Are we there yet?

I'm nearly done with The Shining. And it feels like it's taken forever.

Maybe because I watched the movie halfway through my reading. Maybe because I keep comparing what I'm reading to the movie that has been a part of my Halloween routine for two decades. Maybe because every night my husband asks, "So where are you now? Like, what part does it correlate to in the movie?" Maybe because I keep falling asleep after about 45 minutes of reading and my husband has to remove my Kindle from my limp hand and turn the lamp off.

But the stories are very different. VERY different. I understand now why Stephen King has always hated this movie that I've found endlessly fascinating - because the spirit is not quite the same.

Of course, there are details that are different, little setting tweaks and minor plot points adjusted. But the soul of the story just isn't the same. But the thing is, I love both. I love the way Kubrick used the most tooth-cracking, jarring music to create an atmosphere. I love the way King can make something as simple as a hedge animal make me grab my husband's hand across the bed for comfort. I love the way Kubrick's Jack seems completely insane, and I love the way King's Jack battles so hard to keep his fingertip-grip on his sanity, just to lose it in the end.

I love this story. However it's told.

I am, though, excited to finish up and move on to another book. Likely, it will be King's follow up featuring a grown-up Danny Torrance, Doctor Sleep.

Because once you've been touched by The Shining, you just can't let it go.