It was the nineteen-eighties when I last visited Different Seasons. Over the intervening years and despite numerous movie adaptations, these novellas have lost none of their power.

The first King book I read was Misery in 1987 or '88, and I came to this collection of tales not long after. So, they were probably not the departure for me that many a King fan would immediately have thought. Do these tales show that King can write outside the horror genre? The answer is a resounding yes. Do they have all the hallmarks of the author that a King fan loves? Again, yes. We truly seem to get to have our cake and eat it with these stories.

The icing on the cake is that all of these stories are utterly brilliant. It's not horror, but it shows that King truly can write. These are stories that have stayed with me for years because they tap into universal concepts like coming of age and finding freedom in the face of adversity. These ideas could have been cliched if not told so well. The Breathing Method is definitely the weakest in the collection and feels a little at odds with the other three, but that speaks more to the greatness of the other three stories than to The Breathing Method not being a good story.

One of the things I enjoy about King is that he uses his position to promote unusual formats. His short story collections are always a treat, and here, as with Four Past Midnight, we are treated to the novella. This is typically difficult territory to get published, but King, not being a typical author, takes the opportunity to put four of them together, and the result is fantastic. I love that King helps bring something like a novella into the mainstream, giving emerging authors a better chance of getting people to read their material.

While many might not consider this classic King due to the change in tone, this collection of stories is unquestionably some of the best writing he has done and definitely deserves your time.

This was the most disappointing Stephen King book I’ve ever read. It was a real letdown, womp to the max.

"Shawshank Redemption" - I gave it 3/5 stars. It had some interesting aspects, but it didn't quite reach the level I expected from King.

"Apt Pupil" - I had to DNF (Did Not Finish) this one due to the content of animal abuse (tw: animal abuse). It was just too disturbing for me to continue.

"The Body" - Another 3/5 stars for this story. It had its moments, but it wasn't as engaging as some of King's other works.

"Breathing Method" - This one only managed a 2/5 stars from me. It felt a bit平淡 and didn't really grab my attention.

Overall, this collection of stories was a bit of a disappointment for me as a Stephen King fan. I was hoping for more of his usual brilliance, but unfortunately, it just didn't deliver.

King, the master of horror. Proven to be an excellent combination. After the sensational debut („Carrie“, 1974), hit followed hit: „Salem's Lot“ (1975), „The Shining“ (1977), „The Stand“ (1978), „The Dead Zone“ (1979), „Firestarter“ (1980) and „Cujo“ (1981) – all bloody gems in the crown of the king of horror. At the beginning of the eighties, King made a bold experiment. The collection „Different Seasons“ (1982) brings four novellas in which he successfully „stepped out of horror“. „Different Seasons“, recently published for the first time in Serbian, is the crowning proof of King's ability to create successful works outside the genre that made him famous.

For a complete presentation, read on the City Magazine portal:
http://citymagazine.rs/clanak/prikaz-...

I read this about 5 years ago, and now I have the opportunity to listen to the audio version.

Oh, it's so, so... different. It's not long enough to be a novel, yet not short enough to be a short story. However, its length won't bother you for a minute either. I must admit that I love the first two stories in the collection and like the second couple of stories as well. And the whole book gets an average of 5 stars.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - 7/5... Oh, boy. Every 100 years should have a "freedom cloak" story like this.

Apt Pupil - 5/5. Every mindless war deserves a long aftermath story like this.

The Body - 4/5. Close to my 5.

The Breathing Method - 4/5. Just because I felt it was short compared to the others. The narration is also great.

You see - that makes it an average of 5-star experience. "Average of great" is what one of my digital friends, who is also a writer, named her in-progress book. It's just the right name for these very different stories in King's year calendar.

The four stories in "Different Seasons" are "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption", "Apt Pupil", "The Body", and "The Breathing Method".

Most readers can easily relate to Shawshank and The Body, as they have been adapted into highly successful movies. Apt Pupil, although not as widely known, was also made into a movie. Strangely, it was the fourth and final story, The Breathing Method, that had the greatest impact on me.

The Shawshank Redemption follows Andy Dufresne, a man wrongly accused of murdering his wife and her lover and sentenced to prison. In prison, due to his education, shrewdness, and former job as a banker, he becomes valuable to the guards and warden, earning special privileges and some protection. Despite this, Andy dreams of escaping the nightmare of life at Shawshank. His story is told through the eyes of Red, the man who can smuggle things into the prison and who becomes Andy's friend over time. Shawshank is a truly beautiful piece of literature and a great movie. It's unusual for a King novel to be so faithfully adapted to the big screen. The movie closely follows the story, with the biggest difference being the more detailed exploration of the prisoners' "institutionalization" through the character of Brooks, the librarian. If you haven't seen the movie, you must be living under a rock as it's still the number one movie on the Internet Movie Database. There are some minor changes to the story, with some things cut and others elaborated, as is the case with most movies, but both versions of Shawshank are excellent.

The next story, Apt Pupil, is about a boy who discovers the whereabouts of a World War II Nazi war criminal living in his neighborhood. He blackmails the old man into telling him the gruesome details of the war, internment camps, and his job during the war. The two develop a relationship that leads to some very dark and disturbing events. It's a good story, but in my opinion, it's the weakest of the four.

The Body is a story of young boys who, upon learning the location of the dead body of a boy their own age, set out to find it. It's filled with adolescent angst and the challenges of trying to fit in with each other and their abusive families. Each of the four boys has a completely different family background, which makes for a great story. Gordie, the narrator, manages to make the reader empathize with each of them. However, Gordie's own home life is rather anonymous. The boys' fears, hopes, dreams, and other emotions surface as they search for the poor boy who has no more hope. The actual discovery of the body is somewhat anti-climactic, as the story is more about the journey and the dangers and risks they encounter along the way.

The final story, The Breathing Method, is not really a traditional story, but it left a lasting impression because of King's writing. It's the tale of a man who is invited by his boss to join a "club" where the main activity is telling stories. The stories told around Christmas time are especially exciting, and the narrator uses the story we are reading to specifically tell the story of the "breathing method" told by one of the members, a doctor, about a young unmarried woman pregnant with her first child. In this story, the motto is "It's the tale, not he who tells it." This story, combined with the afterword, in my opinion, makes a powerful statement about King's works and gives us an insight into his thoughts on his own writing. King has been stereotyped as a horror writer, but he is actually a brilliant and diverse writer. Is it what he writes or the way he tells the tale that makes his work so great? That's for you to decide.

The characters in all of these books are well-developed. My favorites, of course, are Andy and Red in The Shawshank Redemption. I felt a particular aversion to all of the characters in Apt Pupil, but I suppose that's what King was trying to evoke in the reader as none of them are very likable. The boys in The Body are okay, but their lives are mostly pitiful and I never really felt a strong connection to any of them. The characters in The Breathing Method are nice, but nothing special and there isn't enough about them to make you really interested in their lives.

King's writing is excellent in all of these books. However, his books have very mature themes and this particular collection includes gore, sex, rape fantasies, racial slurs, and other potentially offensive material. Most notably, Apt Pupil is very disturbing and contains a lot of explicit content. The mildest story is probably The Breathing Method. I would have liked King to expand more on this story as he had an interesting side story that wasn't fully developed, and what could have been a great idea was cut short. Overall, this is a great read, especially for King fans.

I had the impression that I had read this book several years ago. However, at present, I'm not really certain about that. I have no recollection of the last two stories whatsoever. But of course, given the movies, I do remember the first two. So, I believe I have only watched the movies.

Shawshank Redemption and Rita Hayworth - 5 stars

The Body - 5 stars

Apt Pupil - 4 stars

The Breathing Method - 3.5 stars

I'm awarding this collection an overall rating of 5 stars. Even though a couple of the stories were not entirely up to par. But since I was completely absorbed in each of the four novellas, and the narration of the audiobook by Frank Muller was truly outstanding, I will gladly round up.

Shawshank and The Body were both excellent, just like the movies. I was afraid that I wouldn't be as captivated by these two since I've watched the movies numerous times. But that was not the case at all. Apt Pupil was much longer than I anticipated, as I thought the story was going to conclude much earlier than it actually did. Moreover, it took some dark turns that I wasn't expecting. The Breathing Method was an interesting story within a story. And although I wasn't sure which one was supposed to be the main focus, I did have a preference for one over the other.

There are 4 novellas in total. Among them, "Shawshank" is easily the best. It is a remarkable piece of work that captivates the readers with its engaging plot and well-developed characters.

On the other hand, "Apt Pupil" is a despicable story. It attempts to seek compassion for a murderous Nazi, which is a highly controversial and unethical concept.

The other two stories are rather mediocre. They lack the depth and excitement that "Shawshank" possesses. Overall, I would rate these 4 novellas as 4 out of 10 stars.

"Shawshank" stands out as a shining example of great storytelling, while the others fail to leave a lasting impression.

**Quattro stagioni a sole 13.500 lire**

"Sai cosa dicono dell'Oceano pacifico? Dicono che non ha memoria. Ed è lì che intendo finire la mia vita. In un posto caldo che non ha memoria."

"Voglio andarmene in qualche posto dove nessuno mi conosce e dove non ho nessuna macchia nera addosso prima di cominciare. Ma non posso. E sai perché? Gli amici, loro ti trascinano giù. Sono come quelli che ti annegano attaccandosi alle gambe. Non puoi salvarli, puoi solo annegare assieme a loro."

This is an excellent proof of King, another confirmation of an author with remarkable versatility who knows how to go beyond the label of "king of horror" with appreciable nonchalance.

"Rita Hayworth e la redenzione di Shawshank" ★★★★

A bold invitation to nourish hope always and everywhere. Even when a person's dignity ceases to exist and protecting one's own reputation becomes impossible.

"Un ragazzo sveglio" ★★★

Often, evil is not administered to us from the outside like a medicine, but lives within us, dormant and ready to explode in the "right" contexts. The game of parts between two executioners distant in age, past, and nationality is excellent; less so is the artificially mechanical narrative setting that seeks too many combinations of similar dynamics and thoughts to make ends meet.

"Il corpo" ★★★★★

A timely fresco of preadolescence, characterized by the wonder of small things and tremendously anguishing in the realizations that will pave the way for the adult world. The future depends on our selfishness: sooner or later, we will have to let go of those who tie us to childhood memories, to the deep and romantic promises of friendship at the expense of the whole world. The eternal immutability of the reality that surrounds us is a lie that we repeat to ourselves in the hope of crystallizing life in that distant summer of 1960 made of dust, forests, railroad tracks, and bonfires under the moon. We must embrace disillusionment and betray ourselves.

"Il metodo di respirazione" ★★★ 1/2

A curious weird story with a fascinating suspended and rarefied atmosphere. If the context - the club - is really spot-on, the same cannot be said of the story within the story, probably the weakest part of the entire collection.

This was a rather good collection of stories.

I found myself enjoying all of them, with the exception of "Apt Pupil." This particular story was a disturbing and nasty little tale that left me with an uncomfortable feeling.

However, despite this one exception, I would still highly recommend checking out the collection.

The other stories were engaging, well-written, and had the ability to draw the reader in and keep them hooked until the very end.

Each story offered a unique perspective and took the reader on a different journey, whether it was one of mystery, adventure, or drama.

So, if you're a fan of short stories and are looking for something new to read, I would definitely suggest giving this collection a try.

You might just be surprised at how much you enjoy it.

If you have never read this work of King, it can be considered a good starting point to get to know King. But if you like King's works, this one must not be missed.

Different Seasons is a collection of 4 long short stories that have a core related to "change". Whether it is good or bad, we will always look back at the past before everything has changed and cannot be changed anymore. Each story represents one of the four seasons.

**The representative of spring (rebirth) - Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
(It has been adapted into the movie The Shawshank Redemption)
This story doesn't need to say much. It can be said that it is a very respected original movie because both the novel and the movie are almost the same. There are some slight adjustments in details, and the movie captures the atmosphere of the novel very well. And finally, reading it while imagining the voice of Red as Morgan Freeman is like watching the movie and reading the novel together at the same time.

**The representative of summer (eruption) - Apt Pupil (It has been adapted into a movie of the same name, starring Ian McKellen from LOTR and X-men) The story of a young boy, an old man, and a secret that will cause both the young boy and the old man to change forever.
This story is the longest and most exciting in the book. Because King will take us to see the forward development of the young boy, but on the old man's side, King takes us to develop in the reverse current of the past. This story is one that shows the character development very well.

**The representative of autumn (letting go) - The Body (It has been adapted into a movie called Stand by Me)
The story of four boys, a railway, death, and youth that cannot be recalled.
This story is similar to Shawshank in that the movie was made very well, almost the same as the novel, and almost no details of the novel were changed. Although at the end of the novel there are more details than in the movie, in this story we will see the change of the four boys throughout the journey, their acceptance of themselves, their letting go of the past, and the experiences that have been given to them so that they can truly grow up.

**And finally, the representative of winter (persistence) - The Breathing Method The story of life and death, and a heart that refuses to stop "breathing".
This story can be said to be the most distinct signature of King, including the plot, the mystery, and the profundity. Although it is the shortest of the four stories, this story will take us to a club of a certain group of people. There is no origin, no membership fee, no questions. There is only storytelling, following the slogan "The storyteller is not as important as the story". Because this is a club where everyone will sit around the fireplace and tell each other stories and listen. And every Christmas there will be a special story, and The Breathing Method is the story of that night. The story of a doctor who, even though more than 40 years have passed, he has never forgotten.

All 4 stories are equally interesting, and the little gimmick of this book is that the first 3 stories are in the same universe, and there will be some lines connecting the 3 stories together. As for what those lines are, you have to read it to find out (simply put, Shawshank and The Body happen almost at the same time).

Finally, this book may be a representative of King's words that people often interject that he only writes about ghosts and gore, and a Nobel Prize-winning writer cannot write like this. But this book of King will tell you that he can write but he just doesn't write.

I think I have just entered a tunnel of obsession called Stephen King, and I have no intention of getting out.

I agree with those who claim that King is not just a horror writer; he is much more than that, and these stories testify to it. The paranormal and horrific elements are completely absent here, and the best and worst aspects of the human soul are represented.

The stories I preferred were "Apt Pupil" and "The Body". The first shows the latent evil in each of us, ready to manifest itself with all its destructive force. The second, on the other hand, deals with a friendship doomed to end with the arrival of adolescence. Here I found many elements in common with "It", which I really appreciated.

This book is a collection of four stories that are neither too short to be considered short stories nor too long to be novels. Stephen King is so deeply associated with the horror genre that it's hard to imagine him writing anything else. However, these four stories, despite having little blood and gore and being in a very strange setting, do not fall into the horror genre (except perhaps the last one).

What's interesting about this book is that each of these stories was made into a movie, and the most famous one is the one we know as "The Shawshank Redemption." Reading this part was exactly the reason I picked up this book.

According to King, each of these shorter stories was written after a long book, as if the pen that had started moving couldn't stop. These stories weren't published for years because they weren't long and scary enough, but as is typical of King's books, they have strange scenes that will remain in your mind for a long time, perhaps forever.

The stories are:
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
The story of a bank clerk who is sent to prison for the murder of his wife and another man and tries to survive in this harsh environment.
Apt Pupil
The story of a boy who discovers the dark secret of an old man and forms a relationship based on the old man's fear and the boy's blackmail.
The Body
The story of a group of boys who go on a journey through the forest to see a corpse and have strange experiences along the way.
The Breathing Method
A story within a story about a club that is unlike any other and a woman who is determined to give birth to her child under any circumstances.

Although the stories were interesting, it was very difficult for me to read the shorter stories and connect with them. It's as if I don't have enough time to identify the setting and the characters. I listened to the audio book, which was read excellently.

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October 9, 2021
Last book of 2022