> King's novel is a relatively straightforward horror story / thriller, with some elements that go a little bit over the top.
Interesting how we could see it so differently. I think the book does an amazing job of showing the struggle of alcoholism, and more generally, how good people can do evil things. How we can be a good person that cares for and love others, and how circumstance, inner demons, and our choices can lead us to hurt the ones we love. Jack in the book clearly loves his family, but struggles with anger issues, impulse control, and alcoholism, mostly stemming from the abuse he endured at the hands of his violent, alcoholic father.
The ability to be inside Jack’s head, and King’s great writing, show Jack to be a man desperately trying overcome his trauma for his family that he deeply loves. His struggles to build trust that are undone in a moment of uncontrolled anger, while extreme, are very relatable and feel real. The Overlook is a supernatural externalization of inner demons. The ghosts poisoning his mind against his family represents paranoid thinking and trust issues that come from childhood trauma. He loved his father and all his father did was hurt him, and so eventually Wendy and Danny would hurt him too.
The movie did not explore any of this. Movie Jack barely tolerates his family from the beginning, and it isn’t much of a struggle to make him hate them. The movie takes the same basic story and uses it to explore very different things. I think the book and the movie are excellent and I don’t even really try to compare them, since they aren’t even trying to do the same thing.
Interesting how we could see it so differently. I think the book does an amazing job of showing the struggle of alcoholism, and more generally, how good people can do evil things. How we can be a good person that cares for and love others, and how circumstance, inner demons, and our choices can lead us to hurt the ones we love. Jack in the book clearly loves his family, but struggles with anger issues, impulse control, and alcoholism, mostly stemming from the abuse he endured at the hands of his violent, alcoholic father.
The ability to be inside Jack’s head, and King’s great writing, show Jack to be a man desperately trying overcome his trauma for his family that he deeply loves. His struggles to build trust that are undone in a moment of uncontrolled anger, while extreme, are very relatable and feel real. The Overlook is a supernatural externalization of inner demons. The ghosts poisoning his mind against his family represents paranoid thinking and trust issues that come from childhood trauma. He loved his father and all his father did was hurt him, and so eventually Wendy and Danny would hurt him too.
The movie did not explore any of this. Movie Jack barely tolerates his family from the beginning, and it isn’t much of a struggle to make him hate them. The movie takes the same basic story and uses it to explore very different things. I think the book and the movie are excellent and I don’t even really try to compare them, since they aren’t even trying to do the same thing.