by Richard Martin Stern
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BOULDER LITERATURE – SKIP TO A PAGE
ANGELL, PEARL & LITTLE GOD ⎔ BEACH GIRLS ⎔ BOO ⎔ CAESAR ⎔ CHINA FLIGHT ⎔ CHRISTMAS BOOKS ⎔ DEATH DEALERS ⎔ DENVER POST ⎔ DR. NYET ⎔ EUROPE ⎔ FOURTH GHOST BOOK ⎔ GINGERBREAD MAN ⎔ GOLF LIKE THE GREATS ⎔ GOOD NEWS BIBLE ⎔ HOLDING ON ⎔ IN THIS HOUSE OF BREDE ⎔ KING OIL ⎔ MANIPULATOR ⎔ MY NAME IS ASHER LEV ⎔ NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS (RED & BLUE) ⎔ NO END TO THE WAY ⎔ ORANGE WEDNESDAY ⎔ PEANUTS ⎔ SQUARESVILLE ⎔ TEENY WEENY ADVENTURES ⎔ TIGER OF THE SNOWS ⎔ TOWER ⎔ TRAPEZE ⎔ WISH CHILD ⎔ YOUNG JETHRO ⎔ UNIDENTIFIED
APPEARANCE
14:38-14:45
IDENTITY
Another book on the coffee table is Richard Martin Stern’s The Tower, which became the film The Towering Inferno, which is about a major fire breaking out in a skyscraper (the theme being major danger in a large building—is it that basic a reference?).
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
One interesting connection is that the film version, produced a year after the book was published, changes the number of floors in the building; instead of 125 floors, it now has 138 floors. Just as King’s room 217 became Kubrick’s room 237.
And not to get all phallocentric on ya, but most of the original cover artworks for this book feature a rather monolith-looking structure to express the titular flaming spire.
Oh jeez…somehow I’d overlooked this. The Towering Inferno was actually based off of two different novels with very similar premises. The other was The Glass Inferno, by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. I’m honestly not sure how many times something like this has happened in the history of film, but I’m thinking it’s probably extremely rare. The Tower came out first, so perhaps Kubrick’s inclusion of it over the other says something about the former’s legitimacy as a singular, inspired work of fiction (the proximity of these publications suggests a twinning, at least). Perhaps it’s simply being used to highlight the twinniness of art.
And if you read the entry on The Tower of Babel painting that exists in the hotel lobby, you know that this means both Jack and Wendy had a tower behind them on the verge of collapse when he calls her about getting the job.
Next literary reference: Europe (Something) Europe (Something)
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
OTHER MAIN PAGES FOR SHINING ANALYSIS
THE MIRRORFORM ⎔ THE BEATLES ⎔ THE RUM AND THE RED
BACKGROUND ART ⎔ OVERLOOK PHOTOGRAPHS ⎔ GOLDEN SPIRALS
PHI GRIDS ⎔ PATTERNS ⎔ VIOLENCE AND INDIGENA ⎔ ABSURDITIES
THE STORY ROOM ⎔ ANIMAL SYMBOLS ⎔ THE ANNOTATED SHINING
EYE SCREAM 