  "The Shining" I've seen the movie version of Stephen King's "The Shining" many, many times over the years (I even own the DVD now) and it's always been a favorite (the Jack Nicholson version, I haven't seen the other yet). Since I liked the movie so much, I've been wanting to read King's book (for a while now), and last night, I finally finished reading it. I enjoyed reading the book, but having seen the movie so many times, it was eaier to pick out faults I found with the book.
For one, there are some things that I found almost silly, like the animal-shaped hedges that move and attack, but also the whole premise of the actual hotel itself trying to kill people just seemed like nonsense to me. Also, I thought the whole "Horace Derwent" element was very anti-climactic and I didn't think it was reasonable for "Wendy" to let her son go off with a strange man she'd just met an hour before and sit in his car with him for 5-10 minutes. Seemed out-of-character to me, but I guess that's just nit-picking. More nit-picking: I really couldn't visualize the characters in the book as they were written, because of the movie. For instance, "Wendy" is supposed to be a blonde, but I saw dark-haired Shelley Duvall the whole time.
And Nicholson, and Scatman Crothers, and the kid from the movie... On the bright side, the characters in the book are much better defined, you get more pre-hotel insight into their lives, Danny is expanded upon even more (as is Tony) and is made to be the central figure in the story, as he should be. The book held my attention throughout, was never boring, and there were several parts of the book that actually sent chills up my spine too, which is rare for a book.
I think I like the movie ending better, with the chase through the maze (which wasn't in the book), but the first half of the book is better (where you learn more about Jack's past and it's focused more on Danny). I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet. 
