There’s a guy like me in every state and federal prison in America, I guess–-I’m the guy who can get it for you. Tailormade cigarettes, a bag of reefer if you’re partial to that, a bottle of brandy to celebrate your son or daughter’s high school graduation, or almost anything else . . . within reason, that is. It wasn’t always that way.
I came to Shawshank when I was just twenty, and I am one of the few people in our happy little family willing to own up to what they did. I committed murder. I put a large insurance policy on my wife, who was three years older than I was, and then I fixed the brakes of the Chevrolet coupe her father had given us as a wedding present. It worked out exactly as I had planned, except I hadn’t planned on her stopping to pick up the neighbor woman and the neighbor woman’s infant son on their way down Castle Hill and into town. The brakes let go and the car crashed through the bushes at the edge of the town common, gathering speed. Bystanders said it must have been doing fifty or better when it hit the base of the Civil War statue and burst into flames.
Stevie King's Shawshank redemption. S'good, yes?
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
I can hear Morgan Freeman's voice overlaid with these words...I haven't read the book but I LOVE the movie!
Wow, this opening paragraph is even better than the opening of the movie...in the movie he only ever says he killed a guy....this is much darker! (Good ole Stephen King) I should read this book, I suppose.
I guess that would make it a hook.
Posted by wetwilly (Member # 1818) on :
Definitely a good opener. One of my very favorite stories and one of my favorite movies. Christine, you should definitely read the story. Both the movie and the story are fantastic in their own rights.
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
I think that's a bit of an understatement, saying that the book was darker, but then, I've only ever seen the movie on TNT. And yeah, the movie was really, really good. The story, one of King's earlier works, was definetly something different, for me. I hadn't been reading him long when I read that.
Posted by punahougirl84 (Member # 1731) on :
I've only ever seen the end of the movie, which I liked, and have never read the book. In fact, the only King I've read was The Eyes of the Dragon - I don't do horror (I like to sleep and am very suggestable, besides I can just watch the news for horror), so my husband suggested this as a way to read his work. I'd have to say wow - I wanted to keep reading.
S'good!
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
Oh no! You can't watch the end without watching the beginning...ruins the whole thing! Oh well, too late now. So, this weekend, go to Blockbuster (or a cheaper place if you can find it), rent Shawshank Redemption, and watch the whole thing, uncut and unedited. Sheesh, would never watch the thing on TNT...the movie's long enough as it is! Posted by wetwilly (Member # 1818) on :
Yeah, but by the time they got done editing out all the stuff they can't show on TV, it would probably only be like half-an-hour long.
Posted by TruHero (Member # 1766) on :
I am not a King fan, but this story is a hook. I love the movie and I don't get tired of watching it.
punahougirl: Eyes of the Dragon? ICK!! That is one of the worst Fantasy type stories I have ever tried to read. I couldn't finish it, and I am very forgiving usually. Way too much wordy description in that one for me.
Anyway, Shawshank ROCKS!
Posted by Jules (Member # 1658) on :
Interesting. I've neither read it, nor seen the film, but I knew from the first paragraph that it was King, and I'm not sure how.
Posted by AeroB1033 (Member # 1956) on :
quote:Yeah, but by the time they got done editing out all the stuff they can't show on TV, it would probably only be like half-an-hour long.
Actually, no, believe it or not. The only major difference between the two versions, that I saw, was the language. Maybe a few violent shots cut out here and there, not sure on that count.
It's a great movie on TV, and even better unedited.
I do need to read the book, though, seeing as I've watched the movie about 6 times over the years. Only King I've ever read was Carrie and The Dead Zone... well, and On Writing, but that doesn't really count.
As for the Shawshank opening, 'tis indeed great stuff. Awesome how he managed to lay out the setting, Red's primary role in the prison, and what put him there, all while capturing your interest with a rather dark memory. Using the memory is a sacrifice in its own right, I suppose, but it certainly paid off.
Posted by tkilgore (Member # 1943) on :
Personally, I'm not much of a King fan anymore, either. I read much of his work when I was younger, but as I got older, the only things he wrote that interested me were his non-horror works, such as Shawhsank, Green Mile, and the Gunslinger series. I think King sells himself short by concentrating on banging out horror pieces by the dozens when he is capable of better if he focuses. I like to read horror, I just think he is better with other works. Shawshank is very good!
