Apt Pupil- Stephen King’s most wasted potential

[Laymonking]

I was recently having a discussion with my brother about this novella, and after a heavy discussion we both agreed that this novella is King most wasted idea. The potential for this story is great it is such a unique idea and yet King just wasted it as a short novella instead of stretching it out into a full length novel. He drags Gerald’s Game into novel length (that should have been novella in my honest opinion) with such a simply premise but yet Apt Pupil that deals with a Nazi fugitive and his twisted relationship with an all American kid that does become a true apt pupil he tells this story in under thirty chapters and less than three hundred pages . Yet with such a awe inspiring idea ( an idea that many novelists wish they had come up with) he completely wastes what could have gone down as his most serious work. I will not get into a debate about how wasted the movie adaptation is . the novella has such rich characters scenes of absolute shocking horror and doesn't pull any punches but it just seems to me King didn't realise how great this idea could be, there are many places he didn't go with the story examples would include Dussander past and more scenes of Todd in school,, going into Kurt's crimes. I also felt king rushed the ending. When i first read Apt pupil I couldn't believe how great of a concept it was yet King didn't push it to is full potential.. King wasted one of his all time great ideas, he completely dropped the ball with this one.
Does anyone else feel this way?

And before anyone ask I am a huge Stephan King fan have been since I first saw the Christine adaptation when I was ten and I consider The Stand (complete and uncut) to be the greatest novel ever.

[GNTLGNT]

I can see your view, and have wondered that at times too...but I also wonder just how damaging to his own psyche it would have been for King to swim in that fetid "word pool" any longer...

[Sigmund]

Welcome.

I disagree, with all due respect. I enjoyed Apt Pupil very much.

IMHO Stephen King has never 'wasted' anything. And, I do not believe that King didn't realise anything.

They are, after all, SK's works. He knows who, when, where and how to write a 'story' .

Please, keep posting and share your thoughts, opinions, and ideas.

Peace,

[sam peebles]

Well, I'll agree it's a great idea, but I don't know that it was a waste. It's a novella, not too short, not too long. I love novellas. Apt Pupil isn't my favorite, but I liked it.

[The11thGhost]

I did not read the book , but boy did I love this movie.
To me this was an added dimension to King's talent. This one could actually happen! It did not have the boogieman factor in it. I loved this movie because from what I got from it, even though the Nazi officer was trying to let go of that side of him, it still held on to him like a wart, he probably would have still been a Nazi, if Hitler had his way.
Loved this movie

[bobledrew]

Have to disagree with the original poster on this one. (And just for the record, laymonking, I think it's ENTIRELY possible to be a fan and not like one or more of King's works. I also think it's possible for your opinion to diverge from mine and everyone else's and still be valid.)

I thought Apt Pupil was tight, but good. To get all literary on ya, it's almost like a bildungsroman gone horribly wrong, or a mythic journey where instead of a Gandalf or a Yoda guiding the young hero to heroism, it's a twisted, through the looking glass version where the young man is led -- or takes himself -- down the path to evil and madness.

It also reminds me of that quote of Nietzsche's "...if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." Bowden gazed far too long into that darkness and was consumed.

All of that doesn't address the length, though. If King has a weakness, it's that sometimes his sprawl can become undisciplined. So with something like Apt Pupil, I'm not so much sad that he didn't go longer as happy that he didn't go TOO long.

[The11thGhost]

I wonder if he did not delve deep because it was one of his novellas, I can't get through SK books (sorry SK if you are on here ) I like quick fixes

[JohnDalglish]

I wonder if he did not delve deep because it was one of his novellas, I can't get through SK books (sorry SK if you are on here ) I like quick fixes

Hi,

Hmmm.

I thought The Dark Tower was far too damn short myself.

So did he, apparently!

Long days and pleasant nights

Pee Ess- Have you read Graduation Afternoon in Just After Sunset?

[dwalters]

This was another story that I previously thought was just kinda so-so, but I just finished my second read-through of Different Seasons and I really enjoyed it this time. If anything I would say the ending was just a little bit rushed. I would have liked to see more developments with the detectives and both Todd and Dussander. Also it felt a little bit like Todd realized he had been found out, snaps, /the end. However, I'm just nitpicking here. Overall it was a great read.

[Pucker]

Obviously, Apt Pupil is one of my particular favorites, and while I certainly would have been happy to have been given a more in-depth look at our two heroes, I'm not sure I would agree that anything was "wasted." You have to ask yourself: At what point does enough become enough. What would be the point of further detailing the Nazi horror? That's been done to death (so to speak) and the story wasn't really about that in any case. I suppose you could make the case for a bit more character development for Tod, but I think presenting him in all his shining glory, and asking us to simply accept him, works very well. One of the things that has always disturbed me about Apt Pupil was how completely out-to-lunch Tod's parents turned out to be, and if we spend too much time watching Tod grow up and exhibit all the troubling attributes that make him such an apt pupil, it might be harder to buy into Dick and Monica's selective perception later in the story.

I very much liked the abrupt ending, as well. Again, if I wanted a police procedural, I'd read Ed McBain. I much prefer the intrepid (if a bit foolhardy) guidance counselor forcing the climax, and I think the elements of chance that brought both French and Weisil into the widening gyre meshed well with the random coincidences that first brought Denker to Tod's attention.

Many writers will tell you that everything wants to be a novel, and that ideas have a way of taking on a life of their own, no matter how much strong nylon cord you try to throw around them. Ultimately, a story is going to be whatever it's going to be . . . or it's going to be a bad story. More is not always better.