Jack Torrance (The Shining)
The character of Jack Torrance in The Shining is indelibly etched on popular culture, courtesy of an extraordinary performance by Jack Nicholson in the stunning 1980 film adaptation by Stanley Kubrick. It was then adapted as a television miniseries in 1997, with Steven Weber in the iconic role of the alcoholic former teacher with anger management issues who takes a job as winter caretaker of the remote Overlook Hotel for a winter.
The source novel was published in 1977, and is only the third full-length novel to come from Stephen King – so it represents a very early point in his literary universe. While later stories – such as 1987’s It – included links to its characters, it was not until Doctor Sleep was published in 2013 that the character of Jack Torrance specifically resurfaced and impacted a narrative. In revisiting this character in this way, King has arguably created the next step in the expansion of his universe.
Doctor Sleep is essentially a direct sequel to The Shining, and centres on Danny Torrance – son of Jack. Danny recovers from the events that befell his family at the Overlook Hotel, and learns to manage his psychic abilities in such a way as to protect himself from further harm. Moving into adulthood, Danny experiences some difficulties of his own, but gradually becomes aware of a young girl psychically connected to him. This is revealed to be Abra Stone, to whom he’s related. Abra’s mother is Danny’s half-sister, resulting from an affair Jack Torrance had while teaching. Abra and Danny must then join forces to combat a mysterious organization known as the True Knot. In doing so, they find that Jack Torrance never really left them at all.
It’s rumoured that Academy Award winning screenwriter (and writer of The Dark Tower) Akiva Goldsman has written – or is writing – an adapted screenplay for Doctor Sleep. There’s been little news of this since the publication of the book, however, but perhaps the anticipated success of The Dark Tower and It will cause this Doctor Sleep project to gain some momentum – helping Stephen King’s universe of icons introduce its next generation to cinema audiences.