Different Seasons by Stephen KingAcknowledgements
Thank you to Montgomery County Public Libraries for continuing to fuel my Stephen King obsession. My husband thanks you on the behalf of our bank account.
Description
Stephen King’s Different Seasons is composed of four novellas–each of which is longer than some books. However, as King explains in the afterword, novellas are an ambiguous place between short stories and novels, and are therefore difficult to sell. While King laments how novellas fall through the cracks, it is also significant to note that three of the four were made into movies. “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” is better known as The Shawshank Redemption, “The Body” by the title Stand by Me, and “Apt Pupil” as, well, Apt Pupil. The fourth novella, “The Breathing Method,” is the only that has yet to be made into a movie, but I see the potential for it.
Of the four, “Apt Pupil” was the scariest and most disturbing. Todd Bowden, who seems like a typical adolescent kid on the outside, becomes obsessed with the Holocaust. Not learning about the history of the Holocaust, but learning as much about the grisly details as possible. He gets off on thinking about torture, torment, and killing that went on. Todd recognizes an older man in the community as a Nazi war criminal and blackmails him into giving him detailed accounts of the horrendous things he did.
King takes pains to show how Todd looks “normal” to his parents and others and that any signs he shows of being unhinged are dismissed. Todd never considers the awful inhumanity of the actions–he never identifies or sympathizes with those who are harmed. Instead, he firmly associates himself with the oppressor and imagines the power. This great desire to know more about the worst of human cruelty and the desire to also practice such cruelty is the scariest part of the whole book. Might there be people like this out there? Who would like nothing more than to inflict pain on others and torture and torment? It’s a big world, and so it is hard to believe that there aren’t.
Overall, though “Apt Pupil” was difficult for me to get through, it poses some interesting questions. By the end of the story, Todd is as much of a monster as the Nazi. Also, the idea that parents can know their kids so little!
“The Breathing Method” was not terrible, but it did not have the same excitement of the other three stories, It had great potential, but did not quite reach it.
Of the four, “Apt Pupil” was the scariest and most disturbing. Todd Bowden, who seems like a typical adolescent kid on the outside, becomes obsessed with the Holocaust. Not learning about the history of the Holocaust, but learning as much about the grisly details as possible. He gets off on thinking about torture, torment, and killing that went on. Todd recognizes an older man in the community as a Nazi war criminal and blackmails him into giving him detailed accounts of the horrendous things he did.
King takes pains to show how Todd looks “normal” to his parents and others and that any signs he shows of being unhinged are dismissed. Todd never considers the awful inhumanity of the actions–he never identifies or sympathizes with those who are harmed. Instead, he firmly associates himself with the oppressor and imagines the power. This great desire to know more about the worst of human cruelty and the desire to also practice such cruelty is the scariest part of the whole book. Might there be people like this out there? Who would like nothing more than to inflict pain on others and torture and torment? It’s a big world, and so it is hard to believe that there aren’t.
Overall, though “Apt Pupil” was difficult for me to get through, it poses some interesting questions. By the end of the story, Todd is as much of a monster as the Nazi. Also, the idea that parents can know their kids so little!
“The Breathing Method” was not terrible, but it did not have the same excitement of the other three stories, It had great potential, but did not quite reach it.
Would I Teach This Book?
Different Seasons is quite long. The edition I read is 588 pages. For this reason, if I were going to teach it I would be more likely to teach an excerpt, perhaps one of the novellas. “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” would most likely be my pick. The story offers a ripe discussion of human acts, the justice system, good versus evil, and innocence versus guilt. Plus, it would certainly be worth rewatching the movie and comparing the two. In my hypothetical Literature of Stephen King course, there would be room to watch a movie or two and discuss how the books are adapted for screen.
No comments:
Post a Comment