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A review by dullshimmer
Different Seasons by Stephen King
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.