Book Cover

Get busy living or get busy dying.

Past Stephen King reviews:

• The Stand
• Under the Dome
• Bag of Bones
• The Dead Zone
• 11/22/63
• It
• Dreamcatcher
• Misery
• The Institute

# Review

This is one of my favourite King works and it’s a collection of four novellas. While King has established himself as a horror author that deals with elements of the supernatural, these four novellas have very little horror and supernatural elements and are some of King’s best works.

# Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

I really enjoyed the movie and the novella is just as good. It tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a successful lawyer who is imprisoned at the Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murder of his wife and her lover. Andy maintains his innocence and befriends a fellow prisoner named Red.

There are numerous interesting themes being explored, both pertaining to the American criminal justice system, as well as about the human condition. The story contains no elements of the supernatural and yet still feels fantastical. This is one of my favourite King works.

# Apt Pupil

This is the most disturbing story of the four novellas. It deals with Todd Bowden, an American teenager who discovers that an elderly German man is actually the wanted Nazi war criminal Kurt Dussander. Bowden, instead of turning him in to the authorities, blackmails Dussander into retelling stories of atrocities that Dussander committed during the war.

I first read this novella collection in middle school and this particular novella really freaked me out. Both characters are vile human beings yet they both feel nuanced in their mutual parasitic attachment to one another. The power dynamic between the two and the subject matter, which oftentimes deals with strong sexual undertones, makes this story very tense and disturbing.

# The Body

This is a very interesting bildungsroman about four boys who go out to look for the body of another missing boy in hopes of being the first ones to report the body and receive fame.

The story appears macabre and the story also deals with some dark subject matter. Despite this, the story feels wholesome and authentic. This story really demonstrates King’s breadth as an author.

# The Breathing Method

This is the shortest novella and also the only one which features elements of the supernatural. It tells the story of a mother who is very determined to give birth.

This is, for me, the weakest story of the four. The story is very short and the characters are largely one-dimensional. It is a very bold story with a very strong theme.

# Conclusion

An amazing novella collection which showcases King's breadth as a writer.

# Overall rating: 8.9

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