I used to love Stephen King when I was younger, but have really moved away from his works as an adult. Even so, there’s one book of his that I still periodically read from time to time, and that is the 1982 collection of novellas called Different Seasons. This volume contains four of the best stories I’ve ever read in a single work, bar none.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption: I’m probably one of the few people on this planet who think the original story is far superior to the movie, but I simply couldn’t stand Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne. He was not the right actor for the part, and I couldn’t get past that in order to enjoy the film. The original story is fantastic, a real tearjerker with a positive ending that we don’t see much in King’s works.
Apt Pupil: This was another strong story, and again, I liked the original better than the movie that followed (though I think most people did here). I felt this was a gripping psychological tale, and I could easily see how Todd would fall into that vicious cycle and not be able to get out. Scary.
The Body: Everyone knows this better as the movie Stand By Me, and here I have to say that the movie was superior to the original story. The film was tighter and more compact, while the original has a lot of extraneous elements that I felt weren’t really necessary. As it is, though, The Body is still a very engrossing coming-of-age story, and it does indeed make me think of the friends I had when I was 12 every time I read it.
The Breathing Method: This was really the only one of the stories that contained a supernatural element, so it’s a bit different from the rest of the collection, but it’s still very good. This is the one I’ve re-read the least; however, that’s not a reflection on its inherent quality.
Read Different Seasons if you haven’t done so already!