Before doctor sleep, there was the shining, a classic of modern american horror from the undisputed master, stephen king. The shining, gothic horror novel by stephen king, first published in 1977. By typewriting away furiously, he leads wendy to believe that he is writing a. Now, the stanley hotel is synonymous with ghosts, and guided tours of the hotels paranormal hotspots are offered during both the day and night. Hardcover paperback trade kindle audio movie tv miniseries dvd. The death is also nothing like jacks fate in the novelization of the shining, written by stephen king. The shining is a gothic horror novel by stephen king, first published in 1977. Even though stephen king claims in the opening of the shining that the overlook hotel is not based on an actual hotel, king reportedly thought of the idea for the novel while staying at the stanley hotel in estes park, colorado. It seems, poetically apt that, at the time stanley kubrick was describing arabesques rounds space stations and star corridors and the history of human consciousness in space odyssey, michael snow was making wavelength, the birth of a.
The shining study guide contains a biography of stanley kubrick, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Seriously exhaustive analysis of the shining shows kubrick. And that awareness can shape the emerging story structure. Her gullible nature, her compassion for danny and her husband seems to be her only flaws. Review and analysis posted on may 25, 20 by carl 21 comments stanley kubrick remains one of americas strongest filmmakers best known for classics such as 2001. Yet he faces tragic flaws in the story that causes him to lose his mind. Find summaries for every chapter, including a the shining chapter summary chart to help you understand the book. Moving his wife, wendy, and their son, danny, into it for the. The shinings 1980 hedge maze chase is one of the most iconic endings in horror history. Ullman describes the hotels layout and notes it has hosted presidents and millionaire moguls in its nearly 70year history under a variety of. Doctor sleep is a 20 horror novel by american writer stephen king and the sequel to his 1977 novel the shining.
Sep 20, 2019 one example would be the shining the jack torrance character is the protagonist at the beginning of the movie but once the evil forcesentity that haunts or indeed is the overlook hotel he becomes the nemesis and from then on were rooting for wendy and danny. Oct 09, 2016 the shining is a supernatural horror novel written by stephen king and published in 1977. Check out his first column below, exploring the shining. Seriously exhaustive analysis of the shining shows. The story of this film is based off the book, the shining by stephen king. Theres the sense that a great talent has been wasted. The shining is a stanley kubrick film, and as such it makes impeccableif also horrificsense. 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. As the offseason caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, hell have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his. 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 hotel will soon close for the winter, but cant be left unattended. The book reached the first position on the new york times best seller list for print and ebook fiction combined, hardcover fiction, and ebook fiction. Once a writer taps into the deepest level of a protagonists need, what i like to call their unconscious goal, that translates into that characters psychological end point. The the shining quotes below are all either spoken by jack torrance or refer to jack torrance.
As the offseason caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, hell have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. Jack torrance character analysis in the shining litcharts. The shining begins with jack torrance being interviewed for the caretakers job at the overlook hotel. King and his wife, tabitha, spent one night at the hotelwhere they stayed in room 217in 1974 while living in boulder, colorado.
To watch my previous video analysis of the shining, based upon some of the concepts described in the text of the article, scroll to the bottom of this page. Interpretations, also known as theories or readings are fan based interpretations of the meanings of hidden themes found in the 1980 stanley kubrick film version of the 1977 stephen king novel the shining. With ghosts, visions and psychological horror, the shining by stephen king is a very good horror story, i would say one of his best, right up there with the likes of salems lot which is another sk novel that i recommend if you enjoy horror. Furthermore, it includes a scenebyscene analysis, which provides possible answers to the questions the audience is left to ponder once they have seen the film. Many of the interpretations of the shining, especially those on the room 237 documentary have been mistakenly labeled as conspiracy theories. The main character jack torrance is a violent, recovering alcoholic who has broken his son, dannys arm while drunk before. It was made into a film by stanley kubrick in 1980. And there is good reason for viewers to puzzle over the film 33 years after its release.
Eclipsed perhaps only by its 1980 film adaptation, the novel is one of the most popular and enduring horror stories of all time. Buy study guide all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. Lets take a close look at some of the characters in stephen kings the shining. The stanley hotelwhere king reportedly came up with the idea for the shining had no history of hauntings or paranormal occurrences until after its connection with the famous book.
Poefamous for the narrative poem, the ravenwrote numerous short stories, including the murders in the rue morgue, and its sequel, the mystery of marie roget, which was inspired by the reallife murder of mary rogers in new york city in 1841. It was the twelfth feature film by kubrick and was met with colossal critical success. Jack does not start out on the path to becoming the terrifying antagonist he is by the end of the book, it is his. The shining tends to be opaque, even though its corridors are welllit. 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. The shining is a supernatural horror novel written by stephen king and published in 1977. Analysis of the shining, by stanley kubrick essay bartleby. Immediately download the the shining summary, chapterbychapter analysis, book notes, essays, quotes, character descriptions, lesson plans, and more everything you need for studying or teaching the shining. 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.
I recently found what is arguably the most exhaustive. The setting is the overlook, a palatial resort on a colorado mountain top, snowbound and closed down for the. The setting and characters are influenced by kings personal experiences, including both his visit to the. Stephen kings the shining, published in 1977, is a horror novel. Jack torrances new job at the overlook hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. Jack instinctively dislikes the hotel manager, stuart ullman, and the feeling is mutual. Jack finds a scrapbook in the basement outlining the hotels seedy history and grows obsessed with writing a book about the overlook, even if it costs him his job and his friendship with al, since jack promised he wouldnt write about hotel. The shining is a tragedy, and wed be remiss to classify the ending otherwise. Home essay samples entertainment movie analysis the shining. The shining revealed examines the narrative behind stanley kubricks 1980 masterpiece along with the various themes and motifs weaved into the film. He is sympathetic and has great potential to be a good person a good father, a good husband, and a good writer. 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. Drama analysis of the shining the shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed by stanley kubrick. Jack is blown away, imaging the scene of wealth and splendor.
This analysis was a long time coming, considering its not only one i had been intending to do for years and even hinted at in a previous video, but also because its the film that everybody has. The book is more psychologically disturbing, thrilling, and all of those are sprinkled with touches of spooks. Jack torrance interviews for a job as the winter caretaker at the overlook hotel, a remote resort in colorado built between 1907 and 1909. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the shining by stanley kubrick. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of the shining by stephen king. Today, the shining occupies a legendary place in film history and is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest horror films. The final, terrible shot of jack on the ground, his frozen face forever stuck in its maniacal, upwardlooking openmouth gaze, instantly freezes itself into the brain of. Written, directed, and produced by stanley kubrick, the shining was released by warner brothers in 1980 and based on stephen kings novel of the same name. Stephen king characters wendy torrance she is jacks wife. Jacks central goal throughout the shining is to obtain the time and space to become a successful writer in order to escape the menial work to which hes been reduced. 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.
The shining splitvolume the shining, doctor sleep, and the shining doctor sleep. It was in this apartment, also, that there stood a gigantic clock of ebony. The tension felt when jack jack nicholson chases danny danny lloyd through the hotel grounds is incredible. The setting and characters are influenced by kings personal experiences. A presold prefab blockbuster, what with kings carrie hitting the moviehouses, salems lot being lensed, the shining itself sold to warner bros. 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 get to the hotel open, because of all the snow. The film version made big changes to the character of jack overall, and subsequently, many elements of the story were completely modified to better represent the character the picture was working with. The unmasking will happen at the stroke of midnight. Book vs movie analysis this essay has been submitted by a student. A sequel, titled doctor sleep, was published in 20 summary. Jack torrance, his wife wendy, and their young son danny move into the overlook hotel, where jack has been hired as the.
The multitude of subliminal details in the shining contained in this analysis have barely ever been described by the films cast and crew during interviews. The eerie hotel combined with music and sound effects played a major role in the film, giving it a sense of paranoia. Doctor sleep won the 20 bram stoker award for best novel the novel was adapted into a film of the same name. Published in 1977, it is kings third published novel and first hardback bestseller. While expressing true kubrick style, the films utilisation of the temporal and. The shining is a horror novel by american author stephen king. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one.
The shining stanley kubrick, 1980 since its creation in 1980 by the late, great stanley kubrick, the shining has since developed a cult following and is now considered to be one of the greatest and most terrifying horror films ever created. May 31, 20 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. 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. The shining is the story of jack torrance, who is employed as the caretaker of the gargantuan overlook hotel in colorado one winter. Nov 15, 2016 this analysis was a long time coming, considering its not only one i had been intending to do for years and even hinted at in a previous video, but also because its the film that everybody has. Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang. His flaws work together to create the novels antagonist, whether it is his temper, his alcohol addiction or his drunk fathers abusive nature. The shining study guide from litcharts the creators of. In, the shining, it is often argued that jack starts the story as the primary antagonist, one that he would have gone down his path regardless of his choices, however, king breaks down jack torrances flaws and inner demons that allow him to be a tragic hero. How does the ending of the shining differ from stephen. He puts the invitation back in the book and starts reading the scrapbook. Renowned director stanley kubrick was a master of his time, an auteur if you will, who drew his inspiration from various literary works. The overlooks manager, ullman, is concerned about giving jack the job.
How does the ending of the shining differ from stephen king. However, the text version is a much more thorough breakdown of the film and includes video stills and other research sources. The suspense, blood and gore made the film so intriguing. Stephen king has also written doctor sleep which is the shining book two. It was his third published novel, after carrie and salems lot.
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