From horace walpoles the castle of otranto to emily brontes wuthering heights, i have enjoyed pretty much every gothicstyle novel that i have picked up, yet, until recently, i had never read a single. The shining has lost its shine kubrick was slumming it in a. Ullman, the hotels manager, is interviewing jack for a job as the hotels caretaker during the winter months, when the hotel closes due to the harsh weather and impassable roads. The shining is the most wellexecuted, thought provoking, and thereby most enjoyable movie i have ever seen. The shining is stanley kubricks bid for a super hit, his attempt to even a number of scores. Jan 29, 2019 the ending of the shining explained by matthew jackson jan. According to king, the shining has strong autobiographical undertones. The novel was adapted into a 1980 film of the same name and later followed by a sequel, doctor sle. The shining centers on the life of jack torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the offseason caretaker of the historic overlook hotel in the colorado rockies. The characters are interesting and well rounded, especially jack, an essentially decent man battling not. The folio society which sounds ominously like an organisation from a bond film or from one of kings own novels excels again in taking a classic literary book and giving it a modern makeover. I couldnt help but feel sympathetic for jack because hes come from such a horrible place, tried to rise above it, but is destroyed by this malevolent place. I love the shining because of how jack unravels and because of how real the overlook feels. The ending of the shining explained by matthew jackson jan.
Nov 01, 2012 born from a bad dream experienced during a onenight stay at a colorado hotel that was closing for the season, the shining is the first book stephen king wrote from a position of financial. Nov 20, 2007 s tanley kubricks indelible take on both the horror genre and the popular fiction of stephen king, the shining is both a radical distillation of its source novel s densely stuffed ghostsandgore imagery as well as a conflation of its hidden central theme of the truelife horrors of domestic abuse. The shining is a horror novel by american author stephen king. Sep 15, 20 the shining by stephen king was amazeballs. The novel was adapted into a 1980 film of the same name and later followed by a sequel, doctor sleep, published in 20.
The overlook hotels building is like a haunted place to which a number of murder stories. Two of the novels central themesnamely, the dangers of alcoholism and the disintegration of the familyare extracts of the authors personal fears. A boys special perception and a possessed hotel interact with deadly results in the novel the shining by stephen king. With remarkable visual panache and a keen sense of irony, stanley kubrick rehabilitates stephen kings trashy, terrifying novel. S tanley kubricks indelible take on both the horror genre and the popular fiction of stephen king, the shining is both a radical distillation of its source novel s densely stuffed ghostsandgore imagery as well as a conflation of its hidden central theme of the truelife horrors of domestic abuse. He describes the story of a family and specifically of a husband who works in a haunted hotel as a caretaker. The film is based on stephen kings 1977 novel of the same name and stars jack nicholson, shelley duvall, scatman crothers, and danny lloyd. It was made into a film by stanley kubrick in 1980. This was a oneofakind novel that simply blew the reader out of hisher comfort zone and took you places inside your. In this instance, theyve taken stephen kings third book the shining with illustrative artwork from edward kinsella and have lovingly madecontinue reading. The shining is considered by many critics and readers to be one of kings best works. The book is more psychologically disturbing, thrilling, and all of those are sprinkled with touches of spooks.
The overlook hotels building is like a haunted place to which a number of murder stories are related. The shining by stephen king misscole december, 2011 at 12. Lets take a close look at some of the characters in stephen kings the shining. Seriously exhaustive analysis of the shining shows kubrick. He loves his wife, and his son danny, but jack is the product of an abusive father, and has a tendency to lash out when angry and drunkeven at those he loves. The shining study guide contains a biography of stanley kubrick, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The shining opens on an eagleeyes view of a car traveling up windy colorado mountain passes. It was his third published novel, after carrie and salems lot. If you have never read the shining, please give yourself a gift and read it if you enjoy horror.
The shining is generally considered by critics and king enthusiasts to be one of his best novels, along with carrie 1974, salems lot 1975, and the stand 1978. The book club click to join in the discussion about. Review by janet maslin the new york times by janet maslin the shining, stanley kubricks spellbinding foray into the realm of the horror film, is at its most gloriously diabolical as jack and wendy torrance take the grand tour. The film is based on stephen kings 1977 novel of the same name and stars jack nicholson, shelley duvall, scatman crothers, and danny lloyd the films central character is jack torrance nicholson, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a. Drama analysis of the shining the shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed by stanley kubrick. The shining is a supernatural horror novel written by stephen king and published in 1977. Oct 09, 2016 the shining is a supernatural horror novel written by stephen king and published in 1977. A presold prefab blockbuster, what with kings carrie hitting the moviehouses, salems lot being lensed, the shining itself sold to warner bros. The shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by stanley kubrick and cowritten with novelist diane johnson. No one had ever seen the likes of the shining before.
I thought of that experience last week while reading doctor sleep, stephen kings new sequel to the shining. The setting is the overlook, a palatial resort on a colorado mountain top, snowbound and closed down for the long, long. Kings new novel might have come straight out of that basement library. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. The shining, stanley kubricks spellbinding foray into the realm of the horror film, is at its most gloriously diabolical as jack and wendy torrance take the grand tour. Stephen king wrote the shining when he was in his late twenties and still in his drinking phase. The setting and characters are influenced by kings personal experiences, including both his visit to the stanley hotel in 1974 and his recovery from alcoholism. The shining, even though might not be the one to deliver an extremely frightening tale, it manages to provide us a pool of drama, thrills, disturbance, and everything you could think of in a good horror story for us to dive into. I am not going to go on and on about how frustrating it must be for someone of kings prolificity and stature to have people think that his best novel was written 22 years and 30some books ago. Jack torrance character the story take place in colorado and begins with jack torrance, going to a place by the name of the overlook hotel to be the caretaker over the winter months, because of coast of keeping a twentyfive mile road, in which it take to. Stanley kubricks the shining was released in 1980, and since has been hailed as one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Published in 1977, it is kings third published novel and first hardback bestseller.
May 31, 20 seriously exhaustive analysis of the shining shows kubricks inversion of kings novel shares the documentary room 237 has been called a diy mashup of the many theories put forward over the years as interpretations of stanley kubrickss 1980 horror classic, the shining. And anyone interested will find on the interweb a plethora of reasons these were changed from book to movie. The story of this film is based off the book, the shining by stephen king. The main character jack torrance is a violent, recovering alcoholic who has broken his son, dannys arm while drunk before. Not a horror film in any traditional sense, but a perversely comic, occasionally frightening melodrama of intrafamilial rage, the shining retains the oedipal structure of kings narrative while running rings around its pulpy sensibility. Stephen kings the shining, published in 1977, is a horror novel. The shining is the story of jack torrance, who is employed as the caretaker of the gargantuan overlook hotel in colorado one winter. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. The shining study guide from litcharts the creators of.
Now we come to the first of several controversial themes in the shining the genocide of native americans in early us history. Check out his first column below, exploring the shining. It is regarded in some quarters as kings best book. This car belongs to jack torrance, who has driven three hours to the isolated overlook hotel for a job interview. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of the shining by stephen king. Oct 27, 2016 the shining has lost its shine kubrick was slumming it in a genre he despised the directors horror masterpiece deserves its cult status, but now after its motifs have been quoted endlessly. Jan 28, 1977 after a winter storm cuts the family off from the outside world evil forces from the hotels past, and jacks own troubled history start to drive him slowly insane leaving wendy, danny, and jack in incredible danger. Jun 22, 2012 the shining is the story of jack torrance, who is employed as the caretaker of the gargantuan overlook hotel in colorado one winter. Born from a bad dream experienced during a onenight stay at a colorado hotel that was closing for the season, the shining is the first book stephen king wrote from a position of financial. Moving his wife, wendy, and their son, danny, into it for the season, he hopes to find peace. The novel was wildly popular and cemented king as a major horror writer. Her gullible nature, her compassion for danny and her husband seems to be her only flaws. The shining critics consensus though it deviates from stephen kings novel, stanley kubricks the shining is a chilling, often baroque journey into madness exemplified by an unforgettable turn.
After a winter storm cuts the family off from the outside world evil forces from the hotels past, and jacks own troubled history start to drive him slowly insane leaving wendy, danny, and jack in incredible danger. The question and answer section for the shining is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Movie, hell be taking a critical look at movie adaptations of horror novels. They are being shown through the overlook, the cavernous, isolated hotel where they and their young son danny will be spending the winter as caretakers, supposedly without any company. The shining is a horror novel and so, needless to say, in the end danny does have to call to dick, and dick, who is working in florida at the time, does hear him and he does come running, but the hotel is aware that dick is coming and it is ready for him. This was a oneofakind novel that simply blew the reader out of hisher comfort zone and took you places inside your own mind that were normally off limits. Over the years, king and his wife welcomed two sons, and king continued to write, under his own name and the pseudonym richard. Seriously exhaustive analysis of the shining shows. The shining has lost its shine kubrick was slumming it. The shining is a tragedy, and wed be remiss to classify the ending otherwise. The novel is by no means a serious literary work, kubrick told french film critic michel ciment, but the plot is for the most part extremely worked out, and for a film that is often all that. The shining was stephen kings third book, following carrie and. The result is a film that, though it ignores almost every major spookshow episode in the. The shining raised the authors writing to an extremely higher state, which included stardom for him.
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