The Shining

JasonPratt · January 14, 2013, 09:00:13 AM

It is definitely NOT another Langoliers.

(In fairness to that miniseries, it was extremely faithful to the novella, including "Balki"'s crazy overacting. But a leisurely paced novella slogs when transferred beat for beat to a four hour video production. This is aside from the numerous problems both versions of The Langoliers shared.)

As to whether The Shining miniseries is worth watching, eh. I like it more than Kubrick's film overall (but then I may be biased because I've never been a fan of Kubrick and can't think of a single film of his I enjoy watching), but I vastly prefer the book to either of them.

(As noted, I fully agree Kubrick's film LOOKS better. That's practically the only reason why I'll watch snippets of the film when I run across it randomly. I don't own either production though.)

Gusington · January 14, 2013, 02:17:11 PM

Kubrick is one of my favorite directors....Full Metal Jacket, Paths of Glory, Clockwork Orange, and of course The Shining. But I am still enjoying the print version of The Shining tremendously. I've read about 400 pages in under a week which is serious for me.

JasonPratt · January 14, 2013, 02:34:51 PM

The Shining is one of his books that I never remember how long it is--I invariably think of it as a "short" book.

(Which it is, by his standards, but it's a very very fast 600 pages. :) )

mirth · January 14, 2013, 03:11:55 PM

Quote from: JasonPratt on January 14, 2013, 02:34:51 PM
The Shining is one of his books that I never remember how long it is--I invariably think of it as a "short" book.

(Which it is, by his standards, but it's a very very fast 600 pages. :) )

Lol. It is short by SK standards. His early books were "streamlined". Salem's Lot is my favorite King novel and that came in at a sleek 439 pages. I remember what a chore it was to read the 1100-plus pages of It.

Gusington · January 14, 2013, 03:52:40 PM

I've been wanting to read Salems Lot for a long time.

bob48 · January 15, 2013, 03:31:15 PM

I'm not a great fan of King's books, but I really did enjoy his 'Dark Tower' set which is very different from his 'horror' stories.

Gusington · January 15, 2013, 03:51:27 PM

What'd you like about Dark Tower?

bob48 · January 15, 2013, 04:58:51 PM

Its just so - different and quite hard to pin down. Certainly the story concept is unlike anything I have read before, but its also the way the charactors develop as well that is quite facinating.

He does, however, add some horror type shocks to it as well though. I'm not sure if I will read the new book that fits in the period between 'Wizard & Glass' and 'Wolves of the Calla'.

Gus, have you read the series?

Gusington · January 15, 2013, 08:06:13 PM

No but I've been intrigued and actually warned away from the Dark Tower series by a King fanatic. He told me to read his classics first. The only other book I have read by King was The Stand about 10 years ago. I tried reading The Dark Half when I was a kid and it scared the stuffing out of me.

MetalDog · January 15, 2013, 09:26:06 PM

I slogged through The Stand twenty years or so ago. It was good, but long.

mirth · January 15, 2013, 09:40:15 PM

Quote from: MetalDog on January 15, 2013, 09:26:06 PM
I slogged through The Stand twenty years or so ago. It was good, but long.

Yeah, that's another tome.

mirth · January 15, 2013, 09:43:41 PM

Quote from: Gusington on January 14, 2013, 03:52:40 PM
I've been wanting to read Salems Lot for a long time.

Salem's Lot is particularly frightening when you know and live near the towns mentioned throughout the story.

Staggerwing · January 15, 2013, 10:17:29 PM

Quote from: mirth on January 15, 2013, 09:43:41 PM
Quote from: Gusington on January 14, 2013, 03:52:40 PM
I've been wanting to read Salems Lot for a long time.

Salem's Lot is particularly frightening when you know and live near the towns mentioned throughout the story.

So it's non-fiction then?

mirth · January 15, 2013, 10:24:20 PM

Quote from: Staggerwing on January 15, 2013, 10:17:29 PM
Quote from: mirth on January 15, 2013, 09:43:41 PM
Quote from: Gusington on January 14, 2013, 03:52:40 PM
I've been wanting to read Salems Lot for a long time.

Salem's Lot is particularly frightening when you know and live near the towns mentioned throughout the story.

So it's non-fiction then?

I hope not or I need to move.

Toonces · January 15, 2013, 10:36:18 PM

Well, I was going to recommend The Stand for your next King read, but it looks like that's been covered. I'd say The Stand is probably my all-time favorite book of all time. I've read it countless times, probably every two years or so. In fact, I'm due to read it again soon.

It was the first book I bought for my Kindle, so that tells you something about how much I love it.

I didn't care for Dark Tower. I read all of the first one (it was ok) and about 50 pages of the second and then put it back on the shelf.

IT is very good, if you haven't read that yet. I seem to remember I enjoyed The Talisman, but that was a really long time ago. I think Talisman has a tie in to the Dark Tower books, but I'm not sure.