Jul 8, 2026 · 56 min · 10 segments
Welcome to the latest episode of The Stephen King Thing, a special spin-off series from the Being Bookish podcast. In this part of the show, Lorraine and I are dedicating our time to exploring the…
Sorry.
I'm going to try not to laugh.
And it was published in 1977.
And while it could be said that the 1980 film by Stanley Kubrick starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall... was globally received incredibly positively, Stephen King did not feel the same way.
He felt that many of the central themes in his book were ignored and probably was a bit of frustration at the fact that his own submitted script was actually rejected.
Oh, God, I...
Yeah, so this is the story of, I'm going to take my copy of the book from the back.
This is, there is a reason that I actually love this book.
And I know that you found the same when you read it.
Danny is only five years old, but in the words of old Mr. Halloran, he is a shiner, a glow with psychic voltage.
When his father becomes caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, Danny's visions grow out of control.
So, yeah.
I absolutely love this book and I'm not sure I can say much that isn't positive about it.
I will say the core thing for me was the focus that we had.
Dani was the central focus and I do think that that doesn't translate well onto the film.
But we are talking the book here.
So what did you think when you read it? Because it's been a while since you read it as well.
Yeah, I read it, God, maybe in the 90s or noughties.
It was a long time ago anyway.
And it's a good job I read slash audio booked it.
And...
Sorry.
I'm going to try not to laugh.
And it was published in 1977.
And while it could be said that the 1980 film by Stanley Kubrick starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall... was globally received incredibly positively, Stephen King did not feel the same way.
He felt that many of the central themes in his book were ignored and probably was a bit of frustration at the fact that his own submitted script was actually rejected.
Oh, God, I...
Yeah, so this is the story of, I'm going to take my copy of the book from the back.
This is, there is a reason that I actually love this book.
And I know that you found the same when you read it.
Danny is only five years old, but in the words of old Mr. Halloran, he is a shiner, a glow with psychic voltage.
When his father becomes caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, Danny's visions grow out of control.
So, yeah.
I absolutely love this book and I'm not sure I can say much that isn't positive about it.
I will say the core thing for me was the focus that we had.
Dani was the central focus and I do think that that doesn't translate well onto the film.
But we are talking the book here.
So what did you think when you read it? Because it's been a while since you read it as well.
Yeah, I read it, God, maybe in the 90s or noughties.
It was a long time ago anyway.
And it's a good job I read slash audio booked it.
And...
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