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katiescho741's review against another edition
4.0
The first two novellas in Different Seasons are some of King's best stories...the second two are some of the most "meh".
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is that wonderful thing that is a great novella and an equally great film. I don't think I can chose which I prefer, but I will say that I can't read it without hearing Morgan Freeman's voice. The story has a dark premise- an innocent man goes to prison for life, and the prison is a hard, violent and oppressive- but the story is one of hope. The feel of time passing is done beautifully and we get a condensed version, and yet we still feel the years go by. The open ending is lovely because it's a rare example of an open end where you truly believe it turned out okay.
Next up is Apt Pupil, which is the complete opposite of Rita Hayworth! A wonderfully brutal story of a young boy's destruction from his own curiosity and involvement with a Nazi. Todd is a typical all-American boy who finds a slightly creepy interest in concentration camp stories. As Todd develops a strange bond with Dussander, we watch him self-destruct. They become gradually more entangled with each other and Todd passes several points of no-return. The ending is inevitable, yet I found myself wishing for things to work out for him. This story always stands out for me as one of King's best because it's dark, twisted horror but it's 100% man-made horror, which I think is scarier than supernatural.
The final two stories are weaker. I'd probably say the Body is the weakest, because The Breathing Method has a creepy element to it. The problem with The Breathing Method is I think there's a lot more King could have done with it, like exploring the Club a bit more. Overall, it's a good story but maybe a little slow.
The Body I found to be extremely slow. It's so slow that King writes two short stories into the plot! It has some nice moments about nostalgia and time passing and loss of innocence, but overall I just didn't find it that interesting.
I can recommend this book purely for the first two stories!
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is that wonderful thing that is a great novella and an equally great film. I don't think I can chose which I prefer, but I will say that I can't read it without hearing Morgan Freeman's voice. The story has a dark premise- an innocent man goes to prison for life, and the prison is a hard, violent and oppressive- but the story is one of hope. The feel of time passing is done beautifully and we get a condensed version, and yet we still feel the years go by. The open ending is lovely because it's a rare example of an open end where you truly believe it turned out okay.
Next up is Apt Pupil, which is the complete opposite of Rita Hayworth! A wonderfully brutal story of a young boy's destruction from his own curiosity and involvement with a Nazi. Todd is a typical all-American boy who finds a slightly creepy interest in concentration camp stories. As Todd develops a strange bond with Dussander, we watch him self-destruct. They become gradually more entangled with each other and Todd passes several points of no-return. The ending is inevitable, yet I found myself wishing for things to work out for him. This story always stands out for me as one of King's best because it's dark, twisted horror but it's 100% man-made horror, which I think is scarier than supernatural.
The final two stories are weaker. I'd probably say the Body is the weakest, because The Breathing Method has a creepy element to it. The problem with The Breathing Method is I think there's a lot more King could have done with it, like exploring the Club a bit more. Overall, it's a good story but maybe a little slow.
The Body I found to be extremely slow. It's so slow that King writes two short stories into the plot! It has some nice moments about nostalgia and time passing and loss of innocence, but overall I just didn't find it that interesting.
I can recommend this book purely for the first two stories!
thaggstrom50's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
dullshimmer's review against another edition
5.0
It took me a few watches of the movie The Shawshank Redemption before I realized that the movie was based off of a short story by Stephen King. I must admit I was rather surprised to hear this and so I did a little research and found that it was in his collection of four stories called Different Seasons. It's also interesting to note that two of the other stories in this book have also been made into movies, Apt Pupil and Stand By Me. These stories are in some ways a little different for Stephen King, but not entirely. To do each justice I'll give a few thoughts on each of the short stories.
"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption"
I'll be honest this was the story that I was really looking forward to reading, and it's a very good read. There are some differences between the book and movie, but they're both enjoyable. The main difference is that the story lets you know that a decent amount of time passes during the story. The movie doesn't entirely make this clear, time seems more compressed and the flow of time is addressed much less. Probably my favorite story of the four.
"Apt Pupil"
This was a tough story to get through for me. It's not that I didn't like it, or thought that it wasn't well done. It was more that it just seemed a bit too real. The idea that evil can hide under the guise of a kid who seemed to have everything together. It was sobering, but also made my skin crawl and stomach turn. This was by far the creepiest and most depressing of the stories. I haven't seen the movie to compare, but this story was one made into a movie as well.
"The Body"
This was the story that the movie "Stand By Me" was based off of. I would say that this is probably my least favorite of the four stories. I don't really know why, I guess the story just didn't resonate that well with me. The journey of four boys going to see a dead body just didn't seem as interesting as some of the other stories presented. It's not bad by any means, but just didn't really leave a great impression on me either.
"The Breathing Method"
The last story is probably the strangest of the bunch. It's a bit of a story within a story. It's about a strange club and how the members there tells stories. I good portion of this story is just describing how the narrator was introduced to the club and some of the strange things he had noticed during his time there. However each Christmas the men gather to tell a tale of the bizarre or macabre. Overall this was a pretty interesting story, the club was very mysterious and the tale told in the club is rather short, but definitely fits the bizarre or macabre category. It is somewhat of a sad story as well. Of all of the stories in the book, this one had the most obvious Stephen King feel in my opinion.
All said I enjoyed the book fairly well. While these stories are thought of as somewhat different for King, that doesn't mean to expect happy endings and family friendly fare. The biggest weakness I can think of for the book is the attempt to connect each story with a season of the year. It kind of works but kind of doesn't. "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is connected to spring; "Apt Pupil" to summer; "The Body" to fall; and "The Breathing Method" to winter. Some stories are more connected to their season than others. Other than that this is a quality collection of short stories and I'd recommend it, particularly if you have enjoyed any of the movies inspired by the books.
"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption"
I'll be honest this was the story that I was really looking forward to reading, and it's a very good read. There are some differences between the book and movie, but they're both enjoyable. The main difference is that the story lets you know that a decent amount of time passes during the story. The movie doesn't entirely make this clear, time seems more compressed and the flow of time is addressed much less. Probably my favorite story of the four.
"Apt Pupil"
This was a tough story to get through for me. It's not that I didn't like it, or thought that it wasn't well done. It was more that it just seemed a bit too real. The idea that evil can hide under the guise of a kid who seemed to have everything together. It was sobering, but also made my skin crawl and stomach turn. This was by far the creepiest and most depressing of the stories. I haven't seen the movie to compare, but this story was one made into a movie as well.
"The Body"
This was the story that the movie "Stand By Me" was based off of. I would say that this is probably my least favorite of the four stories. I don't really know why, I guess the story just didn't resonate that well with me. The journey of four boys going to see a dead body just didn't seem as interesting as some of the other stories presented. It's not bad by any means, but just didn't really leave a great impression on me either.
"The Breathing Method"
The last story is probably the strangest of the bunch. It's a bit of a story within a story. It's about a strange club and how the members there tells stories. I good portion of this story is just describing how the narrator was introduced to the club and some of the strange things he had noticed during his time there. However each Christmas the men gather to tell a tale of the bizarre or macabre. Overall this was a pretty interesting story, the club was very mysterious and the tale told in the club is rather short, but definitely fits the bizarre or macabre category. It is somewhat of a sad story as well. Of all of the stories in the book, this one had the most obvious Stephen King feel in my opinion.
All said I enjoyed the book fairly well. While these stories are thought of as somewhat different for King, that doesn't mean to expect happy endings and family friendly fare. The biggest weakness I can think of for the book is the attempt to connect each story with a season of the year. It kind of works but kind of doesn't. "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is connected to spring; "Apt Pupil" to summer; "The Body" to fall; and "The Breathing Method" to winter. Some stories are more connected to their season than others. Other than that this is a quality collection of short stories and I'd recommend it, particularly if you have enjoyed any of the movies inspired by the books.
wyvernfriend's review against another edition
4.0
I've resisted reading a lot of King stories but these four were very interesting.
The first was Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption I've seen a few times and I know several people for whom it's a favourite, and the novella is also an interesting read. The story of a prison escape is good.
Apt Pupil, the second story has also been filmed, it's one I haven't seen but it's an interesting story of a older man, a man who was in charge of a concentration camp during the Nazi era and a young man who finds him and mines him for information, the pair of them feed of each other, and not in a good way.
The Body was the source for the film Stand By Me and is also an interesting story of four friend during a summer where they discover the whereabouts of a body. During this journey they find out more about themselves. The asides from the older author are also interesting.
The last story, The Breathing Method, had potential for further stories in the style of the Black Widower series by Isaac Asimov. A man is introduced to a storytelling group of men and finds himself interested in the group and gives some snippets of stories before recounting a maternity story that finishes with a gruesome twist.
All in all an interesting series of stories and I might try a few more, I'll have to pick the brains of a Stephen King fan or two.
The first was Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption I've seen a few times and I know several people for whom it's a favourite, and the novella is also an interesting read. The story of a prison escape is good.
Apt Pupil, the second story has also been filmed, it's one I haven't seen but it's an interesting story of a older man, a man who was in charge of a concentration camp during the Nazi era and a young man who finds him and mines him for information, the pair of them feed of each other, and not in a good way.
The Body was the source for the film Stand By Me and is also an interesting story of four friend during a summer where they discover the whereabouts of a body. During this journey they find out more about themselves. The asides from the older author are also interesting.
The last story, The Breathing Method, had potential for further stories in the style of the Black Widower series by Isaac Asimov. A man is introduced to a storytelling group of men and finds himself interested in the group and gives some snippets of stories before recounting a maternity story that finishes with a gruesome twist.
All in all an interesting series of stories and I might try a few more, I'll have to pick the brains of a Stephen King fan or two.
rymrgard's review against another edition
2.0
This is not a bad book. It‘s just not for me, not at this time.
Maybe it‘s because I‘ve been told over and over again that this is King‘s best shortnovels collection, but I can‘t help being disappointed. I DNFed this at about 80%, roughly 2/3 done with The Body.
I liked Shawshank Redemption but it wasn‘t as phenomenal as I expected it to be. Still, I‘m glad I read it and this story is the reason why I picked this collection up in the first place, so it definitely wasn‘t a waste of time.
Apt Pupil I disliked, but finished. It certainly didn‘t help that one of the voice actors for the German audiobook version wasn‘t the best (if it had just been the other I might have enjoyed it more).
The Body was fine up until the point I stopped, but it didn‘t grip me. I‘m not in the mood for childhood nostalgia and I certainly don‘t look back to my years being a 12 year old fondly (nor do I think that my friends back then were the best friends I ever had. In fact, I cherish the ones I have now much more than any that came before them) — so I guess it‘s understandable that the emotions this story tries to evoke (with much success, if reviews are to be believed) left me rather cold. This doesn‘t make this story a bad one — just the timing.
The Breathing Method I haven‘t tried, so can‘t comment on that one.
If I owned this collection as a novel or if I had borrowed it from the library I would have finished it — especially since I had already come so far.
But since I listened to it from Audible — and returning a book one has finished, though possible, is rude and bad practice — I decided to stop here. Realising that opening the app felt more like a chore or a job waiting to be finished than entertainment feels like enough justification to DNF (a skill I‘m trying to learn this year).
Maybe I‘m also just oversaturated with King for the moment — I have read a lot of Stephen King in a row, which I usually don‘t — so maybe, if I feel like it, I will return to both The Body and The Breathing Method one day — or Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, at least.
___________________
This was read in March, 2024. No date is added since I added the stories individually.
2.5 stars
Maybe it‘s because I‘ve been told over and over again that this is King‘s best shortnovels collection, but I can‘t help being disappointed. I DNFed this at about 80%, roughly 2/3 done with The Body.
I liked Shawshank Redemption but it wasn‘t as phenomenal as I expected it to be. Still, I‘m glad I read it and this story is the reason why I picked this collection up in the first place, so it definitely wasn‘t a waste of time.
Apt Pupil I disliked, but finished. It certainly didn‘t help that one of the voice actors for the German audiobook version wasn‘t the best (if it had just been the other I might have enjoyed it more).
The Body was fine up until the point I stopped, but it didn‘t grip me. I‘m not in the mood for childhood nostalgia and I certainly don‘t look back to my years being a 12 year old fondly (nor do I think that my friends back then were the best friends I ever had. In fact, I cherish the ones I have now much more than any that came before them) — so I guess it‘s understandable that the emotions this story tries to evoke (with much success, if reviews are to be believed) left me rather cold. This doesn‘t make this story a bad one — just the timing.
The Breathing Method I haven‘t tried, so can‘t comment on that one.
If I owned this collection as a novel or if I had borrowed it from the library I would have finished it — especially since I had already come so far.
But since I listened to it from Audible — and returning a book one has finished, though possible, is rude and bad practice — I decided to stop here. Realising that opening the app felt more like a chore or a job waiting to be finished than entertainment feels like enough justification to DNF (a skill I‘m trying to learn this year).
Maybe I‘m also just oversaturated with King for the moment — I have read a lot of Stephen King in a row, which I usually don‘t — so maybe, if I feel like it, I will return to both The Body and The Breathing Method one day — or Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, at least.
___________________
This was read in March, 2024. No date is added since I added the stories individually.
2.5 stars
howatdk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
biagiomineo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
jclose's review against another edition
5.0
This is a great collection of short stories, and can definitely recommend this to any King fans.
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - 5 out of 5
I have to admit, I didn’t know the film Shawshank Redemption was based on a short story and let alone a Stephen King one at that!
I loved this, the friendship between Red and Andy was thoroughly engaging, and the short story somehow manages to capture the institutionalisation of prison life while slowly giving us a prison break story that all felt so earned. There is a great cast of characters in this that kept the story moving forward at all times and while Andy’s perseverance and optimism sometimes seems impossible, it still felt rather inspiring.
Apt Pupil - 3.5 out of 5
Todd and Dussander are easily the most evil characters I’ve read so far in a book. It was a good read but my god was it heavy, Todds fascination with Nazi’s is disturbing and that in turn awakening Dussanders past life as an officer at a concentration camp is a horrible set up and that feeling carries on through the book. The last line of this story is chilling and stuck with me for a few days after finishing.
I felt there was perhaps a commentary here about peoples morbid fascination and interest in the taboo. As I was reading, I kept thinking that Todd seemed similar to all the school shooters plaguing the US.
A fascinating read, but one I wouldn’t recommend nor read again.
The Body - 4.5 out of 5
I really enjoyed this, I loved the film and actually the film is a really good adaption of this. The relationship between all the characters felt so real and it made me remember the stupid dangerous things I used to get up when I was 12.
It especially has some sad moments towards the end but what got me the most was Chris basically accepting his station in life when he encourages Gordie to get away from the town and his friends if he wants a good life.
Only mark down here was the Stud City section, was too long and just didn’t feel like it needed to be there.
Breathing Method - 4 out of 5
This was the only story I was going into completely blind on, it’s also the shortest one of the lot. The story of Sandra Stansfield was really engaging, it felt a bit like a romance story between herself and Emyln and her practical approach to her pregnancy was fun to read. Of course, until I was smacked in the face with Kings sudden brutality. I also found ‘The Club’ setting quite intriguing and I do wonder if that or Stevens may reappear in other books.
daphnesayshi's review against another edition
4.0
Blazed through this while in Vietnam.
Though Stephen King is great reading anytime, anywhere (he is one of my faves, growing up and now), I am extremely pleased I decided to pack him along for a quick getaway, somewhere in Hoi An, on a idyllic beachside resort where i spent great time with little distraction (the Internet) but lots of time, beer and a sun that didn't quit.
Though Stephen King is great reading anytime, anywhere (he is one of my faves, growing up and now), I am extremely pleased I decided to pack him along for a quick getaway, somewhere in Hoi An, on a idyllic beachside resort where i spent great time with little distraction (the Internet) but lots of time, beer and a sun that didn't quit.