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Summary: Four terrific tales from a master storyteller.
Review: If you've never read Stephen King before, this book is an excellent place to start, as it will show you that King is much more than just a "horror" writer. In this book, King has crafted four novellas which provide countless insights into various aspects of life and the human condition. Three of the four stories have been made into movies--you may have seen them and never known they were based on King.The first novella in the book, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," is clearly the best (it also produced the best movie, The Shawshank Redemption). The premise is simple--a wrongly accused man is sentenced to life imprisonment--but the story itself is rich and enveloping. To say that this engaging, intricately woven tale is heartwarming is somewhat trite, yet the theme of the story, "hope springs eternal," shines through like a beacon. Also compelling are "The Body" (made into the movie Stand by Me) and "Apt Pupil." Both are coming of age stories which center around young teenage characters, yet the first focuses on triumph, the second on tragedy. The final story, "The Breathing Method," was my least favorite, but it fits with the redemption theme that is interlaced throughout the book; plus, fans of King's forays into horror will get a taste of the macabre here. Whatever your specific preference, you are sure to find a favorite tale in this book.
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Summary: The Body is Amazing
Review: In the book, Different Seasons, I read the 3rd story, "The Body". Even, though I put my age as 12, i am 13. As a 13 year old girl, I learned so much from the story of the 4 boys that go on an adventure of a lifetime. What they learned about friendship on the journey is unforgettable. Also, That the book teaches you about friendship sticks with you for the rest of your life. I truely enjoyed the book. I recomend it to anyone who can read! summary:
The book is about 4 boys, 2 in particular that are really good friends, that set out to find a dead body of a boy that is there age that got hit by a train. As they take the day long walk, they encounter adventures and amazing expirences that, if they happened to you, would touch and change your life forever. I truely recomend this book! Go get it!
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Summary: One of the best....
Review: This collection of stories has to rank as my favorite. Most people have seen the adapted movies: Stand by me; The Shawshank Redemption; and Apt Pupil, but the stories offer much more in the way of entertainment. What you get from King is nice, fluent prose, and good intellectual writing that builds the stories leaving the reader with an indelible mark of enjoyment. All the stories in this compilation are great reads; however, Apt Pupil would have to be my top choice. The plot of Apt Pupil is simple and engrossing. A young boy--a boy with curiosity that swells to unbelievable proportions--is enthralled with a Nazi living in his town. Todd--the young apt pupil--wants to hear of all the torture and torment of the concentration camps. Once these horrifying images are burned into his memory, he begins to change and so does the storyteller. I would have to say one of King's best. The other stories, although superb, are not quite as entertaining as apt pupil. If you're a fan of Stephen King, you must add this book to your collection. If you've seen the films, you have not fully experienced the depth and emotion of the stories. Maybe now some people will revisit the novellas and short stories that pepper King's bibliography. These are gems, and should be read more than once. Buy the book.
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Summary: A Different Spin from King
Review: Be forewarned that this is not your typical horrors from King. In this compilation of 4 novellas, King proved that he is not just the King of Horrors. he is an accomplished author of short stories providing each of the stories with a memorable and unpredictable twist. The first novella Shawshank Redemption is a wonderful soaring tale of indomitable spirit and the ability of man to overcome adverse situations. The second novella The Apt Pupil is a dark and brooding story of how a boy strikes up a dark and uneasy friendship with a former Nazi Death Camp Commander not realizing that the friendship starts a chain of events with unpredictable consequences. The third novella The Body is a delightful story of 4 teenage buddies undertaking a journey full of adventure in search of the body of a dead boy. In the journey they discover the magic of friendship. The final novella Breathing Method is breathtaking and beautiful in its detail of the story of mother who will do everything to make sure that her baby is delivered in good health. Read them and discover the magic of King in his mastery of drama and adding unpredictable twists in his tales. King's skill is incredible and delightful in his use of mundane everyday events and objects turning them into memorable stories. Pick up this novel and be mesmerised by King.
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Summary: He's my favorite living writer and this is his very best
Review: When I was a boy I, too, had a treehouse and some of my best memories are of long summer afternoons in my treehouse with a box full of comic books, and my favorites were always Classics Illustrated. The stories were just about right for my reading skills and attention span and the plots were wonderful - that's what made Classics Illustrated (along with some pretty clever art work)so popular in the 1950's and 1960's. And that's the feeling I get from Different Seasons - Stephen King at his very best and it is the tale, after all, that matters. Oh sure, his writing skills were never better than when he crafted these stories, but it is the stories themselves that will prove timeless (successful movies have been made of them years after they were writen). And whenever I find myself out of something to read, I can always pull out Different Seasons and feel just a little like I did all those years ago on summer afternoons in my treehouse, not unlike the boys in The Body. Along with my boyhood friends, we even hiked railroads (and railroad bridges) and we camped out and told stories, and if we'd known about a body, we'd have probably gone looking for it. Shawshank was just as good, Apt Pupil was kind of like one of those old Creepy magazines we also loved, and The Breathing Method was a fine end to the book. Long Live Summer Afternoons (and Warren, Chuck, Charles, Kenny, Neal, Dave, Ernie, Lee, John et al, and we all miss Kurt)and Stephen King.
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Summary: Among King's better books
Review: Not your typical collection of King horror stories, "Different Seasons" shows King's versatility at delivering high entertainment without resorting to more standard scare tactics. "Apt Pupil" is by far the most disturbing of the four stories, in which King provides a look at the demons inside a former Nazi, and a young kid determined to bring this out of the old man. "The Body" shows King's talent at writing coming of age stories, and developing the mystique of childhood adventures. A very entertaining story. "The Shawshank Redemption" is memorable and uplifting, minus any obvious horror, and thus showing a seldom seen facet of King. The fourth story wasn't as interesting to me. Overall though, a very good book. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".
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Summary: Four Stars for Four Stories
Review: I really liked three of these stories. I started with Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption because like a lot us I thought the movie was really, really good. King's novella seems driven more on high energy and wit than the calm, cool deliberation with which the film was made, but it was just a lot of fun to see King have fun without bringing in supernatural elements. Likewise, I really enjoyed The Body -- a story about adolescence giving onto adulthood. There were a couple of lapses in the story (like why would the train conductor report Gordie and the gang for crossing the trestle, but the boy *hit* by a train wasn't reported at all), but King's characteristic wit and charm keeps the story more than afloat. The most interesting story to me was The Breathing Method. Nowhere in King's early work does he sustain a nearly flawless, increasing intensity of atmosphere within a story IMHO than in The Breathing Method. There are smaller doses of this ever-intensifying mood quality in a King short story "Quitters, Inc." from Night Shift (1978), and the sprawling version of this in The Shining, but this may be the longest version of that tight-ship kind of story where King keeps the story's focus so clearly in mind. On the other hand, some readers might find the point-of-view shift in The Breathing Method too high-falootin' or artsy. Reviews of fiction are so subjective. Apt Pupil was the most disturbing of anything I've ever read of King's fiction. It seemed like he was trying to get his mind around the kind of evil that was Nazi-ism, but King approaches this from a point of view just a little too witty for my particular tastes. I am only one reader, of course, and I have read a couple reviews that really applauded Apt Pupil, so hey, maybe it's worth checking out... All in all, I think reading this collection of four shorter works by Stephen King was time well spent. Furthermore, if you're coming to King for the first time and wanna try a more psychologically suspenseful story, check out The Breathing Method. King builds an anticipation and a fear by making the reader wonder what is *really* going on at the club. I feel like I'm pretty much being incoherent at this point so I'll wrap up this review... God bless and happy reading! (I hope this review was at least somewhat coherent and helpful) Stacey
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Summary: Different Seasons
Review: Four short stories by this master of suspense and mystery.
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Summary: Definitely A Good Read
Review: I can't say at all that I have read enough books by Stephen King to make a comparison as to whether this is one of his better books or not. I have only read this book and Eyes of the Dragon, neither of which can really be considered a horror. The two books I have read by King, I have enjoyed though. This particular book contains four novellas, all of which King wrote directly after he had finished one of his novels. Two of these novellas have been written into great movies: The Shawshank Redemption and The Body which in theaters is called Stand by Me. Three of the four novellas I would read again leaving out only The Breathing Method. Once was enough for me. I wouldn't recommend it, but it is a short story and easy to get through. I would definitely take the chance to get this book from stores.
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Summary: TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM HIS HORROR STUFF
Review: The four novellas featured in this stunning collection are a great example of how unjustly Stephen King has been labelled 'just a horror writer.' Three of these have been made into movies, and all are available on video: The Body is better known as the classic coming-of-age film Stand by Me (starring Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix); then there's the tense prison drama The Shawshank Redemption (with Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman); and finally the Nazi holocaust thriller Apt Pupil (Brad Renfro, David Schwimmer). The remaining beauty, The Breathing Method, is a great little ghost story for that quiet non-video night in front of the fire.
Sure it was the phenomenal early success of Carrie, The Shining etc that was responsible for Stephen's 'Horror King' tag; but recent gems like The Green Mile and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon show how versatile this prolific and highly imaginative author of more than thirty books has been (you just don't know what he's going to do next!). A novella by Stephen King standards, by the way, is nearly as long as a novel by most other authors. So four for the price of one ain't bad!
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