Different Seasons

by Stephen King

eBook, 307 pages

English language

Published Jan. 1, 1982 by Warner Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-7515-1462-9

(39 reviews)

Includes the stories “The Body” and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”—set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine

A “hypnotic” (The New York Times Book Review) collection of four novellas—including the inspirations behind the films Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption—from Stephen King, bound together by the changing of seasons, each taking on the theme of a journey with strikingly different tones and characters.

This gripping collection begins with “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” in which an unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge—the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee The Shawshank Redemption.

Next is “Apt Pupil,” the inspiration for the film of the same name about top high school student Todd Bowden and his obsession with the dark and deadly past of an older man in town.

In “The Body,” four rambunctious young boys plunge through the façade of a small town and …

Includes the stories “The Body” and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”—set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine

Next is “Apt Pupil,” the inspiration for the film of the same name about top high school student Todd Bowden and his obsession with the dark and deadly past of an older man in town.

In “The Body,” four rambunctious young boys plunge through the façade of a small town and come face-to-face with life, death, and intimations of their own mortality. This novella became the movie Stand By Me.

Finally, a disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death in “The Breathing Method.”

“The wondrous readability of his work, as well as the instant sense of communication with his characters, are what make Stephen King the consummate storyteller that he is,” hailed the Houston Chronicle about Different Seasons.

1 edition

Scott reviewed Different Seasons by Stephen King (Stephen King Collections, #2)

Difficult, but well done

4 stars

4 stories that were good. I enjoyed 3 of them. Apt Pupil is not so much something one enjoys, but rather uses to inoculate oneself from ignorance that evil exists. Shawshank was addicting. The Body had characters you care about, even tho they toss off slurs. The Breathing Method is short and a bit oblong. But once it gets to Xmas, the story sinks its teeth.

I think i recommend this book and its stories. But they can be an uneasy read. Written in a time, and about times, that had not come to grips with the morals we have now. If you can face the past for its inequities, these may be worthwhile.

Also, the reader, Frank Muller, is fantastic.

drizzy reviewed Different Seasons by Stephen King (Stephen King Collections, #2)

Review of 'Shawshank redemption.' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

He said he didn't think anyone died happy, but you could die well

The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them.

He said he didn't think anyone died happy, but you could die well

The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them.

Well this certainly was something new. A set of four novellas - slightly longer than a short story, but not quite a novel straight from King's great mind. And all of them hinting/connected to each other a little bit. Making them part of a single world. Most of King's book are considered a part of a single world anyway right?The first one a direct inspiration for Shawshank's Redemption. So most people will already know the broad strokes of the story. But it was still fun to read.The second (and longest) about a co-dependent and twisted relationship between and old Man with a terrible past and a young boy that grows up and grows dark with each passing page.The third about a boyish adventure like no other. A real gory treat for brave young gang of four friends who don't really belong together - as told by the only one of them still alive.And last (and my favourite) story of a old mans' club full of secrets and a tale of one determined mother. I imagine there's secrets connected to The Dark Tower and all the other worlds of King's world. A real treat.So should you read this? As King himself admits in the afterword - his writing is not "high literature" and not even meant to be. But it sure is entertaining and he's certainly an amazing storyteller. So sure - go ahead and have some fun.

Zéro Janvier reviewed Different Seasons by Stephen King (Stephen King Collections, #2)

Review of 'Shawshank redemption.' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

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.