On a whim I bought a copy of King's The Shining. I know it is supposed to be quite different from Kubirick's film, which I love. Any of youse have an opinion on the book? Seems it will be a quick read as I started late last night and I am already 25 pages in.
The book is much much better than Kubirick's movie. And much much more scary!
There was a TV movie/mini-series made as well and it stuck right with the book and was also very good and scary.
Make sure to read at night with only one light on...... 8)
Funny I am doing just that. So far anyway. And I have to say that the first 25 pages were actually kind of funny...Jack is quite the card in his internal monologue.
"I am Jack's internal monologue"
(I know that's the wrong story, but that's what sprang to mind just then)
Better than Aquaman.
Quote from: Gusington on January 08, 2013, 10:44:15 AM
Funny I am doing just that. So far anyway. And I have to say that the first 25 pages were actually kind of funny...Jack is quite the card in his internal monologue.
Yes he is.... for now.... half the fun/scariness of this novel is you get to witness first hand a decent into madness.... :-X
Giggity!
Yes, not scary yet, scary later.
One big difference between the book and the film is that while Jack goes slowly insane, there is no doubt in the book (after a relatively early point anyway) that supernatural things are driving him insane. Whereas everything in the movie (aside from a few hints otherwise like Jack appearing in the hotel ghost photo at the end) could be explained as incipient madness on the part of the father and the son. (The TV miniseries is far more faithful to the book on this point, too.)
I seem to recall that King had either already written a sequel or has been recently composing it for a while. Haven't heard further on that though. Anyone else?
Wow, hadn't heard about a Shining sequel before but it's coming next fall-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/sep/19/stephen-king-shining-sequel-doctor-sleep
Yeah that's why I am reading it now, in part. About 200 pages in, it's a really quick read. So far I see, er...a lot of me in Jack. Not the alcoholism but the wanting to be something better than he is. And for the first 200 pages anyway Jack appears to be a good dad.
I can see why people who don't like the book call for it to be edited down...the first 200 pages could probably have been pruned down to 50.
But it has always been one of my favorite stories (from the movie anyway) and the book is an easy win for me...can't get enough. I can't help but see Kubrick's version of the characters though...Shelley Duvall as Wendy, Nicholson as Jack, Scatman Cruthers as Halloran...etc.
Quote from: Gusington on January 12, 2013, 09:51:57 PM
Yeah that's why I am reading it now, in part. About 200 pages in, it's a really quick read. So far I see, er...a lot of me in Jack. Not the alcoholism but the wanting to be something better than he is. And for the first 200 pages anyway Jack appears to be a good dad.
I can see why people who don't like the book call for it to be edited down...the first 200 pages could probably have been pruned down to 50.
But it has always been one of my favorite stories (from the movie anyway) and the book is an easy win for me...can't get enough. I can't help but see Kubrick's version of the characters though...Shelley Duvall as Wendy, Nicholson as Jack, Scatman Cruthers as Halloran...etc.
I remember an interview with King where he said that he hated the choice of Nicholson to play Jack. His reasoning? In pretty much his words, as I remember...."One look at Nicholson and the whole story is given away. I mean, you just know he's going to go f***ing nuts".
Quote from: mirth on January 12, 2013, 07:10:24 PM
Wow, hadn't heard about a Shining sequel before but it's coming next fall-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/sep/19/stephen-king-shining-sequel-doctor-sleep
Very very cool! Thanks for the link. 8)
Yeah the TV version had that guy that played the main pilot on the series Wings as Jack. Nice clean cut average guy..... goes homicidal maniac. Very chilling.....
See now the point I am at in the book right now I can only see the barest bit of insane in Jack. But it's there. Don't we all have that bit though?
Which was probably one of King's thematic points: the ghosts find and exploit the mental and ethical weaknesses in their victims.
Another big difference between the film and the book, is that the film is definitely all about Jack, while Jack only thinks it's all about him in the book. (The TV miniseries is closer to the book on this point, too, although by the nature of the medium it tends to focus on Jack more still.)
I'll give the movie props on one thing, though, where it nails the book compared to what the miniseries could do: Kubrick filmed the hell out of the hotel and what it meant to be isolated up there.
^That's why I love the movie...I am hoping there some of that as I continue on.
Beyond that I think we can all agree that The Shining is many things beyond 'just' a ghost story.
It's the Big Bertha of ghost stories yes...but there is so much more, no matter which version you are watching or if you are reading the book.
Is the made for tv movie really worth watching? It's not another 'Langoliers'?
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.)
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.
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. :) )
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.
I've been wanting to read Salems Lot for a long time.
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.
What'd you like about Dark Tower?
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?
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.
I slogged through The Stand twenty years or so ago. It was good, but long.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
I always forget about It.
Quote from: Gusington on January 16, 2013, 08:30:39 AM
I always forget about It.
Gus, I for one would recommend giving The Dark Tower a try, although it is 7 books to get through. Its not at all like any of his horror stories, but is a strange mix of SciFi / fantasy horror that hard to classify. Even my missus enjoyed it, and its not really the sort of stuff that she would usually read.
Is there an actual dark tower somewhere in the series?
Quote from: Gusington on January 16, 2013, 08:32:20 PM
Is there an actual dark tower somewhere in the series?
Yes.
Gus, the first Dark Tower book is called 'The Gunslinger' if that helps prod your interest..
Listened to "Wind through the Keyhole" (Dark Tower extra series book) on CD while driving back from the Keys this week, good stuff.
The last disc had Stephen King reading the first chapter from Dr. Sleep (sequal to Shining). Can't wait for it. Ghosts from the Overlook have followed Danny and his Mom to Florida.... and Danny fights back.... 8)
When does Dr. Sleep come out?
September 2013
Quote from: Gusington on January 14, 2013, 03:52:40 PM
I've been wanting to read Salems Lot for a long time.
Pound for pound, I regard it as his best book (up through the point I stopped reading him, sometime after
The Tommyknockers. I don't recall when exactly, but before the
Delores book.) (Further caveat: I've never read any of his Dark Tower series, aside from the first one which I simply couldn't get into.)
Quote from: Gusington on January 17, 2013, 08:31:37 AM
When does Dr. Sleep come out?
Usually at night, but... {dodging vegetables!}
BOO!!
Jason is right insofar as book 1 does take a little work to get into, but once you get through the earlier stuff it does start to grab you. The series as a whole is worth the effort.
Bob,
I've heard that often enough from discerning fantasy readers whose opinion I respect, that the whole series is certainly on my bucket list.
But my initial difficulties in getting into the first book keep me from moving it higher (so far). ;)
(Not that I have much room to talk about writing epic fantasies with difficult-to-get-into opening chapters... (https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wargamer.com%2Fforums%2Fsmiley%2Fslap.gif&hash=85cdec7f25f1fe1b0992e5131834ef94cce156e6))
Finished it today...the story is better IMHO than the story from the movie...deeper. But I still love the movie :)