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adventurepanda's review against another edition
5.0
I left the best books till the end of 2020 didn’t I? This collection has completely changed my mind on Stephen King and I'm so glad I gave this one a shot. Found several new favourite novellas, as well as a new much loved film, The Shawshank Redemption. Easily 5 stars even with the slight let down of the last short story in here, ‘The Breathing Method’.
So, according to the afterword here, this was King's way of showcasing his writing talents beyond the horror genre and, funnily enough, I liked this so much better than the horror writings I have read of his in the past. Maybe I've just picked completely the wrong novels by him in the past, but now I have so many recommendations from friends and book club pals that I want to dive into!
First off, what better story to open up this short story collection than [b: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption|39664|Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1315100686l/39664._SY75_.jpg|24951203], one that many will know from the film with Morgan Freeman (which I can confirm is an absolute masterpiece, having watched it straight after reading it). It was gripping, and full of friendship, and so hopeful, and was everything I could have hoped for and more. I was fully invested in the antics of Andy DuFresne and seeing Red's character and voice develop throughout just made me ache for more pages than we got. Fully 5 stars, probably my favourite in here.
[b: Apt Pupil|10618|Apt Pupil|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330222469l/10618._SY75_.jpg|22015774] goes in a completely different direction. Instead of hope and wholesomeness, you're instead tossed into a tale of two people, one a young boy who becomes fascinated by the Holocaust, and an old veteran and esteemed Nazi, both catalysing each other's descent into something worse than they already are. I won't lie, this was a little on the long side and there were moments when I wanted it to be over already, but at other times I found it fully necessary as a way of truly getting into the minds of two characters whose thoughts aren't one-note villainy, but actually have some semblance of humanity in them. Probably a 4.5-5 star? Still a great read, but it's difficult to try and follow up 'The Shawshank Redemption'.
[b: The Body|20518872|The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1)|Liu Cixin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415428227l/20518872._SY75_.jpg|25696480] was an unexpected one. Starting out, I wasn't too sure if I'd be the biggest fan of it. Ostensibly, it's about these 4 kids who decide to go seek out the body of a child who went out one night and never made it back home. But it's really about a moment in these boys' lives where they have their 'fall from innocence', as the subtitle of this novella suggests. Throughout, we see how Gordon's friendships and connections with the other boys are changing, especially with the contrast between the depth of his friendship with Chris, and the fleeting nature of his connection with the other two. We also see all their troubled home lives and how they all found solace in each other's friendships. While there were a couple random moments where we see 'Gordon's' own short stories, one of which genuinely made me feel like I was going to throw up with how descriptive it was (not exactly ideal when you're reading the scene on the tube), as a whole, this was a really brilliant story which showed King at his best when it comes to portraying that feeling of being just on the cusp of adolescence and showing us that transition from kid to adult. 5 stars for sure.
The last novella in here did feel a little odd among all the others. Again, having read the afterword, the inclusion of [b: The Breathing Method|10580|The Breathing Method|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328184517l/10580._SY75_.jpg|597587] makes a little more sense, King wanting to add in a little of his horror flair into a work that otherwise was devoid of his trademark writings. It was a decent story, and I did keep turning those pages because I had to know what was happening next, but it didn't have that same engrossing nature and emotional turmoil that I'd come to expect from the other three stories here. There are scenes in this one that'll never leave my brain though. Just a lot. Of blood. And gore. It's actually a pretty good time considering I'm not the biggest fan of horror. 4 stars?
I'm giving this whole thing a 5 star rating - I thought it was fantastic, and while I definitely have my favourites with 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Body', this collection as a whole is what has convinced me that King is worth reading more of - an impressive feat considering I completely wrote him off after the third attempt. Maybe I'll go with [b: The Long Walk|9014|The Long Walk|Richard Bachman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309212400l/9014._SY75_.jpg|522169] or [b: The Green Mile|11566|The Green Mile|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373903563l/11566._SY75_.jpg|15599] next?
So, according to the afterword here, this was King's way of showcasing his writing talents beyond the horror genre and, funnily enough, I liked this so much better than the horror writings I have read of his in the past. Maybe I've just picked completely the wrong novels by him in the past, but now I have so many recommendations from friends and book club pals that I want to dive into!
First off, what better story to open up this short story collection than [b: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption|39664|Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1315100686l/39664._SY75_.jpg|24951203], one that many will know from the film with Morgan Freeman (which I can confirm is an absolute masterpiece, having watched it straight after reading it). It was gripping, and full of friendship, and so hopeful, and was everything I could have hoped for and more. I was fully invested in the antics of Andy DuFresne and seeing Red's character and voice develop throughout just made me ache for more pages than we got. Fully 5 stars, probably my favourite in here.
[b: Apt Pupil|10618|Apt Pupil|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330222469l/10618._SY75_.jpg|22015774] goes in a completely different direction. Instead of hope and wholesomeness, you're instead tossed into a tale of two people, one a young boy who becomes fascinated by the Holocaust, and an old veteran and esteemed Nazi, both catalysing each other's descent into something worse than they already are. I won't lie, this was a little on the long side and there were moments when I wanted it to be over already, but at other times I found it fully necessary as a way of truly getting into the minds of two characters whose thoughts aren't one-note villainy, but actually have some semblance of humanity in them. Probably a 4.5-5 star? Still a great read, but it's difficult to try and follow up 'The Shawshank Redemption'.
[b: The Body|20518872|The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1)|Liu Cixin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415428227l/20518872._SY75_.jpg|25696480] was an unexpected one. Starting out, I wasn't too sure if I'd be the biggest fan of it. Ostensibly, it's about these 4 kids who decide to go seek out the body of a child who went out one night and never made it back home. But it's really about a moment in these boys' lives where they have their 'fall from innocence', as the subtitle of this novella suggests. Throughout, we see how Gordon's friendships and connections with the other boys are changing, especially with the contrast between the depth of his friendship with Chris, and the fleeting nature of his connection with the other two. We also see all their troubled home lives and how they all found solace in each other's friendships. While there were a couple random moments where we see 'Gordon's' own short stories, one of which genuinely made me feel like I was going to throw up with how descriptive it was (not exactly ideal when you're reading the scene on the tube), as a whole, this was a really brilliant story which showed King at his best when it comes to portraying that feeling of being just on the cusp of adolescence and showing us that transition from kid to adult. 5 stars for sure.
The last novella in here did feel a little odd among all the others. Again, having read the afterword, the inclusion of [b: The Breathing Method|10580|The Breathing Method|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328184517l/10580._SY75_.jpg|597587] makes a little more sense, King wanting to add in a little of his horror flair into a work that otherwise was devoid of his trademark writings. It was a decent story, and I did keep turning those pages because I had to know what was happening next, but it didn't have that same engrossing nature and emotional turmoil that I'd come to expect from the other three stories here. There are scenes in this one that'll never leave my brain though. Just a lot. Of blood. And gore. It's actually a pretty good time considering I'm not the biggest fan of horror. 4 stars?
I'm giving this whole thing a 5 star rating - I thought it was fantastic, and while I definitely have my favourites with 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Body', this collection as a whole is what has convinced me that King is worth reading more of - an impressive feat considering I completely wrote him off after the third attempt. Maybe I'll go with [b: The Long Walk|9014|The Long Walk|Richard Bachman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309212400l/9014._SY75_.jpg|522169] or [b: The Green Mile|11566|The Green Mile|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373903563l/11566._SY75_.jpg|15599] next?
tanja_alina_berg's review against another edition
4.0
I am racking my brains trying to figure out when I read this, unsuccesfully. I know for a fact that I had not read it before I saw "Apt Pupil" and I am quite sure I saw the movie while I lived in Germany (2001-2005). But it could have been earlier, in which case I'd be at least five years off. Actually, since "Apt Pupil" for some unknown reason (considering the topic) was a movie I really wanted to see, it is quite likely I saw it in 2000 and that would have enticed me to pick the book up. I read so much in 2000, I even got up an hour earlier to read. I know that I have read "Different Seasons", because I remember the feeling when I read the novella "the Body", that it was different from the movie based on it, "Stand by me". The novella managed to be more ominous. When I first saw the movie, I was very young, certainly no older than 13 years of age, and everything felt strange and threatening. It is odd that I as an adult would find the novella scarier, but I did. I remember that. Which is about all, sadly. I should put this on my re-read list. I am sure I owned a paperback copy of this book at some point, but that would have been at least three moves ago, so it's long gone.
mica_alvi's review against another edition
5.0
This book is definitely on the excellent side of King’s works. It is hard to come up with a review since this collection has 4 stories which are completely different from each other. What I can say is that this book deals with topics such as life, death, growing up, abuse, loss and many, many more.
📘
Even though I loved the book as a whole, my personal favourite was “Apt Pupil” since it was definitely the darkest story and the one that shows King’s talent the best.
📙
I do recommend to read this collection and then watch “Shawshank Redemption”, the movie based on “Rita Hayworth...”. It is one of my favourite movies ever. It is beautiful (and it has a great cast including Morgan Freeman). I actually read the story with Freeman’s voice, I couldn’t help it 😂
📚
I ultimately gave this book a 5⭐️ rating and I’m sure that it will stick with me for a really long time.
📘
Even though I loved the book as a whole, my personal favourite was “Apt Pupil” since it was definitely the darkest story and the one that shows King’s talent the best.
📙
I do recommend to read this collection and then watch “Shawshank Redemption”, the movie based on “Rita Hayworth...”. It is one of my favourite movies ever. It is beautiful (and it has a great cast including Morgan Freeman). I actually read the story with Freeman’s voice, I couldn’t help it 😂
📚
I ultimately gave this book a 5⭐️ rating and I’m sure that it will stick with me for a really long time.
derekthego's review against another edition
5.0
I love Stephen King, granted I know many friends are not big fans of horror which he is most well known for. For those friends, this is what I would recommend. Here are 4 novellas that are absolutely fantastic, as 2 of them were made into rather popular movies ("Shawshank redemption" and "stand by me"). But these stories I feel are very human, they deal with the struggles of growing up, feeling trapped and delving into dangerous curiosity. Great stories, please everyone read! (Side note, when I say not scary, the 2nd novella in this "Apt pupil" is definitely a bit disturbing, so fair warning fellow readers).
hallo_hannah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
hairbert's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
rainingpuppets's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
sarahkirchens's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ice_clown's review against another edition
3.0
"And I guess you judge how well you're doing by how well you sleep at night... and what your dreams are like."
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption - 4 stars
Apt Pupil - 5 stars
The Body - 3 stars
The Breathing Method - 2 stars
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption - 4 stars
Apt Pupil - 5 stars
The Body - 3 stars
The Breathing Method - 2 stars