’s life rather ignominiously. The 1997 TV series handled his redemption better in my humble opinion. In that version, Jack shakes off the evils of the perilous hotel and forces the boiler to explode. A deafening fire consumes The Overlook and destroys the hotel along with the evil spirits held within. I found this ending to be much more satisfying.

4. As aforementioned in point 3, The book ends in an explosion. King has no clue how to wrap any story that doesn’t involve an explosion.

Epilogue

Thoughts on The Shining movie, released in 1980 and directed by Stanley Kubrick.

It’s terrific. I consider this to be one of the greatest horror movies ever made. It’s also incredibly disloyal to the book. I understand why Stephen King hates this adaptation. But I also find it humorous that Kubrick brushed aside most of the novel’s most pertinent elements and instead released a product that most people view as superior. The only problem I have with the movie is that almost none of it makes sense when you think about the plot for longer than 30 seconds. However, that really doesn’t matter because Jack Nicholson’s wild performance is one for the ages. Also the switch from a mallet to an ax is an improvement. Axes are a lot scarier than mallets, especially in the visual realm of story telling. Mallets look silly on the big screen (check out the 1997 TV series for reference.)