The Shining Reader (Starmont Studies in Literary Criticism, 30)

Rating:
Summary: Shines on
Review: Although many would pick Stanley Kubrich's film (1980)over the 4hr. 20min. film, I think wouldn't. I did enjoy Stanley's yet i feel that it lacked the "pizazz" that the book and the miniseries truly held. The book was wonderful in my opinion mostly because it held some truth and horror that most books often lack. The character Jack Torrance was made to be similiar to Stephen King but different enough to where it would be easy to distinguish them. When Stephen King went up to The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, he was enspired to write the -probably most famous- book of Stephen King's. Stephen King was a recovering alcoholic and he was surprised by how he could sometimes be so angry with his children because he himself had not had a father most of his life so he thought of the character jack that was a reflection of his true self but not a mirror image. He then thought that maybe if Jack had a child with psychic abilities, and a wife similiar to his own, that maybe he would have a real thriller. So in the Stanley Hotel, Stephen King got lost in the halls and that's when the idea struck him. He then began his world wide sold book. So now if you were to go to probably any bookstore, you'd find THE SHINING and if you were to go to any movie store, you'd find both the miniseries and the movie there to rent(that is unless someone hasn't already checked it out).

Rating:
Summary: Shines on
Review: Although many would pick Stanley Kubrich's film (1980)over the 4hr. 20min. film, I think wouldn't. I did enjoy Stanley's yet i feel that it lacked the "pizazz" that the book and the miniseries truly held. The book was wonderful in my opinion mostly because it held some truth and horror that most books often lack. The character Jack Torrance was made to be similiar to Stephen King but different enough to where it would be easy to distinguish them. When Stephen King went up to The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, he was enspired to write the -probably most famous- book of Stephen King's. Stephen King was a recovering alcoholic and he was surprised by how he could sometimes be so angry with his children because he himself had not had a father most of his life so he thought of the character jack that was a reflection of his true self but not a mirror image. He then thought that maybe if Jack had a child with psychic abilities, and a wife similiar to his own, that maybe he would have a real thriller. So in the Stanley Hotel, Stephen King got lost in the halls and that's when the idea struck him. He then began his world wide sold book. So now if you were to go to probably any bookstore, you'd find THE SHINING and if you were to go to any movie store, you'd find both the miniseries and the movie there to rent(that is unless someone hasn't already checked it out).

Rating:
Summary: EXTRA CREDIT
Review: THE SHINING READER IS A COLLECTION OF 15 CRITICAL ESSAYS ON STEPHEN KING's THE SHINING EDITED BY ANTHONY MAGISTRALE. THE ESSAYS ARE BROKEN DOWN INTO THREE CATEGORIES : THE SHINING AS TEXT (6), THE SHINING's LITERARY TRADITION (6). AND THE SHINING AS FILM (3). WHILE THIS MIGHT BE A LITTLE MUCH FOR THE CASUAL FAN, IT IS GEARED MORE TO THE HARDCORE KING/SHINING FAN LURKING INSIDE SOME OF US. WHEN THIS OUT OF PRINT BOOK SHOWED UP IN MY MAILBOX, I COULDN'T WAIT TO FINISH WHAT I WAS CURRENTLY READING SO THAT I COULD BEGIN THIS ONE. TO MAKE THINGS EVEN MORE INTERESTING, A COPY OF ABC's THE SHINING MINISERIES ON VHS ARRIVED TO FURTHER ENGROSS ME IN ALL THINGS SHINING. A FAN? SURE BUT THAT'S WHO THIS LITTLE BIT OF EXTRA CREDIT IS FOR. IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, IT WAS WORTH FINDING THIS OUT OF PRINT BOOK TO SATISFY THAT GUILTY LITTLE LITERARY PLEASURE SHORT OF READING THE ORIGINAL BOOK ONE MORE TIME.