Keep Yourself Alive

Read Apt Pupil.

I was talking about books today, and I got to thinking, which piece of literature has shaped/influenced me the most? I haven't read nearly the literature that I should have, but Apt Pupil is at the top, regardless of how short the list is.

Apt Pupil taught me to understand the darker side of myself better. I guess I have a fuller, more appropriate understanding of myself after reading it. It's a dark (not scary) tale about coming to age, realizing yourself, and manipulating the dark microcosm's within yourself.

Don't watch the movie. I would score the written version a 10, and the movie doesn't even rank a 1. The last line of the story is the best, and the movie rips out the last 40 pages. I would say that the theme of the film is 'Nazi's = Bad'. The theme of the written version is probably more along the lines of 'people are strange'. It goes just a little deeper than the film.

Apt Pupil isn't an entire novel, it's a novella inside a collection called Different Seasons, by Stephen King. Buy it, or borrow it from me. But you have to read this.

I would love to give a synopsis that is meaningful to someone who might be interested in reading it, but I can't. If I graze the surface, it won't sound like it's worth reading, and if I give you too much...

It's not even 200 pages. You can read by Jan 1st with ease. And it'll probably show you something about yourself, like it did for me.

'I'm counting the cars on the freeway below'