A review by bluejayreads
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: A Story from Different Seasons by Stephen King

dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

 My husband loves Stephen King's books and really wanted me to try another one after I really wasn't sure what I thought about Salem's Lot. He recommended this one. I've watched the movie version of The Shawshank Redemption twice and loved it both times, so I decided to give the book a shot. 

I think novellas are a good thing for Stephen King, because one of my main criticisms of Salem's Lot is that the dude knows how to write but the book was about a hundred pages too long. The Shawshank Redemption is much better because as a novella, there isn't time for meandering descriptions. 

The narration doesn't really allow for a lot of flowery anything, anyway. It's narrated as a manuscript written by Red, a prisoner serving a life sentence in Shawshank Prison who is so impressed with fellow prisoner Andy Dufresne that he writes down Andy's story in Shawshank. It's not very heavy on description or even dialogue, but it manages to be engaging and evocative anyway. Reserved, intelligent, and selfpossessed Andy is so different from the average Shawshank inmate that he makes an impression on everyone - guards, wardens, other inmates, and other prisoners alike. Red, the man in Shawshank who can get you anything for the right price, grows to respect him. 

If you've seen the movie, it sticks pretty close to the book so you're going to know all the major plot points. But it's the little details that really make this story. How prison works, backgrounds on the crime that put Andy in prison, Andy's interest in geology - it all wraps together into a remarkably good story. If you listen to this as an audiobook, it almost feels like you're listening to an old guy tell interesting stories about his time in prison for four hours. 

I am very glad I read this book, and if you like the movie you'll probably like it in book form too. I might try The Green Mile next, since it's another of Stephen King's non-horror works and my husband thinks since I liked this one so much I'll like that one too. 
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