Movie better than the book?

I definitely agree. It was somewhat interesting to read the book afterwards to see the "real" explanation for everything, but the movie absolutely stands alone. Kubrick does well at putting the viewer into the spot of the man or ape experiencing these things, not understanding. Unlike the book spelling out every damn thing.

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Mouchette

He’s right though. There are techniques and aesthetics employed in literature which simply can not be translated to film and vice versa. Writers like Melville, Joyce, Faulkner, etc. utilize literary techniques which could never fully translate to film. Meme Wolfe is another writer who comes to mind. You can do base plot and narrative but you’d be giving too much away based on visual clues alone.

I’m surprised there isn’t more talk about The Shining. Great movie, shit book.