leasaurusrex's review against another edition
4.0
Différentes saisons est un recueil de nouvelles qui s'éloigne pas mal du genre de Stephen King tel qu'on peut le connaître.
Mais dire recueil de nouvelles c'est insinuer qu'il a compilé plusieurs textes courts... Ce qui n'est pas vraiment le cas.
Chaque nouvelle représente une saison, et chaque nouvelle est assez longue pour faire l'effet d'un petit roman, mais trop courte pour être publiée comme tel, d'après l'auteur lui-même.
Quatre univers différents se côtoient donc, et quasiment tous ont eu le droit à leur adaptation cinématographique.
On pourra donc découvrir la plume de Stephen King au cœur d'un centre pénitentiaire, puis aux prises avec un adolescent américain typique et fasciné par le côté sombre de l'Histoire, avant de la suivre dans l'aventure de quatre ados pleins de répartie pour finir par une histoire sordide qui n'est pas sans rappeler Ghost Story de Peter Straub.
Stephen King est un sacré maestro qui aime en plus lier ses nouvelles par certaines petites anecdotes que ses lecteurs aguerris peuvent apprécier (bien que je n'en sois moi-même pas vraiment une), mais qui réussit surtout l'exercice impressionnant de maîtriser le rythme, particulièrement concernant la nouvelle intitulée Un élève doué.
C'est rafraîchissant de voir Stephen King sortir de son registre... Et offrir une histoire qui peut bien finir. Même s'il replonge toujours, d'une manière ou d'une autre, dans le côté obscur.
Une bonne lecture, donc, qui m'aura pris plus de temps que prévu, mais que je ne regrette pas.
Mais dire recueil de nouvelles c'est insinuer qu'il a compilé plusieurs textes courts... Ce qui n'est pas vraiment le cas.
Chaque nouvelle représente une saison, et chaque nouvelle est assez longue pour faire l'effet d'un petit roman, mais trop courte pour être publiée comme tel, d'après l'auteur lui-même.
Quatre univers différents se côtoient donc, et quasiment tous ont eu le droit à leur adaptation cinématographique.
On pourra donc découvrir la plume de Stephen King au cœur d'un centre pénitentiaire, puis aux prises avec un adolescent américain typique et fasciné par le côté sombre de l'Histoire, avant de la suivre dans l'aventure de quatre ados pleins de répartie pour finir par une histoire sordide qui n'est pas sans rappeler Ghost Story de Peter Straub.
Stephen King est un sacré maestro qui aime en plus lier ses nouvelles par certaines petites anecdotes que ses lecteurs aguerris peuvent apprécier (bien que je n'en sois moi-même pas vraiment une), mais qui réussit surtout l'exercice impressionnant de maîtriser le rythme, particulièrement concernant la nouvelle intitulée Un élève doué.
C'est rafraîchissant de voir Stephen King sortir de son registre... Et offrir une histoire qui peut bien finir. Même s'il replonge toujours, d'une manière ou d'une autre, dans le côté obscur.
Une bonne lecture, donc, qui m'aura pris plus de temps que prévu, mais que je ne regrette pas.
emmarj's review against another edition
3.0
Different Seasons is a collection of four novellas by Stephen King. As I have done in the past, I'll say a word about each of the stories individually.
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: Oh. My. Word. This story is... perfection. It's SO GOOD. The characters, the story, the story telling, the dialogue. Really. An angel must have been sitting on King's shoulder as he wrote this. This might be the best story I've ever read, ever. 6/5. No, seriously.
The Body: Something weird happened to me after reading this story. You see, while I was reading it, I did not like it. It seemed overly long and somewhat boring. I did love the characters, though. King sure can write some characters. Anyway, the weird thing was that after I read this, DAYS after, I was finding myself thinking about it and feeling like maybe I really did like it. So, 3/5.
Apt Pupil: This just really didn't do it for me. It was interesting enough and certainly disturbing but like The Body, I felt it was overly long and drawn out and... well, neither of the main characters were interesting enough for me to really get into it. 2/5.
The Breathing Method: Like the previous two, this story was slow in coming, slightly tedious. This novella actually seems to be two stories in one and it's a little awkward and ill-explained. But once we got down to the real story things really liven up. The story within the story is intriguing and I couldn't put my Kindle down until I'd finished reading it even though it was approaching 3am. 4/5.
As always the afterword by the author is good and might be my favorite afterword of King's that I've read thus far.
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: Oh. My. Word. This story is... perfection. It's SO GOOD. The characters, the story, the story telling, the dialogue. Really. An angel must have been sitting on King's shoulder as he wrote this. This might be the best story I've ever read, ever. 6/5. No, seriously.
The Body: Something weird happened to me after reading this story. You see, while I was reading it, I did not like it. It seemed overly long and somewhat boring. I did love the characters, though. King sure can write some characters. Anyway, the weird thing was that after I read this, DAYS after, I was finding myself thinking about it and feeling like maybe I really did like it. So, 3/5.
Apt Pupil: This just really didn't do it for me. It was interesting enough and certainly disturbing but like The Body, I felt it was overly long and drawn out and... well, neither of the main characters were interesting enough for me to really get into it. 2/5.
The Breathing Method: Like the previous two, this story was slow in coming, slightly tedious. This novella actually seems to be two stories in one and it's a little awkward and ill-explained. But once we got down to the real story things really liven up. The story within the story is intriguing and I couldn't put my Kindle down until I'd finished reading it even though it was approaching 3am. 4/5.
As always the afterword by the author is good and might be my favorite afterword of King's that I've read thus far.
booknerd_therapist's review against another edition
3.0
Different Seasons is a collection of four novellas, one for each season: spring, summer, fall and winter.
The first novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, is absolutely marvelous. As usual, there is deep character probing and exploration coupled with the detailed word paintings that Stephen King is so well-loved for. Ultimately, it's a story of hope, determination and the strength of the human spirit. On its own, I would give this one 5 stars.
The second one, Apt Pupil, is equally well written, but over-the-top in terms of the grotesque and gruesome. It goes far beyond the realm of "psychological thriller." In short, if you like cats, dogs, and/or homeless people, you might skip this one. I had to skim over some passages or skip whole pages because they were so disturbing.
The third, The Body, is just boring. It was slow-paced and plodding and it felt like a monumental effort to keep turning the pages.
The final novella, The Breathing Method, is equal parts creepy and fascinating. It features a strong female character and a doctor on the cutting edge of medicine. The young woman is pregnant, but dies before the baby is born... or does she? This novella would get 4 stars from me on its own.
To conclude -- I would recommend this book for The Shawshank Redemption and The Breathing Method. The other two are not King's best work, in my opinion.
The first novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, is absolutely marvelous. As usual, there is deep character probing and exploration coupled with the detailed word paintings that Stephen King is so well-loved for. Ultimately, it's a story of hope, determination and the strength of the human spirit. On its own, I would give this one 5 stars.
The second one, Apt Pupil, is equally well written, but over-the-top in terms of the grotesque and gruesome. It goes far beyond the realm of "psychological thriller." In short, if you like cats, dogs, and/or homeless people, you might skip this one. I had to skim over some passages or skip whole pages because they were so disturbing.
The third, The Body, is just boring. It was slow-paced and plodding and it felt like a monumental effort to keep turning the pages.
The final novella, The Breathing Method, is equal parts creepy and fascinating. It features a strong female character and a doctor on the cutting edge of medicine. The young woman is pregnant, but dies before the baby is born... or does she? This novella would get 4 stars from me on its own.
To conclude -- I would recommend this book for The Shawshank Redemption and The Breathing Method. The other two are not King's best work, in my opinion.
cici_'s review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed 3 or of the 4 stories. Besides Apt Pupil, the other three I was able to enjoy and actually wished there was more from those stories. But with Apt Pupil I was forcing myself to finish that novel, it was just so boring and wanted to hurry up and get it over with! In the beginning of that story I was interested in both of the main characters but as I got to know them, their ticks, the way they think I was like, “Alright, I gotta move on.” The interest subsided quickly and I was ready to move on.
The story I really enjoyed was The Breathing Method! I wished it was longer or that more stories was shared and I really want to know more about this “club”. It had the right amount of everything I enjoy to keep me hooked into staying interested in this story.
Everybody (I think) knows The Body. I actually didn’t and never watched the movie (Stand By Me) either. So I went into reading The Body blind, and like the previous I really enjoyed. I loved the friendship between Gordie and Chris and Teddy and Vern. They each complimented each other well. Some parts had me shook about some of the way they show their friendship but I guess that was the way it was... lol. But still enjoyed and got a little testy eyed in some parts because I connected with the characters.
As for the Shawshank story, as it was the first one I read without no expectations. And I still stayed interested in the story. I didn’t rush to finish it but I kept going because I just wanted to know how it will end up.
The story I really enjoyed was The Breathing Method! I wished it was longer or that more stories was shared and I really want to know more about this “club”. It had the right amount of everything I enjoy to keep me hooked into staying interested in this story.
Everybody (I think) knows The Body. I actually didn’t and never watched the movie (Stand By Me) either. So I went into reading The Body blind, and like the previous I really enjoyed. I loved the friendship between Gordie and Chris and Teddy and Vern. They each complimented each other well. Some parts had me shook about some of the way they show their friendship but I guess that was the way it was... lol. But still enjoyed and got a little testy eyed in some parts because I connected with the characters.
As for the Shawshank story, as it was the first one I read without no expectations. And I still stayed interested in the story. I didn’t rush to finish it but I kept going because I just wanted to know how it will end up.
emjuddz's review against another edition
5.0
I’d been told this was great, and it did NOT disappoint (not that Stephen King ever does)! I was also told The Body was the best in the collection, but I have to say that I found The Breathing Method to be the most haunting and hypnotic.
tessaherrmann13's review against another edition
5.0
welcome existential crises, you have been missed.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite books ever. It is a very quick read but it leaves you feeling so empty yet warm inside (a weird juxtaposition, I know)! The book was so raw and real and the character development was great so you really fell in love with the characters. No review could give this book justice, so I would definitely recommend giving it a go for yourself.
The other short stories are also really great. My second favorite was The Body.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite books ever. It is a very quick read but it leaves you feeling so empty yet warm inside (a weird juxtaposition, I know)! The book was so raw and real and the character development was great so you really fell in love with the characters. No review could give this book justice, so I would definitely recommend giving it a go for yourself.
The other short stories are also really great. My second favorite was The Body.
periodicreader's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not exactly sure how I never realized that this was a short story, not a full length novel, but I liked it just the same. I was more surprised at how swiftly the narrator moved through the story nearly matching the movie's pace.
It's the story of imprisonment and intelligence...of a man who realized that he was bigger on the inside than his captors allowed him to be on the outside.
It's the story of imprisonment and intelligence...of a man who realized that he was bigger on the inside than his captors allowed him to be on the outside.
wormfood's review against another edition
4.0
Different Seasons is something like the 35th Stephen King I’ve read. With 60+ novels/collections in his body of work, I’ve still only read half. But also consider, I average about 30 books a year. I’ve spent a years worth of my reading time on King. I’m familiar, is what I’m saying.
And I say so, because I also want to say that Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is the definition of Stephen King. If you want to know what his style, tone, genre, whatever really is, look no further. It is every one of the 4 stars given.
As for the other three:
Apt Pupil fucked me up, man. Affected for sure. I was moody and unhappy all three days I read this story, and I know it was to blame. My one and only expectation when I sit down with a book is to feel something and it delivered big time.
I hated the movie Stand By Me. I hated its story, The Body. The way our main boy kept insisting he was a writer and then told the most asinine story ever dreamed up as his primo example. Irritating.
The Breathing Method is cool for what it is. Good for an hour of entertainment. Could’ve been more than what he gave it, I think. Like he definitely went down the less interesting route and just called it in. Not a great way to end the collection, fizzling out like that, but whatever.
And I say so, because I also want to say that Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is the definition of Stephen King. If you want to know what his style, tone, genre, whatever really is, look no further. It is every one of the 4 stars given.
As for the other three:
Apt Pupil fucked me up, man. Affected for sure. I was moody and unhappy all three days I read this story, and I know it was to blame. My one and only expectation when I sit down with a book is to feel something and it delivered big time.
I hated the movie Stand By Me. I hated its story, The Body. The way our main boy kept insisting he was a writer and then told the most asinine story ever dreamed up as his primo example. Irritating.
The Breathing Method is cool for what it is. Good for an hour of entertainment. Could’ve been more than what he gave it, I think. Like he definitely went down the less interesting route and just called it in. Not a great way to end the collection, fizzling out like that, but whatever.
coreyk's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVE Stephen King and I don't care who knows it. These four novellas are brilliant. I'm still thinking about "The Body" and I read it a couple of weeks ago (I read each novella between sections of "Anna Karenina"). Nobody can put youth, innocence, loss of innocence, and the painful earnestness of American life into words like Mr. King.
mistimacabre's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0