Michael Collings On Kubrick's Shining

Many who read The Shining and then watched the movie left deeply disappointed. Of course, I saw the movie as a child or teenager long before I read the book. So Kubrick's version was already stamped in my minds-eye as the official telling. I was certainly surprised at the complexity and strength of the story when told by Stephen King.

.

If there is a Stephen King scholar out there, it's got to be Dr. Michael Collings. He doesn't simply make connections to the Dark Tower, or show us how the books are innerconnected; Collings is able to dive pretty deep when it comes to King.

.

Dr. Collings has a very enlightening article on The Shining, Kubrick and King simply titled, "On Kubrick's The Shining."

.

By the way, I'm currently reading a book --textbook, I think -- titled: The Many Facets Of Stephen King. Good stuff, and I'll review it soon.

.

Concerning Kubrick's The Shining, Collings takes time to explain where Kubrick was coming from. Why did Kubrick fumble when given such strong matereal? (Collings will argue that Kubrick didn't stumble or fumble at all). Dr. Collings seems to think that Kubrick's need to give the work his own stamp ended up changing the heartbeat of the story. Collings writes that Kubrick "adds his own imagistic complexity to the film" and he concludes that "at every level from script to casting to set design, Kubrick imbues The Shining with his own personality, his own vision."

.

Beyond simply digging into Kubrick, Collings gives us the added gift of showing us what makes the Shining such a strong text. Collings offers three thoughts: First, the novels ability to draw in other texts naturally. Second, the unique ability to ease the reader into Jack's head, until for both Jack and to some degree the reader -- fiction and reality are lost. Finally, he notes the novels ability to create symbol. By the way, the most important section of "symbol" that Collings discusses is wasps -- something Kubrick left out all together.

.

In particular Collings interest is why it is such a popular novel for University level scholarship. In fact, Dr. Collings calls the Shining one of the most "teachable" novels for a classroom text. He also notes that the novel is popular in the classroom because of its many literary nods. Collings notes, "It becomes in some senses a compendium of the literature which has preceded it, summarizing and transforming multiple themes, techniques and moves through its own narrative of hauntings and madness."

.

Of course, the primary subject at hand is Kubrick's version of the Shining. Collings deals with several of the major diversions from the King story. For instance, the decision to use a hedge maze instead of a topiary garden. Collings writes, "Again and again, Kubrick replaces critical points in the novel, constructing his own narrative that touches only tangentially on King's."

.

Collings cites David Schow as saying that Kubrick "proved himself incapable of handling King's material." That is not Collings conclusion, though. I'll not say quite what his conclusion was -- check out the link.

.

Collings has been writing on King since 1985, and hasn't lost interest yet. According to charnelhouse (Kevin Quigley's wbesite), Michael R. Collings is author of the following books:

• Stephen King as Richard Bachman (1985)
• The Shorter Work of Stephen King (1985; with David Engebretson)
• The Stephen King Concordance (1985; with David Engebretson)
• The Many Facets of Stephen King (1986)
• The Films of Stephen King (1986)
• The Annotated Guide to Stephen King (1986)
• The Stephen King Phenomenon (1987)
• The Work of Stephen King (1996)
• Scaring Us to Death (1997)
• Horror Plum'd (2003)
• Stephen King Is Richard Bachman (2006)

Read Collings essay at: http://www.starshineandshadows.com/essays/2007-05-30.html