The Shawshank Redemption

This week we're heading behind the walls of Shawshank Prison to explore Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, the story that inspired one of the most beloved films ever made.

The problem? I've seen the film so many times that I wasn't sure I could judge the book fairly. From the very first page, I wasn't imagining the characters—I was seeing Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and hearing Morgan Freeman narrating every chapter as Red.

We discuss whether the novella stands on its own, why Shawshank Prison feels so real, the themes of hope, friendship, institutionalisation and redemption, and whether Morgan Freeman's casting is one of the greatest examples of colour-blind casting in cinema history.

We also compare the book and the film, explore what each version does better, and answer the big question: is this one of those rare occasions where the adaptation actually improves on the source material?

Plus, I share my experience visiting the famous filming location and explain why Shawshank itself might be the most important character in the story.

Topics covered:

• The Shawshank Redemption book review
• Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
• Book vs film comparison
• Andy Dufresne character analysis
• Red and Morgan Freeman's iconic performance
• Shawshank Prison and world-building
• Hope and institutionalisation
• Stephen King adaptations
• Is the film better than the book?

#TheShawshankRedemption #StephenKing #BookReview #BookVsMovie #DadBookClub #BookPodcast #MorganFreeman #TimRobbins #ReadingCommunity #BookTok #FilmAdaptation #PrisonDrama #ClassicMovies #PodcastReview

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome back to Is the Book Better? The podcast, not film, the podcast where we take a film, we read the book the film was based on, and we work out which one's more worth your time. Because we've all had that person who comes along when you say that you've seen a film and you really enjoyed it, and they go, Well, the book's better. And so this podcast is to be like, is it is it always better? And we're on a quest to find films that are better, and also books that are better, because at the end of the day, all it means is we get two different mediums which are enjoyable. So for me, it's win-win. Either I find a book I enjoy or a film I enjoy. Actually, then again, there have been a few stinkers where the book and the film are diabolical. See the Life of Chuck episode. Right. So before we get into it, admin stuff, like, subscribe if you enjoy it. Don't like and subscribe if you didn't. And if you didn't, tell me why though, because then I can improve. I'm a podcaster, but first of all, I'm a people pleaser. So let me know. Let me know what you didn't enjoy, and I'll see if it's something I want to change. If you didn't enjoy me, I might struggle. So today we are doing the Shawshank Redemption. I should have teased that more, maybe, but you've read the title. You already know that. But we're going to give it its proper literary title of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, which doesn't sound as good. It doesn't sound as good. It sounds more like a documentary, if I'm honest. So this has been one of the trickier ones, and it's the issue I also found with Forrest Gump. How do I judge this book when the film is so etched in my mind? And so etched in my whole history, really. Like, I've seen this film, I think, probably more than I've seen any other film. This and Forrest Gump have got to be the two films I've watched the most. So how do I yeah, how do I uh read this book? Well, listen to this book I was driving. How do I listen to this book? Completely putting um the film to the back of my mind and not thinking about the film. And the answer is I couldn't. And see, this is where I have to weigh up. Did that help the book? We'll see. Because from page one, I wasn't imagining my own Shawshank prison. I wasn't building characters in my head, I wasn't creating the setting, I was just replaying the film. Andy wasn't Andy, he was Tim Robbins, Red wasn't Red, he was Morgan Freeman. So it's very much in my mind that the positives I think of the book have those positives been pulled because of the film. So that's another point I've had to explore with this. However, that being said, I do, and this if you are a longtime listener of this podcast, you'll be surprised to hear that I do have to give enormous credit to Stephen King. If you've listened to other episodes featuring Stephen King books, you will see that I've not been the biggest fan of his work. Um there's just something about it that doesn't do it for me, but I think I found one that does. And like I said, I haven't got into the big hitters yet. I haven't read It. I haven't read The Shining, I haven't read Pet Cemetery. I started Pet Cemetery, but then I remember what happens in Pet Cemetery and Pet Cemetery? Pet Cemetery and having two children. I'm not going near that book or film. No, no, no. Until they're I'll read that book when my kids are 50. Okay. So for it being a novella, he does do some pretty impressive world building. There's not endless descriptions and pages and pages of world building. He just makes you understand the institution. And in understanding how the institution works, you kind of get a feel for the place. And understanding how people survive inside the system, how the prison prison has its own rules, its own economy, its own hierarchy, its own folklore, and how bent the whole thing is, how dodgy the whole thing is. And the people that are the most dodgy aren't the prisoners. Can you believe it? Can you believe the people running the place are more dodgy than the people that they're they're keeping imprisoned in there? But you do feel how everyone knows their place, everyone knows their routines, everyone knows who has power and who doesn't. And it feels like a living organism. It feels like it's not forced. The prison works how it works, and everyone in it understands how it works, or will eventually learn to understand how it works. And it's only when someone who kind of goes against that, but goes against that in regards to helping the prison, because that's what Andy does, is when there's a little bit of a change. But even as much of an explosive change as Andy is, explosive's the wrong word there, but he is a he is a huge change. He he but he does it quietly, but he does it, he does a lot of stuff, creates the library, does all that stuff. But even with him making these changes, the prison still runs the same. Even when they lose certain um wardens, the next warden comes in, pretty much keeps everything the same, if not makes it worse. So I don't know, it's one of those things where Andy coming in and creating a library feels like he's cutting the head off the snake, but instead it feels he's more trimmed a toenail. You know, the main thing is staying the same. And that must be relentless as a prisoner. It must be that nothing's nothing's gonna change. No matter how much someone comes along and changes a load of stuff, it still remains the same. And that's the feeling you get from this. And a fun fact, I've been to Shoreshank Prison. It's in Mansfield, Ohio. Dad and I were on a little road trip driving from New York across to Chicago, and we thought, hey, let's make a little pit stop in Ohio. And we did. Um, and it's pretty cool, actually. I will say, it is very cool. It's apparently meant to be quite haunted, so that was a little bonus of the tour. You had like this room that there's just a chair in it, and throughout the tour, you would walk past that room, and the chair would be in a slightly different place. Well, I don't know if you can hear that. Sorry, it is raining like crazy. It's bit the weather's been all over the place, and my this microphone that I've got is very sensitive and picks up a lot of stuff, and so recording on the main road is bad enough, but now recording on the main road and torrential downpour, I'm sorry. Anyway, where was I? Uh Mansford, Ohio, yeah, stop there. Pretty cool prison, if I'm honest, as prisons go. It's a good-looking prison. Uh, there is also now a new prison built straight across the road. So there are some people at a prison in Mansford, Ohio that get to look across and see Shorshamp prison every day, which must be pretty weird. Um, you could go you can pose in the tunnel that Andy Dufresne digs through. And before I said that, I should have said this podcast contains spoilers. I'm sorry about that. I always forget to mention that it contains spoilers, but it's got to be a hint, surely. I'm comparing whether the book is better than the film. So I've got I'm gonna have to say what happens in it to say why each one is better. I'm gonna mention characters and what they do. So spoilers. Sorry, there are going to be spoilers. So yeah, you get to be going the tunnel that he's in, you get to go in the warden's office, you can see the cell that Andy and Red were in. Um, yeah, it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. So if you're ever in Mansfield, Ohio, which I don't know why you would be, but if you're ever passing through, pop in. I think it was like $15. It's probably 72 now with American pricing. But have a little pop in. If you're traveling over for the World Cup, I'm not sure how many games are being played in and around Cleveland, but it wasn't too far from Cleveland. So have a little pop. By too far in America, it's probably like three hours. So have a little pop, enjoy it, and then go watch football. So um, yeah. Back to the film. Obviously, I'm talking about this world building of Stephen King, but once again, is that because I've seen the film? Am I here in the world building? Nah, I don't think so. I think Red is a very good narrator and really does paint the picture of you know how you can have a have loyalties in prison, but also at the same time, you do need to watch your own. He says that to Andy in multiple multiple points that I'll do that for you. But if you if I hear about it, you know, you saying this to someone else, like that's the last time I'm gonna do something for you, and also I'll have to do something, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So they've got that kind of like not tough love, but that kind of like prison, prison love where you will become close with people, but if they do wrong you, you will have to do mean things. But for the most part, they don't need to really worry about each other besides uh the the sisters, um, because uh the guards do a lot of the uh beating and uh killing. So yeah, the prisoners, I guess, themselves aren't actually too terrible. It's they're all kind of bobbing along with it, just trying to get to the end of the day, get through their term. It's the guards and the warden that are the problem. But hey, isn't that always the way? But getting back to Red, is this not the greatest casting decision decision ever? If you ever get in a conversation when someone's like, colourblind casting's terrible, you can't be casting black actors in white roles, you can't be casting blah blah blah. Just tell them to watch the Shawshank Redemption. And I know they'll probably come back and be like, Well, that's fiction. And then you can just walk away from the conversation because you're never going to change their mind anyway. But this is the greatest example of colourblind casting ever. Red is a ginger Irishman. Morgan Freeman is not. I don't know if you're observant as me, but Morgan Freeman is not a red-headed Irishman. So him being cast in this role is is a choice, but it fuck it works, doesn't it? They change it a bit, which I think they changed parts of it to make him more salvageable. Because what Red does, what Book Red does for his crime and why he's in there is quite a bit worse than what Filmred does. Interesting that they made Filmred, a black man, uh, steal and kill. Uh strange, strange to change that. But Bookred cuts the brakes on his wife's car to kill her and collect the insurance money. However, Bookred's wife picks up the neighbor and her infant son, and they all die in a burning heap, uh burning crash. Uh so that's not really redeemable as a as a character um backstory. So I understand in the film that over the book he redeems himself over the book because it's a it's you know, it's a four-hour audiobook, you know. We've got a bit more time. But theoretically, in the film, once we learn about what Red did, we would only have about an hour, hour and twenty to get over the fact that he killed a child. Kind of. Well no, he did. He he killed his actions led to the death of a child. So it's hard, it's hard to get him past that. So um so yeah, so throughout this book, all I am seeing is Morgan Freeman, all I am hearing is Morgan Freeman. Credit to the um audiobook narrator, he's very good. But all I'm hearing is old Mr. Freeman. That's all I'm hearing, and you can't help it. You really can't. Now, Andy Dufresne, I think. And call me, call this a hot take. I think Tim Robbins did a fucking brilliant job as Andy Dufresne. He is reserved, he's not dramatic, he's not physically imposing. Although I think Tim Robbins is like 6'3, 6'2, 6'3. And he isn't charismatic in the traditional sense, he's very buttoned up, he's very uptight and self-assured and patient and methodical, and that's how Tim Robbins plays it, and he plays it well. The only thing is, I think there are moments in the I guess in the book and the film, the mask slips. Especially when old um, oh, what's his name? Sal, the Elvis Impersonator, I forgot his bloody name. When he finds out, oh no, my my old uh Sally, my old celly, Jesus, my old cellmate um spoke about killing this golf pro and his his girl he was with. Um don't know if that helps you with anything, uh Andy. Don't know if that helps. And then the mass slips and he's like, You gotta fucking warden, you gotta do something about it. And the one's like, Well, now now, Andy, we've got to think about everything that we've done. He's not, uh don't know where he's from with that accent, but that's when the mask slips and he loses it, and he loses it in the book and he loses it in the film. But other than that, he doesn't really lose it, he is reserved, he is calm, but the one thing that the book does that the film doesn't is it really emphasizes the time. Because Tim Robbins, when he first walks into the prison, and then Tim Robbins when he um finally gets out, obviously he isn't that aged. However, it's a long fucking time, and not only is it a long time, it also could have been done sooner, but he waits even longer, and we never get to find out why. So the the tunnel he's building, he makes a pretty sufficient tunnel, like 16 years in, but he doesn't leave until 23 years in. The hole's there for seven years, and he doesn't leave, and the book ends without us finding out why he didn't fucking leave. Obviously. Sorry. Obviously, Red um speculates as to why he didn't leave, but because he thinks like maybe he was so used to being in prison that he didn't know he wouldn't wouldn't know if he was ready for being out there, like he wasn't ready for it, he had to like gear himself up for it, but I don't know. That's too it's too risky. He's already made the hole. Like what are we doing? And the other thing is that oh that was it. And then the other character that is massively improved by the film. Not only the Morgan Freeman casting, but Warden Norton, he's not very memorable in the book. He's a bastard, he's a bastard, we know that, but he's a bastard more from like we get a little bit of a back and forth with him and Andy at one point, but for the most part, he's a bastard in his actions and red saying what he did, and you're like, oh, what a bastard. That's about it. You don't really get to hear about the inner workings, and he also doesn't blow his head off in the book, which is really not satisfying. So I I am glad he does shoot himself in the head in the um in the uh film because he is an absolute bastard, he is one of the best villains in cinema. Like doing all those Bible quotes, the hypocrisy, his fucking uh tapestry, what's it called? The cross stitch of like um his favourite biblical verse, the self-righteousness, like what a prick. Like the only ending you want from him is that. And that might be me just being that's it's cinematic. You know, I don't actually want anyone to do that in real life, but he's such a bastard in the film that you don't want him to get away with it. You don't want him to do what happens in the book, and he just kind of goes away, um, kind of reti retires away, and kind of shooks any responsibility he had um for the corruption. All of that. That's you don't get that satisfying ending uh to Warden Norton, Warden Norton and him just embodying institutional power and that being able to be shut down. You don't get that as you do in the film, but I guess that's real life, isn't it? The institutional power makes a mess, does a corruption, and then just kind of gets to move on to somewhere else. I mean, is that not what the film um spotlights about? You know? You do your horrible stuff and you just move somewhere else and do more horrible stuff. That's America. So the other character that makes the film better is Brooks. Brooks is in it for a little bit. He is still the person who goes from like he's doing all your delivery and you get you chuck him a pack of lucky strike or whatever the fuck they were smoking back then, and a bit of cash, and he'll deliver something for you. Fuck me. You give him lucky strike, you give him a pack of lucky strike or whatever they were smoking back then, and um, yeah, he'll deliver something for you. However, we don't get that iconic part where Brooks leaves prison. We don't even hear about it. I think I think Brooks leaves prison and then we hear about it through the pigeon dying, because the pigeon he was looking after he released into the wild before he goes goes to pr uh leaves prison, and then the pretty the pigeon is dead like two days later. That's about the saddest it gets. But you don't hear anything that happens to Brooks. And he does a lot of that in the book, actually, where you they just go, and then and then that person moved on to a different prison, and then that person got out, and we don't know what happened to him, and then that person did this. Which I guess if you are stuck in a prison with no information, that is how your narrative would run. And because Red is the narrator, he's like, Yeah, he got out and I haven't heard anything since because when would when would he have? He wouldn't have heard anything about it because he's stuck in a bloody prison. So that actually does make sense, and now I think about it, yeah, we don't get much closure on a lot of characters because the guy who's telling us the story knows nothing of the outside world. So we don't know if Brooks obviously this has been added by Frank Darabont, but Brooks leaving, trying to keep up with a fast-paced life of existing, not the not he's not doing lines of cocaine off strippers, he's he's you know, he's just trying to exist. Not that fast lane kind of thing. We don't get him we don't unfortunately in the book we don't get him killing himself in a sad hotel room. No, we don't. We get him just leaving and the pigeon dying, that's about it. So weirdly, the film's better because of that. That's one as a point for the film in a strange way. The ending. Obviously, the Short Shank Redemption, I think, is the epitome of a Hollywood Oscar bait kind of film. It's got absolutely everything in it that you would need to be voted like the best film of all time. It's got it's got everything. Um so yeah, the novella ending ends differently, or at least less definitively than the film ending. Um he leaves a lot more things open, like I said, it's Red narrating it, and the narration only goes up well, it goes for the most part, the stories of everyone goes up until he leaves the prison before he um then rolls the paper up and shoves it up his ass. Um and then after the prison, we get a little bit of speculation from Red. Red heads in the right direction, he breaks parole to head in the right direction, hoping he'll find Andy, and that's it. That's it. We don't get to see him walk across the white sands of Suatineo and see Andy on the boat going, that's forest gum, but you know that that little wave he does. Um so we don't know. We don't know if they ever meet up in Suataneo. Suataneo, I feel like I'm saying that wrong. But in the film, obviously, we get the reunion, we get the payoff, and yeah, it's sentimental, but fuck me, those boys have been through a lot. I I needed a bit of closure, I needed one little Bit of closure from it, and it's you but you just don't get that from the book. And the only thing I've probably added on the end is because I've taken it from the film. So that's that's probably why the ending. So which one is better? I I think it's it's gotta it's gotta be the film, hasn't it? I think Frank Darabont made a cracking film from the novella. I think the novella is good, but where it gets fleshed out, because the novella's only four hours and the film's what two 220? So where it gets fleshed out improves it. Simple as. So can't complain there. I mean, you get a whole slew of people in this film. Loads of people in this film. So for me, the film's better. It's ingrained in the cultural zeitgeist. It didn't have a chance of being the book, didn't have a chance of being better than the film. I think, and that's a credit to Frank Darabont for making a crack in film. And I know the famous thing is, you know, it didn't do well when it was released. Yeah, I know. I know it didn't do well when it was released. It was a VHS hit, actually. It was a really big sell on the VHS. Yes, yes, a rental, it's a rental. Blockbuster went crazy for it. They couldn't couldn't rent it out enough. Yeah, we all know, we all know, and I think that's valid. It's a good film. I hadn't seen it in a long time, and it hit all the same. You know, even in today's modern viewing where you can go on Twitter and see horrendous things happen every single video. The horrendous things in this are still horrendous. They still hit. It hasn't, it's not even really that dated, if I'm honest. But I guess it was already based in old times, so it's hard for it to date really, because it's already set in the 1940s. So, but yeah, the film is better, which I think you guys all knew when you turned on this episode. He's not gonna say the novella is better than the film, is he? That's crazy. No, no, I'm not crazy. The film's better, but the book is good. If you want to have a little bit more of a like a you know, deep dive, read the book. I always say that. But for the most part, if you're not that arse and you think Shortshank Redemption's alright, I won't bother with the book. You're fine. So, yeah, that is the Short Shank Redemption. Um, like and subscribe. I'm gonna do more of these. I'm really trying to get more of these done. It's just hard because there's books I want to do, and I I go to get the audiobook, and it's 27 hours, and I'm like, fuck's hate. You know, I've I only I do a lot of driving, but not that much, you know. So that is why I've gone into more novellas and short stories for a bit to kind of get the catalogue up and make sure I don't miss deadlines that I've set for myself and don't really exist because the listenership is not big enough for me to get hate just yet. So I'm making sure I'm putting out these episodes and you can enjoy them and uh listen and watch them on YouTube, which they are on. Uh, forgive the mess in the background. I'm probably just gonna stick a logo here instead. Yeah, like and subscribe and all that. Comment, comment a film you would like me to watch and a book you'd like me to read. Oh my god. Sorry, I'm shouting down the microphone. I didn't have a good night's sleep last night, and it is showing. Um, yes, comment comment the books you would like me to read and review. I'm gonna do more TikToks about the film and the books to give kind of like people a taster of is the book better? Uh, because obviously getting people to go watch a podcast is is quite difficult because it's like, do you want to listen to a guy talk about a book and a film for half an hour? And most people probably be like, which guy? Him? No, you're alright. So I need to kind of guide more people this way. And if you can do that too and share it, I'll be I will be grateful. I think, like I said, comment on the videos because I'm I'm a people pleaser. As I said at the start of the episode, top of the episode, I said I'm a podcaster second, I'm a people pleaser first. Always have been. I would like to change, but here I am, still the same. So until two weeks' time, which the episode will be, I have not written what the episode was going to be. I think I was gonna do Fight Club, you know. I think I might do Fight Club. Because that's the lads film, right? That's the big lad film. It's every lad's favorite film. And I don't think the lads that love the film so much and have the poster and all that lot have ever actually read the book. So, and neither have I. And if I remember rightly, I didn't like the film. So next week could be a nail biter. So, two weeks, two weeks' time will be a nail biter. I'm struggling to do two weeks. I'm definitely not doing every week. So, until then, have a good one, and I'll see you in a couple weeks. Bye.