5/5

Amazing, just truly and simply amazing. These are four short stories and every single one of them is very very good. King's short story collections are usually pretty good, a little bit worse than his longer works, but this just blows it right out of the water.

The first one is the story that Shawshank Redemption was based on and it's just as amazing as the movie. I read the whole thing, about 100 pages, in just one sitting. I cared for every single prisoner and really wanted to see what would happen to Red.

The second one, Apt Pupil, is probably the third best of the bunch, and even then it's insanely good. Just a great explanation about how evil can "sleep" and be awaken by being exposed to other evil individuals. I bet some people might be slightly bothered by the way casualty brings the end of the story, but I still loved it. And I honestly do believe the kid was a sociopath from the start, even before meeting the old man.

The third one, The Body, is what "Stand by me" was based on. I also really liked this one, it's probably the second best and feels very personal. It's all about the logic of "being stuck in a bad place", both literally and figuratively, with both the idea of being around people that drag you down, even without intent, and how just being born in a bad place can be an inescapable prison.

The last one is the weakest of the bunch, the Breathing Method, but it's still really good. A story inside a story, but I really loved it. There's just a vague air of mystery around it that felt really satisfying. A great show of how King can develop what I can only call "casual supernatural", I wish he did work the mysterious club a bit more, though.

To conclude, this book is amazing and one of King's best work. It's a great introduction to his non-horror works. I don't think newcomers to his work should start with this book, but it's probably the first you should read after a couple of good horror stories. ( )

The only story I did not care for was The Body. To me, it felt very out of place despite the connection with the seasons. I loved the other three stories though ( )

3 out of 4 became movies. 1 out of 3 is better as a novella. Some of King's best writing. ( )

its tough to review a collection of stories like this so i gave the overall star rating a 5 since i think this is a great package. lets go over each story.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption:
very good and the characters are great but i do think its a tad too short and this is where i think the movie excelled better. i still worth reading as its still very good and i do love me a prison escape.

Apt Pupil:
this is the one i always wanted to read about as i think the idea behind it to be fascinating and i think the movie was alright but i always had a feeling that it felt like there was more to it. this one is good but wow this might be the most disturbing King book i read so far its quite shocking. no wonder the movie skipped over some of the content in this book. with that out of the way, this one is worth a read as it has some good character writing and build up but keep in mind that it gets very dark and depressing.

The Body:
this is my favorite story in this collection. the characters are top notch and to see them go on a little adventure is fun and you really understand where they came from. lots of fun debates and dialog and even though this story is rooted in the early 60's i feel its still easy to relate to as even when i grew up i always like going on a journey that seems like a life time long and the types of conversations we had as kids is still very true. this one comes highly recommended.

The Breathing Method:
ah yes the Breathing Method everyone's favorite haha. ok to be serious this story is not that bad, i think its ok. its weird but unique. now i have not read the Dark tower series yet (i plan on it) but i have heard that you might get more enjoyment if you read that series for a connection but as its own. its ok i was not crazy about it but i think it presented some neat ideas but could have been much more expended on. still worth a read but i think the other 3 are more consistently enjoyable for me ( )

This book contains four novellas by Stephen King. While this author is known for his horror stories, I wouldn't say any of them are in that genre - at best, "The Breathing Room" does have some horror elements. Instead, these tales seem to focus more on their characters.

"Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" was my favorite - Andy's character is very interesting, & Red works well as a narrator. "The Body" & "The Breathing Method" were also solid - I found the plot of the latter to be a bit more compelling, whereas the characters in the former seemed stronger to me. This worked well in terms of bringing diversity to the collection.

I couldn't finish "Apt Pupil." Todd is a terrible person from the beginning, even before his interactions with Dussander, & I just did not enjoy reading about him. If the plot had been compelling, that might have saved the story, but it drags quite a bit, at least at the beginning. However, I would still recommend this book based on the other three stories ( )