Different Seasons – Stephen King
Expectation: The author branching out into different genres during his peak era of the early 1980s.
Reality: Given how famous two of the stories have become thanks to stellar film adaptations, I was left a bit disappointed in the source material.
My Take:
While entertained throughout this collection of novellas, first published in 1982, I also experienced something unique to the 30+ books I’ve read by Stephen King — in most instances, the film adaptations were better.
Blasphemous, I know, and hardly the norm for the author, but throughout my reading of “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” and “The Body,” I was struck by how tangential the narratives were compared to the streamlined films.
On the other hand, “Apt Pupil” (also adapted in the 90s, but I’ve never seen the film) was much stronger from start-to-finish and deserves more credit in the canon of King’s classic works.
“Different Seasons” lands in the lower echelon of my Uncle Stevie reads as it represents both the best and worst of the author’s writing. Frequently it felt like he was trying too hard to prove himself to critics. This isn’t armchair psychology either, he said as much in the afterward.
While I appreciated how he melded different genres together and gave us some memorable characters, many of these stories felt like ones that would’ve been published by Richard Bachman as not to tarnish King’s brand. Glimpses of the author’s unique storytelling is there — and let’s be honest even subpar King is better than most writers — but there’s also a spark missing.
The audiobook featured Frank Muller reading each story, and it was an interesting balance of scenery chewing and nuance. I have no idea how he pulled it off. Like the stories themselves, each narration was uneven.
It would be unfair to compare him to Morgan Freeman, but his Ellis “Red” Redding wasn’t nearly as engrossing, and the kids in “The Body” were an exercise in pre-teen frustration. But he absolutely nailed the deranged characters in “Apt Pupil” and gave life to the otherwise dull “The Breathing Method.”
While this isn’t a collection I’d whole-heartedly recommend, audio isn’t a terrible way to go. Still non-Constant Readers should simply seek out a standalone copy of “Apt Pupil” and skip the rest. You’ll thank me later.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
The story is so inextricably linked to the film adaptation it’s difficult to judge it on its own merits. Credit must be given for how much story he packed into 100-pages, but the movie certainly trimmed some of the fat.
Still no adaptation — even the best ones — can do King’s unfiltered words justice. Part of the pleasure in reading the author is experiencing the tiny details that bring a character to life, like casual turns of phrase.
If you love the film, I’d suggest skipping this because it is difficult to picture anything other than Frank Darabont’s vision while reading.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Apt Pupil
This was a blind read for me as I only had a passing awareness of what the story was about before diving in. That likely added to my enjoyment.
Teenager Todd Bowden gives preciousness a new meaning with his harassment of Kurt Dussander, an elderly neighbor he suspects is a Nazi in hiding. Through blackmail, his suspicions are confirmed, and the two form an unholy and bloody alliance.
Of all of King’s stories, this might be the most unhinged. There were so many ways it could’ve gone, and I was truly shocked by the journey. Several sections made my blood run cold, there’s an interesting sense of urgency to the story given the rise of antisemitism and white nationalism. This is a must read, but it is not for the faint of heart.
Rating (story): 5/5 stars
The Body
Not nearly as engaging as the film adaptation, which gave the characters — Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern — typical coming-of-age tropes. Here they are difficult to differentiate and are written as insufferable ne’er-do-wells.
The charm is that it feels personal to the King. Written as Gordie, now a successful author, recounting a summer adventure searching for the body of a missing boy, he recounts the yarns he used to tell to his friends (like the famous “The Revenge of Lard-Ass Hogan”) that helped spur pursuit of his successful career.
In the end, the story seemed longer than it actually was, and in many ways it felt like a test run of the Losers Club from “It.”
Rating (story): 3/5 stars
The Breathing Method
Told in three parts, it is centered on a mysterious Manhattan gentlemen’s club where 13 men gather to tell strange stories. The first section is essentially 35-pages of setup, which could’ve been trimmed to 10-pages.
The second chapter gives us the namesake story, and it is the closest thing to horror in this collection. King provides a nightmare inducing tale that made me think of “The Girl With the Green Ribbon” from “In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories” by Alvin Schwartz — although this one is far more violent and adult.
While the actual story of “The Breathing Method” was great, the journey to get there was a bit too tedious. The third chapter is a coda of sorts that was pointless. In the end, this suffers from too much meandering that diluted what actually worked.
Rating (story): 2.5/5 stars
Rating (collection): 3.5/5 stars
Rating (narration): 4/5 stars
Format: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: December 17, 2023 – January 1, 2024
Multi-tasking: Good to go. Some stories will hook you more than others, but you want to focus on activities that allow you to focus on King’s writing from this prolific and, I’d argue peak, era.
