What Amazon says
A “hypnotic” (The New York Times Book Review) collection of four novellas—including the inspirations behind the films Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption—from Stephen King, bound together by the changing of seasons, each taking on the theme of a journey with strikingly different tones and characters.
This gripping collection begins with “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” in which an unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge—the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee The Shawshank Redemption.
Next is “Apt Pupil,” the inspiration for the film of the same name about top high school student Todd Bowden and his obsession with the dark and deadly past of an older man in town.
In “The Body,” four rambunctious young boys plunge through the façade of a small town and come face-to-face with life, death, and intimations of their own mortality. This novella became the movie Stand By Me.
Finally, a disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death in “The Breathing Method.”
“The wondrous readability of his work, as well as the instant sense of communication with his characters, are what make Stephen King the consummate storyteller that he is,” hailed the Houston Chronicle about Different Seasons.
My review
This is a collection of four novella’s by Stephen King. Two of these stories I had already seen as movies prior to reading this collection, and two were entirely new to me.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is the story of a prominent banker, Andy Dufrense, who is convicted of killing his wife and sentenced to life in a notorious prison. The story depicts in fairly graphic detail, the boredom and hardship of life in prison with hardened and malicious criminals, some who are also rapists and prey on any they deem to be weak. Andy befriends another “lifer” called Red and, during the course of his journey to finally becoming a prisoner whom the prison manager and wardens rely on for financial services, becomes firm friends with Red. Andy learns how to survive and makes some interesting decisions about his life. This story provides a lot of insight into the different types and characters of men and how they react and plan in different and adverse situations. A great story.
The Body is a story about four young boys, living in a deadbeat town where not much happens and who seem to have limited future prospects, who overhear some older teenagers saying that the body of one of their peers had been found some distance away near the railway line. The boys set off on a journey to find the body. The face some adversity and must overcome their fears, but they also learn the value of food, drink and shelter as well as friendship and standing together. Another story with interesting psychological angles.
The Breathing Method was my personal favourite of this collection and tells the story of an ordinary and unassuming man in a good job where he will never be selected for promotion due to his nature. His boss, while recognising his limitations, also sees his strengths, one of which is that he is a great reader, and invites him to attend a men’s evening out at his exclusive club. One of the past times of this club is to tell a story of their own experience or origination on Christmas Eve. Each year the story teller is chosen in advance. The breathing method is one of the stories told and it really creeped me out. Stephen King’s build up and descriptions are superb and really have you looking over your shoulder. An excellent story.
The Apt Pupil is the story I liked the least. It is about a twelve year old boy who identifies a Nazi war criminal who is living in a small American town under an assumed name. The boy, Todd, is fascinated by the detail of the concentration camps and confronts the aging man and compels him to tell him all the horrible details of his life in charge of a concentration camp. These stories have a big impact on both Todd, who loses weight, starts having nightmares and failing at school and the elderly gent also resurrects all these terrible memories and starts reverting back to his previous hardened and unfeeling persona. This story did not suspend disbelief for me. I could not believe that a boy from a good family, with a curiosity about the concentration camps which is not itself unbelievable, would degenerate into a serial killer. I also found it hard to believe that an elderly Nazi war criminal in hiding would start murdering people. I didn’t finish this story and it is the reason I gave this book a 4-star rating.
Helpful review, Robbie. The Shawshank Redemption is one of my all-time favorite movies.
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The man can write, but somehow his style has never really appealed to me. The reason why I cannot tell.
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The Apt Pupil was my favorite of these stories. I understand your take on it, but I guess it scared me so much that I didn’t care if it was probable or not.
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I enjoy King’s works (a lot) but his endings often leave me disappointed. Thanks for sharing your candid thoughts.
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My pleasure, Staci. Nice to see you out and about. I also find some of his endings disappointing but the build ups are so huge, I think it is virtually impossible to deliver on it appropriately.
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That’s a good point.
And thanks for the kind words. It’s nice to start visiting my online friends again.
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I’ve seen the movies for The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, both of which I really enjoyed. I remember purchasing this book decades ago but I couldn’t get past Apt Pupil. I remember being so disgusted by that story, I threw the book in the trash.
The Breathing Method, however, does sound like a great story!
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I am interested to know that you also didn’t like Apt Pupil. My husband also didn’t like that one and he also didn’t finish it. I enjoyed The Breathing Method, very clever.
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Great review…I agree with your assessment – suspending disbelief is more difficult when characters act in ways that go against any logical progression…easier to do when fantasy elements exist
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Thanks John. It breaks your reading of the story because you start questioning the action of the character.
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Agree…great review however, love this look back at older work!
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Stephen King is a master writer, John. I am in complete awe of his amazing imagination and writing skills.
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The Body is one of my favorite short stories. Shawshank Redemption is up there too:)
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The Body is fascinating and so is Shawshank Redemption. There is no doubt that King is a master of his art.
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Excellent reviews, Robbie! I wasn’t aware of this collection, but have seen two of the movie adaptations.
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Thanks Bette. Most people have seen the movies, even me and I haven’t watched a movie in about three years. The book is even better.
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I have seen The Shawshank Redemption, but the others are new to me. I have to agree with your assessment of the final story, it sounds a bit out there. Nice review.
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Thank you, Carla. The Bachman books are darker than King’s other works because they centre around real possibilities and potential situations. Very scary for me compared to fantasy and paranormal.
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As a big King fan, I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never read the inspirations for Shawshank and Stand By Me, even though I love the movies. I might have to get my hands on this collection. Thanks, as always, Robbie, for bringing something to light I’ve been missing 🙂
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Thanks for visiting, Jessica. The stories are much better than the movies as they have so much detail that doesn’t make it into the movies. I recommend this collection. It has some of King’s finest work in it.
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Kings books always are better than the movies. Even though I love the movie version of The Shining, it’s almost a different story than the book version. Both great though.
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He is truly an amazing author!
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I like all his old books but the recent ones I haven’t enjoyed as much.
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I found his book on writing interesting
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I haven’t read it. I must get it, I know.
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I liked your review – also interesting to see how that last story didn’t pan out for you.
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Thanks H., The Apt Pupil was unrealistic for me but another reader might love it.
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Honestly, it seems like it might be something of interest to me. I really enjoyed the movie “The Boys from Brazil” (haven’t read the book) in which Mengele goes to Brazil and clones Hitler like a hundred times, then sends him off to various families throughout the world and tries to reproduce the psychological equivalent of the original Hitler. The Apt Pupil sounds equally outrageous, but with a similar idea behind it.
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Everyone has different tastes in literature, that is what makes this world so amazing. I loved all the other stories in this book.
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Great reviews, Robbie. I haven’t seen any of these movies.
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Hi Miriam, you obviously don’t watch many movies, just like me. These are both very famous and won awards.
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I have to check into them. My husband watched one Stephen King’s movie lately (I didn’t watch). He said it didn’t meet other Stephen King’s standard.
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I have experienced that with his recent books, Miriam, and prefer the older versions.
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I don’t know what happened, Robbie. I wonder if the recent books were written faster and less in planning.
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Maybe, I thought he might be using a ghost writer.
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I heard of such a thing, Robbie. Famous authors let other writers use their names to publish.
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Having seen those two movies first, did it take away rom the reading of the books?
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No, it undermined my memories of the films which weren’t as good, although both excellent by movie standards. I have always preferred the detail in books to movies. The Shining is the best King book movie in my opinion. Thanks for visiting.
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I agree 100%.
Every time you read and book and see the movie the book wins. The Godfather and The Time Travellers Wife are two books that blow away the movies. and the movies were good. But books open the imagination in a way a movie never can.
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Yes, exactly. Have a great weekend.
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Thanks
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Hi Robbie. Thanks for this. I’ve lost touch with King’s work, so wasn’t familiar with this. Your reply above about build ups and endings was a great insight. Hugs on the wing.
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Thank you, Teagan. These books were written under King’s pen name Richard Bachman. You may not know Bachman was King as it only came out later. The films were very famous.
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Ah-ha! Yes, I’m familiar with those films, but didn’t realize King ever used a penname.
LOL, to what you said about the serial killer from a good background… be careful. They are certainly out there, hiding behind a clean cut attractive-but-ordinary façade. More hugs.
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He did and the books he wrote as Richard Bachman are among his best, in my opinion.
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Excellent review, Robbie. I have seen some of the movies.:)
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Thank you, Deepa. I have seen these movies too as they are very famous. I am not generally much of a movie goer.
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I dont like much to go to a theatre, but with youtube and Netflix life is much easier. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Where Genres Collide Traci Kenworth YA Author & Book Blogger and commented:
The Body or rather the “Stand By Me” was the reason I became a writer. I didn’t care for Apt Pupil either as I would hope that such a situation would never occur.
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Thank you, Traci. Stand By Me had a big impact on many readers and film goers.
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Yes, it did. 🙂
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On my husband’s recommendation, I read this book years ago out of curiosity. I vaguely remember not liking the ending of “The Body,” although I don’t remember why. The book of King’s I did really like is 11/22/63.
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I haven’t read that one, Liz. I am adding it to my list. Thanks!
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I’ll be very interested in hearing what you think of it!
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