I'm glad I could be of service! Check back in and let me know how you liked it.

Yes! A lot of the prior history is just glossed over, or just not mentioned at all. Jack's history with Al Shockley, how he got fired from his job for assaulting a student, why he decided to stop drinking, his history with his father, etc.

Interesting! I've never seen the miniseries before. I'll have to look into it.

I have read it before, but thanks for the reminder! I should actually read it again since I just finished the book.

I think one of the main differences between the book and the movie is that it seems to attribute what is happening to the Torrance's more to them going insane aka cabin fever, as well as Jack's alcoholism and violent personality. Meanwhile the book is more focused on the supernatural aspect of it. Yes, Jack is also an alcoholic and an abuser, but he is generally actively fighting those impulses at first. As the hotel takes hold of him, he slowly gets worse, until in the end he just isn't there anymore at all. The hotel takes over.

It's worth it! I didn't realise that I had forgotten so much of it over time. And so many concepts that I didn't grasp the first time around.

I have read Doctor Sleep before, but it was so long after I'd first read The Shining. I'm sure that reading it now, right after reading The Shining, that it would be a whole different experience.