Rating: 
Summary: Great! Could NOT have been better!
Review: Great book! Throughly enjoyed Apt Pupil, it was freaky! The Breathing Method seemed....out of place but it was alright. Although strange! Great book and a great read!
Rating:
Summary: The Other Side of King
Review: 'Different Seasons' is probably Stephen King's best single book and one whose appeal is certainly nor restricted to the fans of the horror genre where he has made his bones. Three of the four novellas in this collection are clear example of the amazing reach of King's artistry when he writes a book for reasons that extend beyond the fat paycheck that he gets for each of his (several oversized and overrated) works. Incidentally all these three have been adapted onto film.The first story 'Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption' is a classic prison drama. Andy Dufresne, a slick banker, finds himself facing a life sentence for murder that he didn't commit. The story deals with how Andy maintains his free spirit within his harsh confines negotiating favors with cons and cops alike until one day something happens that causes him to lose his cool, and then...the story moves very smoothly and has a crackerjack finale. King neither glosses over the brutalities of prison life nor exploits them for cheap shock value (This is one area where the film version fails: It is much too designed to appeal to the schmaltz-loving Oscar crowd and presents an overly sanitized version of the book's setting). 'The Apt Pupil' is perhaps the only true horror story in this collection. But unlike some of King's typical works, the horror in this story is entirely psychlogical. A bright young boy with a keen interest, nay obsession, in the events of war and destruction latches onto a Nazi crminal-in-hiding and under threat of exposure forces him to reveal the gritty detail of the torture camps only to find that he has landed himself into a terrible cat-and-mouse game with the old Nazi, each holding a wire that would pull the plug on the other's life. King draws a terrifying contrast between the boy's 'bright american teenager' existence and its dark underbelly exposed in his dealings with the war criminal. The tension and frenetic pacing of the plot at no time allow the reader to relax but then why would you want to? I can't say about the film: I didn't see it since I'd heard that they had altered the climax which I could not accept for this story. Read to find out. 'The Body' is my personal favorite in this collection. It is King's own reputation of being a pulp-horror writer that prevents a wider audience being granted to this little gem of an emotional experience, really I dare anyone to read thru the opening passage without brushing a tear or swallowing a lump in the throat. Four young boys go camping in an expedition to see the body of another boy who they heard had been hit by a train. No, the body doesn't suddenly rise up and cause havoc in the countryside. Instead the story, a la Peter Weir's classic film 'Picnic At Hanging Rock' probes into the lives and minds of these boys as they explore the woods for their quarry. Perhaps it is the first-person narrative and the funda of the protagonist being a writer that suggests this but I have a feeling that this is perhaps a story with strong influences from King's own life as a kid in Maine. The skill of his writing here is given an edge by his amazing strength as a chronicler of 60's America and by the rawness and honesty of the young characters' emotional states. They are people we know and many of us have grown up with. We laugh with them and feel the same fears and confusions that they do as they find themselves cruelly wrenched into an adolescence that they are hardly prepared for. If there is a story which defines King as a writer to me this is it. The film features all the plot events faithfully event but somehow misses out on the wild spirit of the story. The fourh story 'The Breathing Method' is disappointing in that it really does not match up the standards set by the ones that precede it. It deals with the travails of a woman who is determined to give birth even at he cost of her life and beyond. The only interesting aspect of this tale is the setting in which its is narrated, a unique old-world club wherein members share bizarre experiences and anecdotes. King used the locale again in 'The Man Who Wouldn't Shake Hands' a story from an exceptionally good collection called 'Skeleton Crew'. It also features one of King's coolest lines: '(it is) the tale, not he who tells it.'
Rating:
Summary: Great Stories
Review: I just love Stephen King, and I love his novellas, the greatest of which is in the collection - the superb "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" (which of course has been made into an equally great movie). "The Body" is also another great story, also made into an excellent film. For those of you who think that King is simply a writer of tales to make your flesh crawl, this is a good place to start. In these stories there are great characters, great plots and great endings with a twist. The beauty of these stories are that they are short enough to read in one sitting, but just long enough to leave you wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: Proves Stephen King as a writer and not just a horror writer
Review: These four novellas are some of the best writing ever done by Stephen King or any writer for that matter and they show his versatility as well as his grasp of the human capacity for both decency and horribleness. His horror is good not because it's original (although the Gunslinger series is one of the most unique series ever written) but because he captures human beings at their most ordinary and makes it extraordinary. It is no coincidence that these character driven stories have inspired three of the greatest movies of all time. Individually here are my impressions. "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption" - I loved this story the first time I read it because of the interaction between the asocial banker and his narrator friend. It still holds up, but the movie made it much better. Some might be disappointed because this book goes for realism where the movie went for emotional heartstrings, but it is still an excellent story about hope and redemption and patience. "Apt Pupil" - even creepier than the movie. The 13 year old kid at the beginning has something wrong with him. It's not just the loss of innocence, but the story of monsters being given forms. The 13 year old's fascination with brutality and death is given free reign when he comes face to face with one of the greatest killers of the 20th century. Without an inkling of regret he makes the old man tell his stories and gets off on them. This is one of those stories that makes you remember how creepy you might have been as a teenager, how creepy other teenagers might have been and how the conscience can be turned off for good. If you were feeling too happy with SHawshank, Apt Pupil will bring you up short. "the Body" - A bittersweet tale of four boys travelling to see a dead body. Most of their conversation is the kind of "up yours. Suck my big one" kind of talk you get from 12-year olds but buried beneath the surface is a real pain in all four of them. It's only the narrator and his friend Chris who recognize that their lives can be different and part of the journey is the friendship between Narrator and Chris developing into a mutual partnership agaisnt the forces in their lives that will drag them down. Also, Stephen King makes reference to his friend Harlan Ellison with "I have a friend who writes stories in the window of a bookstore". It's one of those things that I always like about Stephen King. He's not only honest about his influences and likes to promote people that you might not be reading, but he's also bereft of the competitive nastiness that would screw up these friendships. "Breathing Methods" - this one is just weird. There is a framing story about a bunch of rich guys who meet at an impossibly huge apartment to tell stories and then there's the story about a woman who gives birth under extremely unusual circumstances. It's one of those stories that you are going to love or hate dependign on your sense of humor, but you probably won't forget it for awhile. So definitely buy this book. Make your own decisions about these stories. Some you'll love more than others. Three of which you'll compare to the movies either favorably or unfavorably but they will stay with you.
Rating:
Summary: SOCKO!
Review: Wow, this collection of four novellas really packs a punch. It's been nearly fifteen years since I've read a King novel (where have I been?) I've forgotten how riveting his prose is. This was a welcome homecoming of a book for me especially since I had seen three movies adapted from this writing. I was aware of only one of these being screen-adapted, namely "Apt Pupil." While the movies were hughly entertaining, the colorful style of King comes through in greater detail here. If I had to rate the four stories, I would name "The Breathing Method" as being the best, but not necessarily from the literary perspective, but on pure suspense, intrigue and terror. The ending caught me quite off-guard. And the "club" was piece of King's pure imagination. The imagery was just wonderful and the story left me with the feeling of being on the edge of the unknown, being just scared enough (or wise enough) to keep me from crossing over like the charactor himself. King has a way of translating that emotion to the reader. On a side note, I noticed a thread of melancholy woven through this story which almost provoked a tear or two from my eye. My least favorite would have to be "Rita Hayworth/Shanshaw Redemption." Perhaps because I saw the movie which gave away most of the plot previously. "Apt Pupil" tended to drag toward the center and fizzle a little with a predictably quick and pat ending. The only unpredictableness being King's unpredicatability in ending a story. "The Body" was indeed a breath of fresh air on the timeless subject of teens coming of age. I had visions of my own childhood upon reading. I also heard from other sources of the semi-biographical nature of this tale and King hints at this throughout "The Body." This, as with most of the novellas relied heavily upon violent images to drive them, but I wasn't overly offended by any of this. Sexual imagery was also used and fortunately not abused as with most author these days. Obviously, fiction, being close to reality, as some would argue, cannot be written without some nuance of these elements. Fortunately, King includes them with what I think is intelligent application. On final review and summation, I would recommend this quartet of spine-tinglers to any reader who isn't worried about losing a few nights sleep. Pleasant dreams. solo.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING!
Review: I was not an avid reader until i had found this book. I had always heard the expression "i couldn't put this book down!" but i had never experienced it until i found Different Seasons. This compilation of novellas is, in my opinion, the greatest experience you will ever get for $7. The proof is in the movies, 3 of the four have been made into movies, with "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Stand By Me" becoming two of the most succesful and endearing movies of our time. I HIGHLY reccomend this book to everyone.Enjoy! ~kari
Rating: 
Summary: The Body is the best
Review: There are so many good things about this book, but what made the difference for me between giving this book 3 stars and 4 stars, was the novella "The Body." The only story I really didn't like in this book was "Apt Pupil," just because I found it really disturbing. "Shawshank" and "Breathing" were both entertaining reads, but "The Body" really stood out for me. Maybe it's just because I'm kind of undergoing a transitional stage of my life right now, and I'm particularly emotional these days that I liked this story so much. Even though the four main characters were about 5 years younger than me and were boys, I could really relate. Hey, we've all been there. So, of course, after I read the story, I had to go out and see the movie "Stand by Me." The movie was so close to the book, it was astounding. (okay, so there were a few differences, especially at the end, but it was way truer to the book than most King novels that made the leap to the screen) Some of the things King speaks about in this story just really got to me, especially the whole part about the deer and the line about the most important things being the hardest to say because words diminish them. Reading this really took me back to when I was 12 (not very long ago, I know, but still...), and it reminded me how simple things were back then. Back then, when all we had to worry about was how were going to spend our summer vacation, and with whom. I definitely recommend this book, if not for the other 3 stories, then at least for "The Body."
Rating:
Summary: The best
Review: This is my favorite Stephen King book. It has his best collection of novellas. His best novella in Different Seasons is called "the Body." It is about 4 boys who decide to go on a quest for a dead body. Read This Book!
Rating:
Summary: 3 movies later...
Review: I think people are rediscovering this book because 3 of the 4 stories in it have been made into movies. The first one, 'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption' is probably one of the finest adaptations of a book I have ever seen, however since this is a book review and not a movie review, let me get back on track. 'Shawshank' is about a man accused of murdering his wife and her lover and his subsequent jail sentence in the 1930s. Thru his jail sentence we get to know Andy thru the eyes of Red, the narrator. We learn all about the horrors of prison, the sisters, the unjustice, the unfairness of things. This one is probably my favorite of the four. 'The Body' is better know as the movie 'Stand by Me', a tale of 4 boys, some from the wrong side of the tracks, some not, but all the closest of friends. This is their tale, the adventure of a lifetime as they trek out into the woods to see a dead body. 'Apt Pupil' is the most horrifying of the four. The story of Todd Bowman who just happens to discover a Nazi war criminal living in his neighborhood. Their twisted relationship gets more terrifying by each page. And finally, 'The Breathing Method'...this one starts out in that funny little club in NYC run by Stevens. The Christmas tale told that year is about a pregnant mother that comes to a most gruesome end. These short little synopsis do nothing to the scope of the stories. Do yourself a favor and read them all. They are like little gems waiting to be discovered! **Pandora
Rating:
Summary: To raise the ire of regular King fans, yet with a defense...
Review: This is by far the greatest book in the King collection. Most King fans back him for the horror, but here's the gold. Two of these nuggets are stories that I have lined up to read to my kids someday, lessons on life. First we have "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption", a story of the lenghts of hope. The other important one is "The Body", which through my attempts to be tough and steeled still brings me to tears with how close it slices to memories of a not-too-far gone childhood. I implore anyone who has yet to thumb their way through these to do so as soon as possible. I only read Salinger more often than these.
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