Stephen King is gearing up for the release of his sequel novel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, and naturally doing a few interviews. It’s no secret the author never really cared for director Stanley Kubrick’s version of his classic novel but we’ve never heard this one before.
King did an interview with the BBC about the sequel book (hitting stores later this month) and the discussion eventually turned to the adaptation of the original novel’s adaptation.
“Shelley Duvall as Wendy is really one of the most misogynistic characters ever put on film, she’s basically just there to scream and be stupid and that’s not the woman that I wrote about.”
I read the book. Wendy was a weak woman who didn't have sense to dump her drunk, crazy husband until he went after her with a croquet mallet. Kubrick didn't waste time on Wendy's inner monolouges but he pretty much got the gist. Also, in Kubrick's movie Wendy saved herself and and her son. In the book they were saved by a man.
ReplyDeleteI'd been thinking of re-reading the book; I also remember Wendy as a doormat but I thought maybe I was influenced by the movie. I think I'll skip it - there are too many new books to revisit anything that unexceptional.
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