Some blatherations* on the novels and movie adaptations of Stephen King’s ‘The Shining’ and ‘Doctor Sleep’.
Getting to grips with the dark stuff of Stephen King’s novels and short stories is a major challenge for filmmakers. This hasn’t dissuaded many from trying. Some have succeeded but many have failed, some miserably.
Metacritic helpfully lists the ratings of 45 movie adaptations. Entertainment Weekly’s assessment of ‘Riding The Bullet’ (2004) is that the film “falls short of its source” and this is a common criticism for other adaptations. One reviewer wrote that the only scary thing about Creepshow 2 is the prospect of Creepshow 3!
The difficulty of making convincing on screen versions of King’s works can largely be put down to the author’s steadfast refusal to gloss over the grimmest aspects of the human psyche. King relishes the prospect of delving deeply into dead zones like a persistent psychoanalyst. By these means he uncovers a veritable plethora of dark secrets, frustrated sexuality, sadistic urges and murderous inclinations. Continue reading
One of the characters in Sir Kazuo Ishiguro’s eighth novel says “It’s not faith you need. Only rationality.” Yet, while never undermining the importance of pure science, Ishiguro is primarily concerned with how humanity and machines can co-exist healthily.
The Book of Dust Volume 1 – ‘La Belle Sauvage’, was a prequel to Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy. It told how, as a baby, Lyra Belacqua/Silvertongue was saved from the deadly agents of the Magisterium, an authoritarian church that has striking similarities to the Catholic Church.
In the foreword to the 25th anniversary edition of this mind-expanding Booker-prize winning novel, Ben Okri explains his creative purpose: “All things to do with spirit compel art beyond the rim of possibilities. The visible must be used to invoke the invisible. This compels our art to go beyond itself and find a new language for impossibility.”
The young unnamed backpacker who narrates this novella is searching for an escape from routine and predictability. This quest takes him from Italy to New South Wales in Australia – all the way to Byron Bay to be precise.
