By: Allison Urban
This past October I read Stephen King’s The Shining for the first time. This was my first experience with any of King’s work and I had never seen the movie, so I was ready to be terrified by a story I had yet to experience. I read the book over the course of a week, and each night I had troubles falling asleep, thinking that Jack Torrance was standing outside my door ready to attack me. Stephen King has a way of building suspense that I have never encountered in any other horror novel, and the backstory of his characters makes them all the more frightening. Overall, The Shining was a fantastic book and one I would read again in a heartbeat.
After reading the book, I decided I would finally watch the movie. Stanley Kubrick’s version is THE iconic horror movie, and I went in with very high expectations. However, “The Shining” fell short for a number of reasons. The movie strays quite far from King’s story in ways that I could not get past in order to thoroughly enjoy it.
One of the differences between the book and the movie that bothered me the most may seem inconsequential, but I think the movie lost a lot of suspense by leaving it out. In Stephen King’s version, large hedge animals acted as the protectors of the Overlook Hotel, where five year old Danny Torrance and his parents were staying for the winter. These topiary animals, which included two lions, a dog, and a rabbit, would attack anyone who seemed to be “threatening” the Overlook. The hitch is that they could only move when they were not being looked at. There were multiple scenes where main characters were being stalked by the animals and did not know how to escape while maintaining eye contact. This was super creepy because of the idea of the unknown; if you aren’t looking over your shoulder then something is bound to be there ready to pounce. In the movie, the topiary animals were completely cut out, and instead Kubrick added a hedge maze. At the end of the movie, Jack chased Danny through the maze in attempts to kill him, but even this wasn’t as scary as the topiary animals. The family, in the book, was essentially locked inside because of the threat of giant plant animals.
Another major difference between the novel and film was the characterization of both Wendy Torrance (Jack’s wife) and Danny. In the novel, Wendy Torrance is a very courageous, heroic mother who would do absolutely anything to protect her son. She faces multiple injuries towards the end of the story and still continues to fight back against Jack. In the film, she is much more passive and lets Jack push her around. She makes excuses for his aggressive behavior and lets him curse and scream at her. At the end, she does try to escape Jack, but she does so out of fear, not out of power. She is only trying to survive. Even King himself said that Kubrick’s version of Wendy was “one of the most misogynistic characters even put on film.” Danny also differs between the two versions. In the book, he is very intelligent and kind, but in the movie, he is your average little boy who is just trying to behave. In the original and the adaptation, he has a power called “the Shining,” hence the title. But in the book, this power is much more advanced and actually works to help him escape the evil of the Overlook. Changing both of these characters made what was once a character-driven novel into a plot-driven movie. In my opinion, the movie should have been less focused on Jack as a monster and more focused on the family dynamics that were prevalent in the novel. None of these characters, in King’s version, were inherently evil, but Kubrick didn’t seem to agree with this interpretation.
I don’t think Kubrick’s adaptation was necessarily a “bad” movie; it is just very different than the book. Jack Nicholson and Shelley DuVall are both amazing actors and really brought their versions of the characters to life on screen. However, if you have strong connections to either the film or the movie, you may have trouble enjoying the opposite version. If you have not seen or read either, I would highly recommend the book! Everyone needs to experience Stephen King’s writing at some point in their lives.
The Course of Horror 
Hi Allison,
As someone who as only seen the movie, it was very interesting to read about the book and what it does differently. I am not surprised to hear that you appreciated the book’s version more, and I feel like this is common with books that are made into movies. Usually, the “original” format is better than the new format. I was really surprised by your discussion of the topiary animals. It sounds like this was a huge part of the book, so it is very interesting that the director made the decision to completely cut them out of the film. Also, I am so surprised that the hedge maze was not in the book! That is such an iconic scene in the film, arguably one of the most famous from the film, so I am shocked. Great post!
Allison, this is such an interesting take on the film in comparison to the book. While I have only seen the movie, I have read about the many differences between the two and do plan on reading King’s original novel. I too picked up on Wendy’s submissive and passive behavior when watching the film, and would love to see/read a version where she is stronger and more active, as she appears to be in the book. Not that I would ever suggest remaking such an iconic film, but I think it would definitely be interesting to see a version that is, as you said, more character driven, and really relies on what appear to be the far more complex versions of Wendy and Danny found in the novel.
While I’ve also only seen the movie, I really enjoyed learning about the differences between it and the novel. Going off the previous comment about Wendy’s submissiveness, I actually disagree with wanting to see a more powerful version of her. When I watched the movie, I think her inability to actually do anything to effectively protect herself or Danny added to the dread and the frustration surrounding their situation. That being said, I do agree with you in that I would have loved to have seen Danny’s more advanced power as well as more emphasis on family Dynamics as opposed to Jack and isolation as the only monsters. Great post!
For someone who loves horror, I’m disappointed in myself for never reading one of Steven King’s novels. I’ve actually never READ horror before this class. I only watched movies and was very surprised when the readings in this class actually scared me.
I understand why you didn’t like the movie as much as the book, as that happens with plenty of films. I’ve never seen the movie either and I heard it’s iconic so I have to watch that when I have a chance.
I like that you added the quote about steven kings thoughts about the movie. It’s cool to hear his perspective of the movie since he’s the one who wrote the book.
Thank you for sharing this review! I definitely have to get my hands on this book.
I agree so strongly with your frustrations with the film, particularly with the hedge maze. I felt like this is something that could have been a huge source of suspense in the film and I am not sure why Kubrick would leave it out, although there must be some reason. If you loved the Shining and Stephen King in general, I really recommend reading Misery next. The more snow outside when you read, the closer to home it’ll hit.