Clare’s Reviews > The Shining > Status Update

"He had done terrible things, breaking Danny's arm had been a terrible thing, but if a man reforms, doesn't he deserve to have his reformation credited? And if he doesn't get it, doesn't he deserve the game to go with the name?"

Nope. Not even a little, you self-pitying asshole. It's so hard to tell where King thinks the Overlook's influence begins or ends, because Jack is kind of just constantly terrible.

Powering through this. I get the sense that King wants Jack to be flawed, but ultimately redeemable. Honestly, though? He just seems like a run-of-the-mill idiot abuser. Like, yeah, don't put a wasp nest in your son's room even if you bombed it. That's just plain stupid, and the fact that you'd be angry at anyone but yourself about that means you're just a narcissist asshole. I think Kubrick was right.

I don't know if I can read this. This is a seriously upsetting start. I knew Jack was abusive, but shit. As a mom of a small child, I don't actually know if I can stomach this.