I am not a fan of prison stories and this was not what I was expecting after seeing Stephen King on the cover, but this was still a good novella. I will likely read the other three stories from Different Seasons eventually.

The best element in this novella is the character development. Even though the story is told from the perspective of Red, the changes in Andy are still very well written.

I think this is a good story for people wanting to read Stephen King with less gore. ( )

Well for me, this book was a mixed bag. We had to read the second short story in it (The Apt Pupil) for bookclub, but I also chose to read the first (Rita Heyworth & the Shawshank Redemption) for personal interest.

Shawshank I really enjoyed. Written in a unique manner it seemed to place you in the prision where it took place, while still keeping a distance from the nastier aspects without ignoring them. Everything bad you've heard that happens in prisons, basically happens in this book, but it isn't dwelt upon to the exclusion of the plot, which is engaging and teasingly told. The main to be said about this story is that, strangely, it really left me at the end with a great sense of hope.

Pupil, on the other hand, I did not enjoy. It was a struggle to read parts, and I didn't find the storyline at all appealing. The main character is immediately dislikable, and really quite annoying. I imagine this is kind of the point, but it did not make me want to read on. Very psychological, and heavily nazi based; if this isn't your cup of tea, skip this story. ( )

Banker Andy Dufresne is wrongly convicted of murdering his unfaithful wife and her lover and sent to Shawshank State Prison in Maine. While imprisoned he meets Red, a man who can work the system to obtain contraband. Red and Andy become friends. Andy puts into action a long-term plan to shortcut his sentence.

Once Andy is sent to prison, some pretty horrible things happen to him. I did not care much for reading this part, but it was necessary to establish him as a sympathetic character. The story is narrated by Red, and he brings the reader along through the difficulties of prison life.

I picked up this book to remind myself of it since I enjoyed the film so much and had read the book long ago. There are a few segments that have not aged well, but overall, I very much enjoyed it. It is one of those enduring storylines where a wrong is ultimately righted and it feels very satisfying.
( )

Usually, I'm struggling with trying to review my favorite books, because apart from expressions like 'awesome', 'mind-blowing' or 'must-read', not too much can be said about stories like these. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I tend to enjoy writing snarky reviews of books I disliked way more than trying to compose a decent review on a story I loved and want everyone else to read as well.

"Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" is one of them. I have to admit, I am a huge fan of prison stories and the way they are able to explore what imprisonment and isolation from society can do to a human's mind. Stephen King managed to explore this in such a perfect way, allowing hope and despair to flow into his words simultaneously. I've read many other reviews emphasizing it, and I can only sign what they are writing: this is not only a story about life in prison (which, by the way, is depicted in a very realistic way - not that I would be able to judge how life in prison really feels like, but at least King managed to convince me this is how it would feel like to be imprisoned for more than thirty years), but also a story about hope. And it is perfectly done. Not many stories before have been able to nearly reduce me to tears at the ending, but "Shawshank Redemption" is one of them.

It's no long story and, thus, will not take much time to read, so I can highly recommend giving it a try. Now, watching the movie version with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins will gain a high place on my to-do-list (right beneath reading more Stephen King novels), as nearly everybody seems to have watched this movie - and loved it - except for me. ( )

Who said Stephen King only wrote horror? "Different Seasons" is a mix of all the genres - Young Adult, Mystery, coming-of-age ... but no horror. If you want to read King at his finest, then read this.

"Different Seasons" is a collection of four novellas, each of which he has written after the conclusion of his four earliest novels. While initially not intending to publish any of them, King finally decided to release those novellas in an anthology, and many of his readers couldn't be more thankful for it. It is not without reason that this book has the second-highest rating average on Goodreads of all the sixty novels King has written so far.

1. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (5/5 stars)
Perhaps most famous for the movie adaption starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, this is a story about hope and devastation, about freedom and imprisonment, about humanity and friendship. I have written a more extensive review of the novel right here. Nearly everyone has watched the movie ('everyone' excludes me, as so often), but even without knowing about how good the movie really is, this novella can be recommended whole-heartedly.

2. Apt Pupil (4,5/5 stars)
What happens when you put two of the most unlikeable characters ever together and force them into interacting with each other? One of the most breathtaking stories ever. The subject is already interesting enough: A boy of the 1970's, Todd Bowden, gets into contact with Kurt Dussander, a wanted Nazi war criminal. Out of his interest in the Second World War, upon discovering a secret of Dussander's, Todd threatens Dussander and forces him to tell highly detailed stories about his crimes during the War. Time passes, and as Todd becomes older and turns into a teenager, the stories narrated by Dussander begin to cast long shadows on Todd's behaviour.
The only aspect to be critized of this novella might be the very rushed ending, but apart from that, King enthrallingly managed to make his reader sympathize with two vile characters with motifs and thoughts as dark as night. While sometimes a little bit slow in comparison to his other fast-moving novellas in this anthology, some breathtaking scenes have been included and certainly allow this to be one of the more moving and memorable stories.

3. The Body (6/5 stars)
My favorite story of the entire anthology, and perhaps one of my favorite stories of all time. After reading it during the course of two hours, I was left flabbergasted, enthusiastic and perturbed alike. King masterfully delved into the psyches of four young boys who are entering an adventure and have to overcome several obstacles. The movie adaption "Stand By Me" is critically acclaimed wherever you are looking, with all of the four child actors delivering amazing performances. (Yay, there's a movie I've actually seen!) The short story remains my favorite in comparison to the movie though, maybe because I've read it first and was so stunned by the characters. I can only recommend you not wasting your time with reading this review anymore and instead running to read this.

4. The Breathing Method: (3/5 stars)
Many claim this story to be their least favorite one out of the entire collection, and I can only agree with what they say. Sometimes 'great potential' does not equal 'great story', and although this story included a disturbing scene which might actually be classified as horror, on the whole it was too short and unexplored. It is a shame that Mr. King established such an interesting mystery here and did not bother to dissolve it in the ending. However, it was an interesting story about a middle-aged lawyer attending a mysterious club where people tell differing stories ... with one of them proving to be very different from the usual kind of stories. It feels like this was not meant to be included in this collection and should rather have been in one of his other anthologies. Maybe its length shortness was the reason for not being as profound as the other three novellas.



In conclusion, "Different Seasons" earns full five stars. Apart from some minor weaknesses, this collection was as enthralling as it was thought-provoking. The stories are not about horror. They (read: 'the first three stories') are about what could happen to people in real life. They are about fates. They are about humans. They are about growing-up. They are about life. Life in its darkest and least desirable shapes ... but they are about life.

And even thinking about the eventuality that those stories might have happened exactly the way they have been told by King makes me shiver more than any of his horror novels. ( )