We All Shine On
    Stephen King's third book, The Shining (1977), may be his best work and will, in all probability, weather the test of time as an American classic.
    The tale focuses on a badly damaged family attempting to hold together while caretaking a Colorado resort shuttered for the winter.
    It combines the real-life horrors of child abuse and alcoholism with supernatural terrors in a seamless meld that cannot fail to have a deep impact on the reader.
    In translating the novel to the screen, legendary director Stanley Kubrick took great license. He made it clear that he considered The Shining “by no means a serious literary work.”  However, he felt the plot was enthralling and, working with novelist Diane Johnson, fashioned a script based on several key scenes in the book. 
    Some of the key characters, including Jack Torrance, are altered. In selecting Jack Nicholson for the role, Kubrick set a tone that King felt was somewhat at odds with the author’s vision of Torrance as “an ordinary man going crazy.” King felt Martin Sheen, Michael Moriarty or Jon Voight would have been a better fit.
    Along with several film critics, King criticized the choice of Shelley Duvall as Wendy Torrance, referring to the decision as “an example of absolutely grotesque casting.” However, Kubrick defended the decision to use Duvall, saying “she brought an instantly believable characterization to her part,” and it’s fair to wonder how much of Duvall’s somewhat shrill portrayal is the result of Kubrick’s coaching.
    While the movie thrills and is technically excellent, some complain that it lacks warmth. Others say it lacks the touches of a genuine Stephen King work.
    Still, Kubrick's vision of life at the Overlook Hotel and Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the tragic Torrance in 1980's The Shining are icons of horror-film history. It is packed with mesmerizing movie magic: the scenes of Danny pedaling his tricycle through the long, carpeted hallways of the ghost-choked hotel, of Jack's slow deterioration into madness (including the scenes in the hotel bar and the one where Wendy discovers all his writing has been for naught), and of the climactic chase through the snowy hedge maze, pitting the father-turned-bogeyman against the vulnerable little boy.
    The Shining was a blockbuster hit, taking in $40 million in the first few weeks.
    For those interested in visiting Kubrick's Overlook, the site used in the filming is not in Colorado, but in Mount Hood, Oregon, about 60 miles east of Portland. The place is called Timberline Lodge and it has a website.
    King’s ultimate dissatisfaction with Kubrick’s take on The Shining led King to write his own script for a 1997 TV miniseries.