Ratings160
Average rating4.2
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is at least a 4/5, but I was not particularly a fan of the other three stories. And as shocking as this will sound, The Body (Stand by Me film), was quite underwhelming after all the good I heard about it for years.
Executive Summary: I generally don't like short stories or novellas. However this collection has 3 stories that were converted into movies I enjoyed, especially Shawshank.
I'm a big fan of Stephen King, though I've read very little of his horror novels. He's often relegated to a horror writer, but this collection shows what I feel is his real strength: writing great characters.
There is very little horror to speak of here, save for some of the awful things humans do to one another, though little of it occurs in great detail.
Next to Dark Tower, Shawshank might possibly be the best thing he's ever written, though of course everyone will have favorites of their own.
This is a really good collection, that is definitely worth picking up, whether you're a fan of King's other work or not.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
I don't know what to say about this one really. It's a prison story, but that's just the setting.
Really it's a story about strength and determination in the face of adversity. A lot of adversity. Andy Dufresne is a case study in making the best of a bad situation.
But really nothing I write will do this story justice. Read it. And watch the movie. The movie is excellent. Easily the best adaptation of any of King's work.
4.5 stars
Apt Pupil
This one is just too dark for me. I could only read it a little at a time. Then I'd have to watch something funny and light as a palate cleanser.
For fans of King's horror work, this one might be the most in that vein. However there are no evil clowns or demons here. It's just terrible people doing terrible things.
The story and the writing is quite good, it's just generally not the sort of story I enjoy reading. I know I watched the movie at some point, but don't really remember it. Unlike the others in this book, I don't plan to revisit the movie in the future though.
3.5 stars
The Body
My second favorite story of the collection. I remember seeing part of this movie what I was younger (probably too young to see the movie). The swimming scene has stuck with me all this time.
Reading the story made me appreciate the movie even more. The casting is so perfect. Maybe it colored my perception of the characters as I read it, but I think it's more a testament to the whoever cast the movie.
My only real complaint about the story, was the nested stories written by Gordie. The pie eating contest story was alright, but I can't even remember what the second story was about. That goes to show how unimportant it was to the overall plot.
I never had anything remotely close to the experiences of these four boys growing up, but that doesn't make it feel any less real to me. It's been long enough since I've seen the movie that I didn't really remember what happened.
Much like Shawshank, I'm hard pressed for what to say other than: read it, and watch the movie.
4 stars.
The Breathing Method
The weakest of the four stories, and maybe unsurprisingly the only one NOT to be made into a movie.
In fact I'm far more intrigued by the setting of the story, this mysterious club with books not found anywhere else. Old men gather to share strange and interesting stories.
The main story was certainly strange and interesting, but far less than the setting. As a big fan of the Dark Tower, it had me wondering if these books were from other levels of the tower. I kept looking around for Charlie the Choo Choo or something by Claudia y Inez Bachman.
I'd be very interested in reading a story that gives you more details about the club. I'll have to see if he ever wrote one.
3 stars.
loved some stories more than others (especially apt pupil & shawshank : the storytelling, the tense atmosphere, the plot twists, everything was perfect ! apt pupil made me feel deeply scared of the human mind & the ending of shawshank restored my faith in humanity !!) but definitely a good reading experience!
gotta say though that stephen king just LOVES rambling and going on tangents, it gets very tiring at some point. like please get to the point i don't need to read an essay on the color of the sky
so -1 for that, but overall great book ^^
Un recueil de récits courts de Stephen King, dont l'une en particulier “Un élève doué”, m'avait particulièrement marqué. Les autres ne sont pas restée dans ma mémoire.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemtpion - You know the story. If you don't, I'm sorry that you haven't seen maybe the best movie ever made. Hope is a good thing, and what the story does different from the movie is that you never know the fate of Andy, or if Red made it to the pacific. Everything being related from Red's perspective makes you hope that he will get to see his friend again and shake his hand. Undiscussed 5 stars.
Apt Pupil - A brilliant and smart preadolescent boy finds out that one of his neighbours is an old nazi officer. From there the two of them develop a toxic relationship that could ruin both of their lives. Eventually everything goes downhill, as you would expect. It's the kind of story where you know the consequences will get worse progresivelly, and that's exactly what happened. At the beginning the kid was a bit too smart for his age to me but otherwise a decent read, 4 stars.
The Body - A poor copy of IT, a bunch of kids from a rural area. Due to it's small small size I felt that four characters were way too many, but eventually we lost focus on two of them and redirected our attention to the other two. Kind of a coming of age story that teaches you to look for yourself first and not to let others drag you down. 4 stars.
The Breathing Method - Nothing too exciting about this one, except the eerie feeling that the butler gave away. 3 stars.
Overall, a good collection of Stephen King stories, 4 stars.
4.5/4.75 ⭐️
Wow! Thats pretty much all you can say! All four of these short stories were amazing even if Apt Pupil was maybe a bit much for my sensitive brain, it was so interesting.
My favourite of the four was probably The Body, it sums up for me what King does best (I'm no expert at all having only read 5 or 6 of his books) the coming of age, small town story with a dark twist!
Shawshank was a very very close second, a story that will stay with me forever and I will definitely come back to every so often and The Breathing Method was gripping, heartbreaking and haunting.
Would definitely recommend this!
“When it comes down to it, you only have two choices. Get busy livin, or get busy dying.”
Okay so this is one of my favorite films ever and for some absurd reason, I have never read the original novella. It was fantastic. It's better, I think, after having seen the film, which is rare - but I could imbed so much of Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins' charm, but it doesn't really matter - this novella is just simply excellent. It is now my go to recommendation for people to try King if they don't like horror. Speaking of, any time I read King books like this, it makes me so sad that some people will never try any of his books because they don't like “horror books”. Their loss, though.
Precise rating: 2.5 ⭐
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
3 ⭐
Apt Pupil
2 ⭐
The Body
3 ⭐
The Breathing Method
2.5 ⭐
It took me almost two years to finish this collection, given my forays into professorship and parenthood. It was the first bit of King's fiction I have read in several years. It didn't disappoint.
I picked up this particular collection to finally read the basis for one my favorite films, The Shawshank Redemption. The movie stuck closely to the story, and I'll admit I like the elements of the story that didn't make it to film. I also find myself unbothered by the liberties taken by the screenplay. I wish I could say the same for The Body and Stand by Me, but it's simply been too long since I've seen that film. Admittedly, I have not watched Apt Pupil, but I was familiar with the plot. That left the final tale as the one that was completely new to me.
The Breathing Method was a terrific story, but I felt it needed a little more (i.e., explore the club idea) or a little less (i.e., leave the club out entirely). Still, I read it with a sort of recklessness that a piece of fiction has not triggered in me for years.
Of course, I recommend this one.
I recently watched The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me with my wife and children. My wife and I had seen the movies when they first came out but our children had not seen either movie. The kids loved both movies and I was very pleased to see that the films held up beautifully with time. The movies are universally loved. If you don't believe me, then go look on Rotten Tomatoes (here and here).
I got to thinking (uh oh). The source material had to be great to make such fantastic movies. I read quite a bit of Stephen King in my teen years (Cujo, Carrie, Night Shift), but I hadn't read Different Seasons, the book of four novellas—two of which were the basis for these movies. My curiosity was piqued. Was it time for a personal reconsideration of Stephen King? I've recently discovered that there are a lot of critics doing this, particularly The Guardian's ‘Rereading Stephen King' column is giving it a go. I read their review of Different Seasons with great interest, although I disagreed with most of the James Smythe's assessments. But there is one thing he and I agree on: there is some literary greatness within the cover of Different Seasons. Unfortunately, there are some not so great moments, too.
I decided to buy the book through Audible. It is narrated by Frank Muller. I'll review his narration separately.
So, let's dive in!
The novellas “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” and “The Body” are both affecting literary depictions of the power of friendship, something I love to see in fiction. If you love the movies The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me—based on these novellas—then you will also love these stories. The movies are faithful to the novellas with only slight changes that streamline their cinematic versions. The narrators tell their stories with an affecting lilt, remembering the friendships that bound them, even through harrowing events. King shows great descriptive flair in both stories and the dialogue is snappy and true to life. Red (the narrator of Shawshank) and Gordie (the narrator of The Body) are both likeable and effective storytellers who reveal the goodness beneath the criminals and punks of both stories.
“Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” is perfect storytelling. Perfect!
“The Body” is great, too, with one exception. Two short stories are included—in full—within the novella that are examples of what Gordie publishes as an adult when he becomes a professional writer. Unfortunately, they do not add anything to the story of the four, young friends; and the “pie eating contest” could have more effectively been told by young Gordie as a campfire tale within the main narrative.
The novellas “The Apt Pupil” and “The Breathing Method” were less satisfying and, quite frankly, not worthy of inclusion with the other two novellas. In “The Apt Pupil,” neither main characters have any redeeming qualities whatsoever and reading this story was the equivalent of watching two rats devouring each other on a sinking ship. “The Breathing Method” is a Tales from the Crypt-inspired story told in long-form. This novella uses the “story within a story” structure, which can be fun if used effectively. Ultimately, this structure is used to only reveal a gruesome death, then the novella abruptly ends. Not much is revealed about either narrator and the “story within a story” structure is wasted for a salacious parlor trick.
“The Apt Pupil” is garbage. Complete garbage!
“The Breathing Method” is pointless, although a pared down version might make an effective script for a 1950s horror comic piece, if put in the hands of a great illustrator.
I enjoyed the Afterword of the book. In it, Stephen King tells the origins of each of the novellas and how they ended up in this compilation. In short, novellas were a hard sell to a publisher during that time in the 1970s and 80s, too short to sell as standalone works of fiction in bookstores and too long to sell to a magazine or literary journal. King's self-deprecating narration is in full-swing. He's funny, insightful, and self-effacing.
Finally, the narrator for this audiobook—Frank Muller—is excellent. His deep, baritone voice was pleasant to listen to and he barreled through the stories with conviction and vigor. His narration in “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” was comparable to that of Morgan Freeman and he effectively altered his tone to depict each of the boys in “The Body.” His narration is top-notch. My only complaint is the sound quality of this Audible edition is somewhat tinny and sometimes Muller sounds like he is being recorded using a tin can with string. Nevertheless, he is a great narrator.
Verdict: I recommend this book for “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” and “The Body” because they are both great literary works of fiction. You can skip “The Apt Pupil” and “The Breathing Method.” The Afterword is a fun addition and Frank Muller is a fantastic narrator.
I'm not a big fan of short stories and novellas. Often, they lack depth and a well-developed plot. I often find that a good story is better served when it's flashed out in a full-size novel. This is one of the reasons why, in general, I avoid story or novella collections. With this, I'm trying to justify why I hadn't read this book yet, even though I've consumed a significant portion of King's body of work by now. A novella is a snack; four novellas make a thick book.
How wrong can someone be when it comes to this bundling of four separate stories by Stephen King? Although each of these stories could have had the potential for a full-fledged novel, especially in the skillful hands of King, I never felt that depth was lacking anywhere.
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption:
It's a well-known story, of course, due to the world-famous adaptation. The story is masterful, but what struck me in particular is how good the adaptation actually is.
Apt Pupil:
Perhaps I found this to be the best, most gripping story. There is a film adaptation, but I haven't seen it. King brilliantly portrays how fascination can transform into an obsession that then has gruesome consequences. The characters of an elderly man and a schoolboy entangle themselves and hold each other in a stranglehold.
The Body:
King at his best when it comes to a group of outcast friends, coming of age, and us against the world. IT vibes all over.
The Breathing Method:
Maybe this is the only story that I found too short. It's the shortest of the four. And within it, the actual story is framed within a storytelling context. The mystery surrounding it calls for elaboration. Stories are told in a mysterious club. Hints are given about the secrets, but ultimately, it's about a story being told in the club. I would love to see a novel built around this club.
Normally, I don't quickly give novellas 5 stars. Novellas are not entirely my thing, but within this genre, this book is the absolute top. So, full marks after all, I can't deny it.