Crummy Stuff

I've learned over the years that directors rarely have a character sitting around holding as book without that book having some sort of meaning. Watching The Shining for the 178,000 time just now, I've noticed for the first time that Shelley Duvall, aka Hall of Fame late-70's Mrs. Xmastime, Lookit Them Chompers Division, is reading The Catcher in the Rye. I will consider solving this riddle until I think of something else shiny to distract me in about 30 seconds.

UPDATE: Eight seconds after posting this and scratching my head "let's hunker down and figure out the meaning of this!" I remembered "oh yeah, Google exists!" and found this:

It seems unlikely that the content of the novel has any bearing, but the front and back cover of the paperback (printed in the same way for decades) are exactly the same--another doubling/mirroring element. The covers are red with gold lettering, as in "redrum" and "goldroom." Red is color that signifies blood and thus death, gold is related to the goldrush of the American westward expansion. 

An explanation like that kind of adds up after the fact, but I have my doubts it was that well-thought through beforehand. I believe in happy accidents and coming to understand what one's written/produced even more so after it's been written or produced than before, ie taking what's in front of us and then walking back to find it's meaning. John Lennon said the same thing about many of his own songs:

"We write lyrics, and I write lyrics that you don't realize what they mean till after - especially some of the better ones or some of the more flowing ones, like I Am the Walrus. With Help! I was really crying out for help but I didn't realize it until much later."

Of course in agreeing with this I contradict my original thesis, but if you think I'm gonna apologize for my reptilian brain then all I can say is eat a bag of dicks. But seriously, don't eat a bag of dicks.