Talk:The Shining (novel)

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Restoring backstory (discussion?)[edit]

Per WP:PLOT I am uncertain how backstory and themes of the book would tie into this. However, it seems directly relevant to the plot per my review of the content on this that was removed.

Please see the below and let me know if the revision looks fine. Is this suitable enough to include in backstory in the plot. Please discuss. Full disclosure I am assisting editor @Natillathehun: on this.

In the book, developer Horace Derwent sold the hotel after losing $3 million in the year 1952 to a California group of investors. The investors ran the hotel for a period of two seasons and afterwards sold it to Mountain View. However, in 1957 Mountain View went bankrupt and the Overlook sat vacant for the rest of the decade. In 1961 the hotel was purchased by several award-winning writers and was used as a writing school for a year. The school was after that closed after a student committed suicide by jumping through a third story window.
In 1963 the hotel was purchased by a Las Vagas group called High Country who turned the hotel into a Key club. While under the ownership of High Country a high profile Los Vagus gangster and his two body guards (Tony Gienelli, Victor T. Boorman & Roger Macassi) are murdered in the Presidential suit. The unpublished prologue, "Before the Play", puts this murder in 1958 which does not fit with the timeline in the scrapbook. The Hotel was sold in 1967 after the murder to Sylvia Hunter (formally Sylvia Durwin), who used the hotel as a high end brothel in 1967-1968.

CC: @Doniago:, @ThomasO1989:

Thanks Shaded0 (talk) 01:33, 10 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Shaded0: This backstory has no relationship to the characters or actual events of the novel. It is not required in order for the general reader (i.e. someone who knows nothing about The Shining) to get a high-level understanding of the book. For example, none of the characters mentioned here have any role in the plot that warrants mention. The reader does not need to know that the hotel was a writing school, that some of the people who died were gangsters, or how much money a previous owner lost. It is enough to say that the hotel is haunted by its past guests and occupants, and that helps the reader understand the tension the main characters face. --ThomasO1989 (talk) 03:23, 10 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I'm inclined to agree with this. DonIago (talk) 13:36, 10 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Changes to plot summary[edit]

I think that details of Room 217 should be added to the plot, as the spirit there was the one that directly injured Danny the most. On the same subject, the summary skips over a few important details, when it mentioned Jack's meeting with Lloyd, it mixed several different times together, and lastly, I think Danny's visions and especially RedRum should be mentioned. Please let me know what you think, thanks. WikiWolf7 (talk) 20:46, 29 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I'm okay with these edits as long as WP:NOVELPLOT is upheld. DonIago (talk) 16:58, 2 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]