#aplit16king

Today, the harkness we had was very frustrating. I’m blaming it on the fact that we couldn’t come t o a consensus on whether Different Seasons was of literary merit because the list is so subjective. There was no way we could’ve come to a consensus because there was nothing that all of us could’ve agreed on since the list is not based off of FACT (which it should be), it is based off of opinion…And we all know we all have our different opinions. I don't think this book is of literary merit according to the list but I do think it's a good AP level book.

Stephen King is a very unique writer. Not only does he write about scary things and psychological things which not as many authors do, but his stories are very dynamic and they grab the reader’s attention early on. He takes real life mental issues and turns them into great stories. The characters in his books find a way to connect with the audience because of how they can relate to the audience. Based on the criteria of what it means to be of literary merit, I think Different Seasons definitely is. It must be entertaining to the audience and somewhat easy to read. And of course this depends on who’s reading it because we all have our different opinions, but I think it was very entertaining just because it was so different!

It’s stories like these that really make me question King’s sanity... and really make me question my own for reading his work...

It’s a little weird but I believe the best part of this story is the irony of Todd’s appearance to his interests. Todd’s an American boy, obsessed with very non-American horrors. King purposefully takes the entire first page to describe Todd as, “the total all-American kid...” “thirteen years old, five-feet-eight and a healthy one hundred and forty pounds, hair the color of ripe corn, blue eyes, white even teeth, lightly tanned skin marred by not even the first shadow of adolescent acne” (111). This buildup of descriptions along with Todd’s first dialogue, “Don’t forget your paper Mr. Dussander,”, followed by the threats, evil comments, and overall morbid obsession that takes over Todd, is what made this story chilling and brilliant. The two sides to Todd, the apt pupil and the monster, resemble the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and portrays a new theme by King: it’s some of those who seem most pure whom wear the heaviest masks and society may label you as something but your mind can throw that label away. 

Before I even begin I must comment on how annoying it is to see Shawshank being spell checked all the time. COME ON SPELL CHECK PEOPLE IT’S A CLASSIC, JUST ACCEPT THE NAME ALREADY. 

What I recorded and observed throughout the book: I’ve always loved this story despite it’s cliche moments. And this isn’t a surprise because King writes to chill and to please. He is a man of many tricks with suspense and plot twists throughout all his novellas but this one stood out because I was stricken by the character of Andy Dufresne (yes he’s slightly cliche too but I think King makes up for it with his writing). From the very first page there is a sense of bewilderment. I think King is one of the only authors that can get away with portraying a character as a terrible murderer on the first page and on the second page have the reader pity or even like the character. 

Something else I noticed King does beautifully in this story is although he is a writer of fantasy and fiction, he made the story seem so real because of the depth of his writing. He showed different perspectives of Dufresne in his ups and downs during prison and he didn’t hold back on describing what prison life and prison abuse is really like. Finally, all throughout the novel, Red is explaining that he is unsure of the information sometimes, it’s not like the main character magically knows all that is going on in the prison, which I think adds realness to his character. “That’s what I know; now I’m going to tell you what I think. I may have it wrong on some of the specifics, but I’d be willing to bet my watch and chain that I’ve got the general outline down pretty well,” (91).