Different Seasons

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Frank Muller

A “hypnotic” (The New York Times Book Review) collection of four novellas—including the inspirations behind the films Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption—from Stephen King, bound together by the changing of seasons, each taking on the theme of a journey with strikingly different tones and characters.

This gripping collection begins with “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” in which an unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge—the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee The Shawshank Redemption.

Next is “Apt Pupil,” the inspiration for the film of the same name about top high school student Todd Bowden and his obsession with the dark and deadly past of an older man in town.

In “The Body,” four rambunctious young boys plunge through the façade of a small town and come face-to-face with life, death, and intimations of their own mortality. This novella became the movie Stand By Me.

Finally, a disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death in “The Breathing Method.”

“The wondrous readability of his work, as well as the instant sense of communication with his characters, are what make Stephen King the consummate storyteller that he is,” hailed the Houston Chronicle about Different Seasons.

best narrator ever.

some of my favorite Stephen King writing in this book. it's worth a listen.

Loved it!

Love everything Stephen King! 4 excellent stories. Frank Muller is the best narrator in any genre!

I couldn’t stop listening!

I absolutely loved everything about this book and the stories within! The performance in each was spot on! I finished this book in 2 days- I couldn’t stop listening! Highly recommend this one!!!

Essential King.

3 of these stories are great and the other one is really good. I'm a mark for Stephen King. I must admit that to you. That said, this is essential King. Frank Muller does another fantastic job.

There is literary greatness in this book

The novellas "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body" are both affecting literary depictions of the power of friendship, something I love to see in fiction. If you love the movies The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me—based on these novellas—then you will also love these stories. The movies are faithful to the novellas with only slight changes that streamline their cinematic versions. The narrators tell their stories with an affecting lilt, remembering the friendships that bound them, even through harrowing events. King shows great descriptive flair in both stories and the dialogue is snappy and true to life. Red (the narrator of Shawshank) and Gordie (the narrator of The Body) are both likeable and effective storytellers who reveal the goodness beneath the criminals and punks of both stories.

"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is perfect storytelling. Perfect!

"The Body" is great, too, with one exception. Two short stories are included—in full—within the novella that are examples of what Gordie publishes as an adult when he becomes a professional writer. Unfortunately, they do not add anything to the story of the four, young friends; and the "pie eating contest" could have more effectively been told by young Gordie as a campfire tale within the main narrative.

The novellas "The Apt Pupil" and "The Breathing Method" were less satisfying and, quite frankly, not worthy of inclusion with the other two novellas. In "The Apt Pupil," neither main characters have any redeeming qualities whatsoever and reading this story was the equivalent of watching two rats devouring each other on a sinking ship. "The Breathing Method" is a Tales from the Crypt-inspired story told in long-form. This novella uses the "story within a story" structure, which can be fun if used effectively. Ultimately, this structure is used to only reveal a gruesome death, then the novella abruptly ends. Not much is revealed about either narrator and the "story within a story" structure is wasted for a salacious parlor trick.

"The Apt Pupil" is garbage. Complete garbage!

"The Breathing Method" is pointless, although a pared down version might make an effective script for a 1950s horror comic piece, if put in the hands of a great illustrator.

I enjoyed the Afterword of the book. In it, Stephen King tells the origins of each of the novellas and how they ended up in this compilation. In short, novellas were a hard sell to a publisher during that time in the 1970s and 80s, too short to sell as standalone works of fiction in bookstores and too long to sell to a magazine or literary journal. King's self-deprecating narration is in full-swing. He's funny, insightful, and self-effacing.

Finally, the narrator for this audiobook—Frank Muller—is excellent. His deep, baritone voice was pleasant to listen to and he barreled through the stories with conviction and vigor. His narration in "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" was comparable to that of Morgan Freeman and he effectively altered his tone to depict each of the boys in "The Body." His narration is top-notch. My only complaint is the sound quality of this Audible edition is somewhat tinny and sometimes Muller sounds like he is being recorded using a tin can with string. Nevertheless, he is a great narrator.

Verdict: I recommend this book for "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body" because they are both great literary works of fiction. You can skip "The Apt Pupil" and "The Breathing Method." The Afterword is a fun addition and Frank Muller is a fantastic narrator.