It's virtually impossible to approach 'The Shining' as a novel nowadays without considerations to Kubrick's movie of the same name. The movie debuted in 1980, and is widely regarded as one of Kubrick's masterpieces. The performances of Jack Nicholson and Shelly DuVall are kind of etched in social consciousness and cultural awareness. Even if you haven't actually seen the movie, you know of crazy Jack's "Heeeeere's Johnny!", and of course 'All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy'.
Well, maybe you don't, but I do, and that made it difficult for me to approach the book from an unbiased perspective for this particular project of mine.
Twice since the end of 'Salem's Lot, I'd started to read the book, and walked away from it. It was hard to crack, it was both too familiar, and uninteresting. I'm pretty sure that I've seen the movie before, although I can't exactly recall. I can say that I've seen enough of the movie in bits and pieces over time to know that I've got the story down. At least, the Kubrick version of the story. As I started the book, I couldn't help but notice the differences between the book and the movie. That's not what this project is about, and it frustrated me, so I left it alone for a little while.
I didn't like the book. I didn't WANT to read it. I wanted to just move on. That's part of the problem. I know what the next book is, and I have a rich history with it. I'm anxiously looking forward to reacquainting myself with it, and it hovers in the distance, beckoning.
Perseverance and determination kept drawing me back. No skipping of books. Follow the order.
On vacation in Atlantic City recently, my wife and I were planning a day at the pool. Stupidly, I hadn't brought anything to read. I knew that I had a digital copy of 'The Shining' that I could read on my iPhone, but the thought of sweating in the heat, occasionally sipping at an overpriced drink while staring at my little phone in the sun was not appealing. Yet another excuse provided by my brain to postpone the inevitable.
We went down to the gift shop to look for a magazine for me, or something to occupy my time. Lo and behold, amongst the scattered romance and mystery paperbacks, were two copies of 'The Shining', republished recently to capitalize on King's newly released sequel 'Doctor Sleep'. When the universe prods you in such an obvious way, it's time to take heed and get down to it.
Ignoring the fact that I already had a copy at home, and another on my phone, I bought the paperback (at a slight discount, thank you Player's Card), and we sauntered up to the pool. Over the next 3 hours, I got so engrossed in the book that I forgot to turn myself, sunburning the front side of my body in an almost comical manner.
For the next 3 days, I would crack the book open at every opportunity, sometimes only a page or two while I had a moment, other times I could tackle larger sections while my wife rested or got herself gussied up for the evening. The pages flew by, and somehow, it was different. Rereading the beginning, starting over, it felt new and intriguing.
Jack Torrance is Stephen King. That much is obvious, and thinly veiled, at least in the beginning. King's knack is making facets of himself into his characters and then taking them to places he's never dared, or allowed, himself to go. A struggling writer, his last ditch chance at providing for his family is a hail-mary act of generosity from his old drinking buddy. His old brother in booze is a stockholder in The Overlook, an old hotel in Colorado, and has arranged for him to be hired on as the winter caretaker. Closed during the winter months, The Overlook needs someone to manage the boiler, make repairs, and handle day to day issues in order to minimize any damage the harsh Rocky Mountain weather can inflict. The perfect opportunity for Jack to provide for his wife Wendy and their son Danny. Jack can resurrect his writing career, maybe redeem himself from his actions that have put him on the ropes with this last ditch chance as his only option.
The Overlook, it seems, has other plans.
No need to get into the nitty gritty of the plot itself any more than that. You can read it yourself, and really, if you haven't already read it, then maybe there's not a lot of sense in following along with my ramblings anyway.
King struggled with alcoholism, and at one point, he and his wife took a trip on a whim to the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, a quick breather to contemplate his next move after writing Carrie and Salem's Lot. Their trip coincided with the end of the tourist season, and they were the only guests in the massive hotel.
As King wandered through the vacant halls, his mind wandered and the seeds of the story were planted. His struggles with alcohol, his struggles as a parent, as a family man, all fuel for the tale, but a King story wouldn't be a King story without a hint of the supernatural, right? Carrie had telekinesis, Salem's Lot had vampires, so what about this one? Well, let's double down and have two elements. A form of telekinesis, or mind reading, and the simple concept of evil. Not just any evil, but a haunted building. A building with a life of it's own, a power to drive people to do horrible things.
Now that I've finished reading the book, I'm anxious to sit down and watch the movie again (or maybe for the first time). I told myself that I'd write my chapter on The Shining before I did so, in order that I not confuse the two. That does, however, bring me back to the embedded cultural knowledge that I've referenced at the beginning. A few things I noticed in the book that stood out to me. No matter what the text says about the description of the characters, I can't imagine them in my mind's eye any other way than the actors who portrayed them in the movie. In the book, both Jack and Wendy Torrance are described with blond hair, yet I only see Nicholson and DuVall. That's fine by me, as it had no bearing on my ability to lose myself in the story.
There is no ax. You know that Nicholson chops into the door with an ax, creating an opening just big enough for him to leer in and spout off that famous line. In the book, there is no ax, there is no Here's Johnny, there is no 'All Work and No Play...'
I found that interesting because those are THE things that are in the cultural awareness of The Shining. If you ask people what they know about The Shining, more often than not, they'll refer to one of those things. So, maybe our awareness of The Shining isn't Stephen King's The Shining, but more Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. I think that's ok, but I can understand why King himself was reportedly dissatisfied with Kubrick's film.
Taken out of his typical New England setting, King, as overlord and narrator, finds himself on foreign ground. Unable to rely on familiar colloquialism and his comfortable at home way of painting bucolic small town Maine life, instead, there is great character development. The internal struggle within Jack, the compulsion for just one drink, the desire to be a better parent than his abusive father, all developed and unfolded over the course of the story. Maybe Jack is strong enough to do it. Maybe he could fight off the temptations, the inclinations, break the patterns... but would The Overlook let him? It grabbed me, and it made me look at the book differently. King's ability to tell a story stripped of his usual weapons, strengths and comforts, his reliable tools of folksy dialect and characters, made me really appreciate his style. It certainly helped to know a bit about his personal history, to help see the allegory within.
It took me a lot of work, but I found myself finally enjoying the book. Somehow, my head got in the right space to approach it without those distractions, those preconceived notions, those desires to just get it over with so that I could move on, and I dug it. A young man, struggling with his flaws, his demons, his fears, his worthiness as a parent, as a husband, as a man.
That's Jack Torrance.
That's Stephen King.
Hell, that's me.
I get it now.
