I love Stephen King’s work. Yeah, that’s what
I meant.
His interviews are pretty amusing.
This:
Stephen King On Twilight, 50 Shades of Grey, Lovecraft & More (55:51)
And this:
Has Stephen King Won Writing?
And I love his insights on the creative lifestyle, pantsing
vs. plotting, and substance abuse in
Since this was my third read of The Shining I thought I’d listen to the audiobook. A good idea on
paper, maybe, but it turns out I read a little faster to myself than Campbell Scott does
aloud, so that wasn’t really saving me time. And I missed Stephen King’s voice.
I couldn’t hear it while someone else was reading. So I read it the usual way.
Again. And I liked it again.
I used to have a quote on my classroom wall that read, “No
man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's
not the same man.” ― Heraclitus
That’s how I felt about reading The Shining again. It was
not the same book for me this time. I’m not the same person. I’m a mom now. It
took me three days to get through the arm-breaking scene this time because I had
to keep walking away from it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other parents felt
similarly. I think in my pre-kids days I found the same scene upsetting, but probably
not as nauseating.
You know what else I am? A fault-finder. I should really
knock that off because I think (whatever…I KNOW) it’s getting in the way of my enjoyment
of reading. Stephen King is SO GOOD at writing disturbing stuff, but I totally
got hung up on his classic outsider misconception of how much snow falls in
Colorado. “By November the snow up there in the mountains would be higher than
the beetle’s roof…maybe higher than three beetles stacked on top of each other”
(33). Colorado is a high desert. Sure a freak storm could
dump snow like that, but you know what's a more common sight in Estes Park in December?
The ground. Snow falls, then after a week or two it either melts off or
sublimates because it’s too damned dry to stick around. Stephen King lives in
Bangor, Maine, where the average annual snowfall is 56 inches. (www.bestplaces.net/climate/city/maine/bangor).
You know what it is in Estes Park? 34 inches. If all the snow for the entire
year fell at once, it would just about reach a VW’s door handle. But, whatevs,
it was a snow year for the Torrance family.
I was able to get over the Overlook not ACTUALLY being the
Stanley Hotel—the hotel that inspired the book. “Some of the most beautiful
resort hotels in the world are located in Colorado, but the hotel in these
pages is based on none of them. The Overlook and the people associated with it
exist wholly within the author’s imagination." So the Overlook is in the
middle of nowhere and NOT actually right behind a Safeway and a McDonalds. And in
StephenKingLand, Colorado gets a lot more precipitation. You know what else
Colorado has in StephenKingLand? Caribou.
“We might see some
deer. Or caribou” (61). “They had seen caribou tracks in the snow and once the
caribou themselves, a group of five standing motionlessly below the security
fence” (213).
I double checked this to be certain, because at first I was
like, “What? Caribou?” But yeah. Not here. “The last herd of caribou to roam as
far south as Colorado probably lived during the Pleistocene” http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4514208?source=rss
I have seen a real live caribou in Colorado. Someone up at
Keystone had one on a leash and he tied it to a tree while he stopped in at a
bar. The caribou waited outside like a patient Labrador. That’s because caribou
(reindeer) are domesticable. If they weren’t, Santa would have to get sled
dogs.
We have elk though. They’re a lot bigger. I don’t think I’d
try to walk one with a leash. They can be kind of mean.
Lesson: Even if your name is Stephen Effing King, do your
homework or you’ll irritate your readers. And the guy lived here (in Boulder)
when he wrote The Shining, but, you
know, in 1974 Al Gore hadn’t yet invented the internet.
King, Stephen. The Shining. New York: Anchor Books, 2012.
I want to hate you for poo-pooing on my idol, but, alas, I cannot. Your insights and research are spot on. And now, thanks to them, I cannot read a book without wondering if I should fact-check the weather...
ReplyDeleteBut, I do agree with your assertion that re-reading a book later in life will be a different experience than the previous time. The experiences we have had to that point serve to flavor the water, if you will. When I read it before, Jack was merely the crazy guy who runs around with a roque mallet. Now, he's a loving, if not sometimes raging, father who only wants what's best for the family.
People keep telling me to read Doctor Sleep, and I will (I'm next in line to rent the eBook from the library, and I'm almost a month ahead in my reading and movies!). I hope there's more redemption there for Jack, and that Danny can find meet his father once more...
Ugh. I'm so afraid for Danny. I haven't read Doctor Sleep yet, but my ebook of The Shining included the Prefatory Matters and Chapter One of the sequel. If course I read it. Now I'm on the wait list at my library too. Like father, like son?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKristin, I feel like Chad - why'd you have to go and RUIN The Shining for me? But, you're absolutely right - King should have known better, ESPECIALLY since he lived there for awhile. Oh well, I guess when you're a writer, you want to fictionalize EVERYTHING, even the weather and the wildlife.
ReplyDeleteI also liked what you said about reading the same book at different times of your life, and how that affected the "flavor" of
Kristin, Nice Post! You are a wealth of authentic information about Colorado wildlife! Please allow me to add the one and only mistake that jumped out from the page: the country doctor would absolutely not have the equipment or the ability to administer an EEG on Danny. The machine that is used to record brain activity is extremely expensive and requires an experienced technician to prepare the equipment, apply the electrodes and conduct the test. Some patients are admitted to the hospital for a full 24 hours of testing. A camera simultaneously records all patient movements during the EEG. Now interpreting the test is a full time job, and the doctor would need umpteen years of experience to do this. And a pediatric EEG requires a pediatric neurologist to examine the patient as well as the reading. So, I became very distracted by that scene in the Shining. I know more than I ever wanted to know about epilepsy in a child and the facts were simply wrong!
ReplyDeleteChris Daniels
ReplyDeleteKristin, loved you post! Sorry it took me 4 books before I commented on yours, lol. Trying to get to everyone's blog at least once!!! Normally, like Chad said above, I'd come at you for bashing King, he once upon a time was my FAVORITE AUTHOR. I still love him, but I just love YA more now than horror. This was my 2nd time reading the book, and like you, I found faults with it, but maybe for different reasons than you did. I've never visited or seen Colorado, so I'll take your word for it on snowfall and Caribou. Haha. And while I don't myself have children, the arm-breaking scene is certainly hard to take in.
It's not a perfect book by any means, but darn, King is so great at creating a sense of atmosphere and dread and making you really feel like the characters actually exist...even it takes him 300 pages to do it before the story actually starts. Lol.
Good post. That's why we are and always will be partners....for life....cause we make a good team. :)
P.S. - how lame are those hedge animals, eh? I prefer the hedge maze myself. But, to each his own.