Stephen King - Different Seasons - 9

[StefanY]

Different Seasons

This collection of novellas should easily be counted among King's best works. Of the four tales contained here, three have been made into successful motion pictures, two of which I would rank among my top fifty favorite films. Contained in this collection are: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, The Body (better known from the film version titled "Stand By Me"), and The Breathing Method. The stories are all very well different and for the most part stray away from the horror genre for which King is most well known although all of them do contain something fairly horrifying at some point or another and I would consider Apt Pupil to be among some of his scariest tales.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: This is a tale of the friendship between two men that happen to be incarcerated in Shawshank prison. this tale showcases King's strong character development skills and contains enough twists and turns to keep the storyline moving at a pace that keeps the reader interested. All in all an extremely enjoyable and well written story that translated into a great movie.

Apt Pupil: To be perfectly blunt, this one scared the bejeepers out of me. Not in a spooky scary sort of way, but in a holy crap the two main characters are truly evil sort of way. This "buddy" tale takes the notion of the evil that resides inside of each of us to an entirely new level as a young boy befriends an elderly gentleman who he believes is actually a Nazi war criminal in hiding. The resulting relationship formed between the two is truly chilling. I don't recall too much about the film version of this one, I guess I'll have to watch it again.

The Body: This coming of age story centers on a group of four boys on a journey to see the dead body of a boy that they all once knew. Their adventure takes place over a several day trek along the railroad tracks. Along the way, they all take a journey within themselves and an adventure that started out as something fun becomes instead a somber trek of self-discovery and maturing. The movie Stand By Me was made from this novella and follows the storyline very closely, I can't help but picture Will Wheaton, River Phoenix and the others from the movie cast when reading this.

The Breathing Method: This is actually a frame story in which an outer tale serves as the setting for a tale to be told within the story. The outer storyline focuses on a man who is invited to join an exclusive club of sorts by one of his coworkers. At the club, members take turns from time to time telling tales, the best of which are reserved for Christmas. The story of "The Breathing Method" is actually the Christmas tale for that particular year and is the strange story of a doctor and a pregnant unwed mother. Both the outer and inner tales contain an element of the supernatural. Some consider this to be the most well-written piece in the collection. While I don't necessarily agree with that notion myself, I did find it to be a fairly entertaining piece and a nice end-cap to a very strong collection.

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