Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

This is the book that led to the movie which I watched so many times that I

could mimic Red, Norton, Andy, and even Hadley from the silver screen. I

borrowed the slim volume to have a taste of Stephen King's writing (other than

his On Writing) and, in the past two weeks, found much to dig. Here are Red's

thoughts on a set of cufflink-worthy products from Andy,

 

    How much work went into creating those two pieces? Hours and hours after

    lights-out, I knew that. First the chipping and shaping, and then the almost

    endless polishing and finishing with those rock-blankets. Looking at them, I

    felt the warmth that any man or woman feels when he or she is looking at

    something pretty...and I felt something else, too. A sense of awe for the

    man's brute persistence. But I never knew just how persistent Andy Dufresne

    could be until much later.

    

Out of prison at 58, Red worked as an age-ing bag-boy at a grocery store:

 

    It was the toughest adjustment I've ever had to make, and I haven't finished

    making it yet...not by a long way.

    

That and the following passages made me think about what the old country did to

my dad and, to a lesser degree, me, and my immigration experience.

 

    My boss didn't like me. He was a young guy, twenty-six or -seven, and I

    could see that I sort of disgusted him, the way a cringing, servile old dog

    that crawls up to you on its belly to be petted will disgust a man. Christ,

    I disgusted myself. But...I couldn't make myself stop. I wanted to tell him:

    That's what a whole life in prison does for you, young man. It turns

    everyone in a position of authority into a master, and you into every

    master's dog. Maybe you know you've become a dog, even in prison, but since

    everyone else in gray is a dog, too, it doesn't seem to matter so much.

    Outside, it does.

    

But all is not hopeless. Here is how Red's memory of his friend kept him from

breaking parole and going back to prison

 

    So I'd agree with you. A fool's errand, no doubt about it. A fool's

    errand...but so is chipping at a blank concrete wall for twenty-seven years.

    My new hobby was looking for Andy's rock.

    

It reminded me of my dictionary reading project and occasional doubts.

 

I couldn't help comparing the two ways the story was told. I get laughs and

thrills from the film, even today. But printed words always have a way of getting

to me. For inspiration and a tasty bowl of verbal soup, I would read the book.