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TechnoTV - Different Seasons (Signet)
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List Price: $7.99
Our Price: $3.00
Your Save: $ 4.99 ( 62% )
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Manufacturer: Signet
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780451167538
ISBN: 0451167538
Label: Signet
Manufacturer: Signet
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 512
Publication Date: 1983-08-29
Publisher: Signet
Release Date: 2004-03-02
Studio: Signet
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Strong collection of novellas
Comment: Different Seasons collects four novellas by Stephen King although none of them can rightly be called horror stories. Of the four, three have been turned into movies. The first, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" was developed into The Shawshank Redemption (Single Disc Edition) and if you've seen the movie you'll find it was a reasonably faithful rendition. As I read the story in it's first person narrative form, it was impossible to keep Morgan Freeman's voice out of my head (that's a good thing). For those who haven't seen the film, the story is about a banker, Andy Dufresne, who is falsely convicted murdering his wife. I suppose that there's no new ground broken in this prison yarn, but it is a highly entertaining read even so.
The next novella is Apt Pupil, also developed into a move with the same name (Apt Pupil). The setup involves an all-American teenage boy who befriends a nazi war criminal that is living under an assumed identity in his town. The boy knows full well who he is and seeks him out because he wants to hear every last detail of life in a death camp. It's a grim story, but a compelling one. Both characters are monsters, of course, but their story holds a fascination that is hard to resist.
The Body was adapted to the screen as Stand By Me (Special Edition). I'm afraid I struggled with this story to the point that I couldn't even finish it. I was doing fine with the narration of the boy and his friends but there are lengthy excerpts of a story supposedly written by the main character later in life that form a "story within a story." Unfortunately, the writing style was reminiscent of a very poor hard-boiled detective novel and ultimately I couldn't get through it. There's more than one of these excerpts and it forms a significant percentage of the novella. I won't say that The Body is either good or bad, I'll just suggest that you be prepared for the noir style of the excerpts if you read it.
Finally, the Breathing Method is the shortest story of the lot and the only one not to grace the silver screen. It's somewhat similar to Ghost Story, which is probably why King dedicated it to Peter Straub. It involves a mysterious men's club and the stories they sometimes tell each other. It's not a true horror story, though it is a bit creepy with some suspenseful undertones. Like most King stories, it's the characterization and atmosphere that makes it a pleasure to read.
While I didn't care for The Body, I enjoyed the other three stories and recommend the book to anyone interested in some non-horror fiction from Stephen King. He's a master of creating interesting characters and putting them in stressful situations to bring out their best and worst characteristics and this book is no exception.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mostly satisfying, always interesting
Comment: This is a fine collection of four novellas from Stephen King. The best, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body," have both been adapted as films that can justifiably be regarded as modern classics ("The Shawshank Redemption" and "Stand by Me," respectively). These two stories are also early examples of King stepping outside the genre boundaries within which he had become such a literary megastar. Of the remaining stories, "Apt Pupil" is also a good tale and much more in line with King's usual frightening fare. "The Breathing Method" is an odd duck, an interesting misfire. The meat of the story makes for a suitably creepy episode, and the framing story, which features a group of old men who tell each other scary stories in an otherworldly mansion, whetted my appetite for more information about this setting. However, the two parts of the story bear little relation to each other and make for an unsatisfying experience.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Free SF Reader
Comment: King's second collection of four novellas, or a couple of novellas and a couple of short novels, or three short novels and a novellas, or whatever you want to call them. He calls them the shorter version, deliberately giving the book a title not suggestion of 'telekinesis, vampires of telekinetic kids' as he details in the afterworld.
In a little bit of a departure, the first, and actually the best story is an odd sort of prison escape tale, no horror elements to be scene, beyond any other prison story, that is.
All in all, a very fine selection of tales.
Different Seasons : RITA HAYWORTH AND SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION - Stephen King
Different Seasons : APT PUPIL - Stephen King
Different Seasons : THE BODY - Stephen King
Different Seasons : THE BREATHING METHOD - Stephen King
Laundering down the wall.
A story told about a really lengthy escape plan. The narrator here is a fixer who is able to get all sorts of stuff smuggled into a prison.
The story he is telling is of a man convicted of murder, who happens to also be a financial wizard, using this ability to earn goodwill and a position as a librarian, and a cell to himself.
4.5 out of 5
Ratzi self-manipulation.
A high school boy discovers the secret of an old man living nearby - and it is a big one. Deciding to use this knowledge for his own ends, he discovers that an old man like this is a harder target than he thought, and more than a match for a somewhat innocent young man.
This relationship does not have a good effect on the young man's state of mind.
3.5 out of 5
Dead boy slug camp.
A group of boys in Castle Rock find out about a corpse, and decide on an expedition that involves more than a little beat of fear and terror on their part, at various times throughout their trip.
There are plenty of bad jokes and the odd funny story too, given a group of around 13 year olds.
3.5 out of 5
A junior member of a law firm is invited to a slightly odd club, that initially appears to be just a group of members that like to tell stories of different sorts, but just before xmas, the story must be 'uncanny'.
He begins to suspect something strange when some of the furnishings and books in the club seem very unique.
4 out of 5
Customer Rating:
Summary: four stories
Comment: "Different Seasons" by Stephen King, © 1982
'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption'
This is a wonderful story. Andy Dufresne was tried and sentenced to spend a spell of time in prison. As it turns out, it was a true miscarriage of justice, but that happens and you just get on with your life. Red is the narrator and the closest thing Andy has to a friend in the klink. Mr. King must have done some research to get the feel and ambiance of prisons that pervades this story. It is a lot of information you just do not see or think about when you are not in there, but it is there if you think about it. The stuff that happens, the schedules, the personal problems, etc., makes you happy you are not there, but you also feel you could weather the life if you had to.
'Apt Pupil'
This is the story of the descent into insanity. Todd Bowden discovers there is a Nazi war criminal in his town. He goes to talk with him. He wants to know what it was like to kill all those people and how and who helped and what they were like. You do not realize how crazy this is until the end. It is so sad. Todd was such a good student, then he got all turned around, through no fault of this war criminal. In the end he was a very 'apt pupil.'
Mr. King walks the fine line of describing this insane boy and his mentor, but not getting into the thought process. You understand that the insanity has taken over, but you do not get into the head of the person so much as to find out what they are thinking, as you just know what they do is a comfort to them.
'The Body'
This is a precursor of "It." A pretty good story of a bunch of kids acting like kids: out exploring, playing games, climbing trees. The jist of this story is a that a boy from the town has gone missing for a long time and he has not been found. One of this group has a brother who talks, within earshot of this one boy, about where the body is. So the group plans and goes off to see this macabre sight.
It is interesting that in this story, as well as the next, there are stories within the story. Mr. King poo poos these stories, but they are pretty good to me.
'The Breathing Method'
David has been invited to join his boss, George Waterhouse, in some club he belongs to. They are lawyers during the day. This club is something else. It seems to have an endless supply of rare and obscure books, and rooms for pool or other games. It is never mentioned who pays or is charged for drinks, if anything. This club is the sort of place anyone would be welcome in and comfortable at. A British type of ambiance pervades the establishment. I want to get to be here. It sounds so quaint and congenial.
But, this is not the main part of the story. This is actually a story of a story. At first you wait for something to happen to David, but nothing does, and eventually you realize that he is just leading up to the storytelling that is the reason for this story. The inner story is truly outlandish, but you enjoy the telling and that it turns out as well as it does.
This is the story I got the phrase, "Pretty as a day," from. I used to tell Mary that, and, "You are the most beautiful sight I have ever seen," (from an article by Rachel Ray talking about Vermont in the Fall) at least once a day, but no more. I embarrassed her and so I really should not do that.
All in all, these are some very good stories. The second one is the worst, but mostly that is because I did not like the subject matter.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great collection of short stories
Comment: Different Seasons by Stephen King is one of my favorite collections of Short stories. The short stories include Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which was the basis for the movie Shawshank Redemption, as well as the short story that the movie Stand By ME was based on. The other two short stories were less captivating, but it is definitely worth it for the two above mentioned stories.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Four mesmerizing novellas, including the ones that inspired the movies The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, and Stand by Me.
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