Apt Pupil

Revisited this story in audiobook form after many, many years. It was rather a different experience, more frightening, than the first time I read it in my late teens. Maybe the teenager me was more comfortable with the idea of the boy's monstrous transformation. Or it may simply be that it feels more real, more possible, to me now than it did 30 years ago. There are so many monstors hiding behind wholesome, smiling masks. Frank Mueller narrates it perfectly, as always.

I've never read anything bad by Stephen King, but I was left disappointed with Apt Pupil. It is definitely a great story that uncovers some of the deepest, darkest depths that human beings can sink to. However, it felt like King was just trying to get to the end of the book about 3/4 of the way through it. It's kind of a shame because the content is really terrifying, and Todd Bowden's descent into the monstrous was enjoyable...but lacked that extra depth that King does so damn well. Still a solid read that frankly many in high school and college should examine.

My first exposure to Apt Pupil was the movie starting Ian McKellen. While I remembered the premise, I didn’t really remember the details. Given that Stephen King is my favorite writer and greatest influence upon me as a writer, I thought I would give it a read. The end result was a bit mixed.

I liked the concept behind it. It’s a story of an old Nazi concentration camp warden, Dussander, being blackmailed by a boy, Todd Bowden, into telling him all sorts of luring World War 2 concentration camp stories. Todd, as it turns out, is a complete and utter psychopath. Dussander and Todd don’t particularly like each other. It’s really a relationship of each person using the other for their own needs. There are elements of it that are show more compelling, and the writing is vintage King, so it’s top notch, but there are some serious issues with it.

The first is characterization. Dussander and Todd dominate the book and neither of them are particularly likeable, although at least Dussander has a certain charm to him. Todd does not. Besides being a psychopath, he is also annoying and whinny. The other big issue is believability. The characters often don’t act in a believable manner. For one thing, they independently become serial killers preying on winos. Dussander is a feeble old man, and it’s not credible that he can overtake and kill all of these people. It’s also not believable that Todd can do all this while being a star athlete and valedictorian at his high school. The book has some definite plot holes. All in all, I would recommend reading it, but it’s nowhere near one of King’s better stories.

Carl Alves - author of The Invocation show less

Revisited this story in audiobook form after many, many years. It was rather a different experience, more frightening, than the first time I read it in my late teens. Maybe the teenager me was more comfortable with the idea of the boy's monstrous transformation. Or it may simply be that it feels more real, more possible, to me now than it did 30 years ago. There are so many monstors hiding behind wholesome, smiling masks. Frank Mueller narrates it perfectly, as always.

This book was so disturbing. It doesn't have any of Stephen King's usual supernatural elements, but it is definitely just as fucked up. I was just as disturbed by Todd as I was by Dussander, maybe even a little more.

Apt Pupil
by Stephen King
1982
Warner
4.0 / 5.0

Apt Pupil is the story of Todd Bowden, an all-American golden boy- good grades, considered brilliant- befriends a neighbor, Kurt Dussander, a Nazi was criminal in hiding. As Dussander shares his past, Todd decides he has more to gain by not turning him in to authorities. He wants to learn about the disturbing and evil crimes......slowly he becomes caught up in the stories and evolves from a golden boy to a boy with evil intent. The slow build of the story and the characters themselves were terrifying and made this a truly creepy and absorbing tale of horror.
The movie by the same name is pretty good, too.

Great book of novellas. The first story, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, was just as good as the movie. I was surprised just how faithful the movie was to the story. Apt Pupil was a creepy a disturbing story, as was the movie, which feels like it could happen in real life. The Body, which Stand by Me was based on, was also a great read. Hard to say if the book or movie was better in this case since I really enjoyed both equally. The last story, The Breathing Method, doesn't have any movie adaptations I am aware of and was the weak link in this collection. I was not a bad story per se but didn't hook me nearly as much as the other three did. I definitely recommend this book.