3/4 stories adapted into films - A Stephen King Classic

Different Seasons is my second Stephen King book (my first is The Institute). It is a collection of 4 short stories, each corresponding to a season, and the first three stories have been adapted into films.

The first story is about called Hope Springs Eternal – Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and was told from the perspective of a Red, who is Shawshank. However, the main character (MC) of the story is a fellow cellmate of the story Andy, who entered Shawshank for a false accusation of murder. He quickly managed to thrive in prison with the help of his expertise as a banker. He eventually managed a successful escape attempt after spending 20 years in Shawshank.

The second is called Summer of Corruption – Apt Pupil. The story began when an apt pupil by the name of Todd discovered the real identity of his neighbour – a former Nazi officer. Out of curiosity, he blackmailed the man into forcing more “exclusive” information out of him. However, after several exchanges, he became heavily influenced by the evil nature of the man’s doings and thus began to indulge in treachery, which resulted in his captivity and the loss of many innocent lives.

The third is called Fall from Innocence – The Body. This story is sometimes considered an autofiction. The story is about how three children embark on an adventure to find the corpse of a dead boy. During the adventure, they overcame many difficulties and strengthened their friendship. However, after the adventure, they gradually parted ways and had very different lives.

The final one is called A Winter’s Tale – The Breathing Method. The story starts with the MC being invited to join a club, where stories are told during gatherings. However, most of this story is about a story called The Breathing Method (TBM), which was told in the club. TBM is based on the real experience of a fellow club member who has been a doctor. The doctor had been working with a woman who was pregnant. In order to help her deliver, a breathing method is taught. However, just as she was coming to the hospital for delivery, she had a car accident and died while delivering the child.

Unlike my previous Stephen King book, this book appears to target a different audience group. The stories in the book employ a non-linear technique. This is especially significant in TBM, where such methods are used excessively for illustrating the effect of a present event on the future development of the MC, which makes some parts of the stories rather challenging to follow and understand.

However, the stories themselves are, in fact, quite intriguing in their own unique way. While all of them are worth reading, my personal favourite one is Summer of Corruption – Apt Pupil. What I especially like about this story is that despite having a rather slow-paced beginning for such an appealing title, the story quickly reached its climax, making it difficult for me to lose interest in it. In comparison with the other three stories, this one can be considered the most action-packed and intense story among them all, by giving a detailed outline of countless treacherous acts by the MC and his evil “mentor”, alongside details of his internal struggle between good and evil. Despite being my favourite, there are still several aspects which I find rather disturbing. To begin with, it is difficult to imagine how a bight child fell into evil just because of his interest in Nazi activities and the verbal influence of the old man. It is also quite a pity that the story ended in a very sudden and abrupt way, with the old man committing suicide and the boy being caught after an attempt to kill innocent pedestrians. From what I read in the previous book, much more intense action could be involved.

To briefly conclude this book, I would say that this book is more suitable for those who are more interested in developing the character instead of the intense tension, suspense, and action that could be frequently found in The Institute. In addition, the excessive use of non-linear storytelling and colloquial language contributes to the difficulty of understanding, thus making the story less appealing to some readers. However, those who enjoy reading about good character development and authentic American life and language, they may find this book very interesting.