A surprisingly involving character study, I've been putting off reading The Shining, mainly because I love Stanley Kubrick's version, and knowing Stephen King was not a fan of that adaptation made me skeptical for the book being different for all the reason I might not appreciate. Fortunately my concern was proven to be redundant, as the novel is just as unsettling, if not even more emotional, than its cinematic counterpart.

The biggest difference centers around how Jack Torrance's character is presented; in the book he's a much more tragic, sympathetic character—a flawed individual with good intention, but got pushed over the edge by his unfortunate circumstance. I also really enjoy the depiction of Danny, while I understand the criticism of him not coming across like a child of his age, it does contribute an air of otherworldliness surrounding him (he does have the 'shine', after all), and I don't find the discrepancy distracting. The Overlook Hotel is just as ominous and malevolent of a presence as in the film, and it was a delight to find a lot of the filmed visuals already exist in text (when I assumed they were Kubrick's addition). Stephen King has packed the novel with abundance of hotel's lore, while deepening its world building, at times I find myself preferring the plot to keep progressing, rather than having characters reading documents for pages.

So in the end I love both versions of The Shining equally for vastly different reason: the film being a visceral, bleak yet poetic experience, while the book offers a more character-centric slow-burn with a little bit more optimism—which is possibly the best outcome I can imagine!