My book is Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. I think my authors style is more mellow but realistic. King describes very in times vulgar events although speaks of them like nothing. He makes events like rape sound like nothing ever happened. The genre of the book is drama and it takes place in a prison and is in the point of view of a murderer sentence to life in prison. Knowing that, I feel that the author’s style fits perfectly with the genre and setting. Since all these words are being spoken out of a long term prisoner’s mouth, this man has probably seen everything or have experienced a lot of what he is describing, so these events like rape and murder aren’t any surprise or shock to him, there nothing out of the ordinary. Since, Stephen King writes like this I enjoy the book a lot more than I usually would. This is because he captures the realism of what is happening and the setting it is happening in. When he writes the way he does I can actually imagine a prisoner speaking to me. Although, after watching the movie first I already have a voice like Morgan Freeman in my head, but Stephen King still captures the sound and tone of an experienced prisoner and I really like that. I personally think Stephen King perfected the style for this genre of stories. I have no suggestions for his style I really think he perfected it.

The setting of my book is Shawshank prison. Immediately I though "oh god another prison story," although this book has really changed my outlook on prison books and movies. The setting is almost like your there. It’s something you can imagine in your head and you already have an idea of the described setting. The setting pulls you into the story because it resembles the brutality that prisoners suffered in the mid 1900’s. I believe the brutality of the prison is the whole reason the ending is so good. You realize that this innocent man was locked up in such a horrible place and when he finally redeems himself, I as the reader feel redeemed myself. The story wouldn’t be as good unless the setting was the way it is. The reason that I feel redeemed is because after knowing this guy is going through this tough time for no reason I feel so bad for him. No man’s life should be taken away for no reason, just like it says in my book. “They put you in here for life, and that’s exactly what they take.”

                Then when the setting changes to the outside of the prison, that’s when you feel a sense of happiness. The trail to redemption had started and now you know the nightmare is over. To be screwed over for year after year, he is the one standing tall in the rain a free man. That setting gives you the idea of the whole message of the book and that is to never lose hope. Like it says in the book “Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.” If you lose hope you lost a point to keep moving on in life. The setting outside the prison is powerful and epic because he never lost sight of hope. He was the one who prevailed in the end.

After reading my story for the second day I have noticed pretty recognizable differences in the movie and story of The Shawshank Redemption. Throughout the book the background characters or the non main characters often change throughout the story, but in the movie the characters are the same throughout the movie and are very important characters in the plot. This leaves me wondering why the director decided to keep these characters the same, and to change the way the plot works in the book. Otherwise to my surprise all the other events and characters are the exact same and are in the same order. I realize how much the director of the movie studied the story and wrote the screenplay to resemble the book, and I appreciate that. One thing that I am experiencing with reading the book is that something just doesn’t make sense. It's not the story that doesn't make sense but it's the way Stephen King worded it. This frustrates me because I feel as if I'm missing something and I don't like that. Also, Stephen King throughout the book has almost vulgar descriptions and I am left thinking, why? Why would you want to write that? Although, on the other hand I appreciate that because it's almost like his attitude is "it's my book, I can write it if I want, and if you don't like it then don't read it." This is one of the reasons I love Stephen King's work because he brings a sense of realness to his works and that's something else I appreciate. So far the book is great and I'm just about done. If the ending in the book is like the ending in the movie it's sure to be a win in my book.