A Winter's Tale: The Breathing Method

by John Escott (Adapter), Stephen King (Original Story), Andy Hopkins (Series Editor)

There is a strange club in New York where men tell each other stories. The years pass but no one looks any older. One night a doctor tells the story of a young woman who gives birth to a baby in the most horrible way! Evil psychic powers, obsession and the supernatural in the most ordinary, everyday places. A spine-chiller from the master of horror.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Audiobook, Thriller, Fantasy, Novella

57 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1982

About the author

John Escott started by writing children's books and comic scripts, but now writes and adapts books for students of all ages. He especially enjoys writing crime and mystery thrillers, and is a member of the British Crime Writers Association.

With Oxford University Press John has published London for the Oxford Bookworms Factfile series; Agatha Christie, Woman of Mystery, Star Reporter, Girl on a Motorbike, The Fly and Other Horror Stories, and The Scarlet Letter for the Oxford Bookworms Library series; The Magician, Time for a Robbery, Star for a day, Tomorrow's Girl, and The Man with Three NAMEs for the Hotshot Puzzles series; and A Pretty Face for the Dominoes series.

Reviews

[Sanjay · Rating 4 out of 5]

From what I'd heard, or rather read, through my friend's reviews, that this novella isn't that great: I would partially disagree. Stephen King is such a skillful writer: he can make any ordinary story sound incredible; and not everyone can do that. It's true, I agree, that the story, at first, doesn't seem to be that promising/interesting; but The Breathing Method is a story so well told that you get immersed in it that you don't even know it.

What would have been an ordinary story, King has made an unforgettable one!

Recommended.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant novella by the master story teller. David, a lawyer, is invited to join his superior to a mysterious club where stories are told by the members. The location is very impressive (books you don't find elsewhere) and Steven is a very special butler. There seems to be no fee. The week before Christmas a horror story has to be told. This time it's about the Breathing Method used by a wife when giving birth to a child. An old doctor tells the story. What is so special about this story and makes it that creepy? Why is that club in the brownstone so uncanny? The novella read like a movie. It was very sinister and the inset story about the Breathing Method was extremely exciting. The story is included in the Different Season anthology of four novellas. Absolutely recommended.

[Sandeep · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of four novellas that make up the Different Seasons collection, The Breathing Method is the moving tale of a young woman’s extreme dedication to her unborn child, set amidst the backdrop of the festive season.

The main concern for the bulk of page count is the narrative related by elderly physician Emlyn McCarron, which details a bizarre phenomena he experienced while treating Sandra Stansfield, a single pregnant woman.

As part of his treatment of Stansfield and her baby, McCarron prescribes the “breathing method” designed to assist mothers through childbirth. Together, the pair seem destined to successfully deliver Stansfield’s baby, and it is only thanks to the foreshadowing provided early on by McCarron’s narration that we know things will end in tragedy.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

>
'It is the tale,
not he who tells it.'

Description: There is a strange club in New York where men tell each other stories. The years pass but no one looks any older. One night a doctor tells the story of a young woman who gives birth to a baby in the most horrible way! Evil psychic powers, obsession and the supernatural in the most ordinary, everyday places. A spine-chiller from the master of horror.

From 'A Winter's Tale' section of the 'Different Seasons collection released in 1982, so this was by way of a re-visit for me. Great storytelling.

3* * A Death
3.5* Finders Keepers
3* Joyland
3* Mr Mercedes
4* The Shining
3* The Stand
4* It
5* Misery
3* Carrie
5* The Gunslinger
3* Pet Sematary
4* 11/22/63
3* 'Salem's Lot
3* The Green Mile
3* Needful Things
3* Cujo
4* Different Seasons
3* The Drawing of the Three
3* Firestarter
5* The Waste Lands
3* Wizard and Glass
4* Insomnia
2* Dreamcatcher
3* Desperation
4* Four Past Midnight
2* The Tommyknockers
4* Dr Sleep
2* The Mist
4* Hearts in Atlantis
3* Rose Madder
4* Full Dark, No Stars
3* From a Buick 8
3* Just After Sunset
3* Blaze
3* Storm of the Century screenplay
1* UR
3* Children of the Corn
The Breathing Method

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Club is a special place that attracts peculiar men looking to share tales of unexplainable supernatural events that they’ve experienced at some point in their lives. Emlyn McCarron is an old physician that recounts an unbelievable event early in his career where he helped a pregnant woman that was desperate to make sure her unborn child was safely delivered when no one was willing to give her the assistance she needed, even if she had to assure her own child’s birth from beyond the grave.

A little slow moving but it has a beautifully haunting and melancholy atmosphere. More than anything I found the clubhouse interesting. It seems like a haunted place that attracts paranormal phenomena, but not necessarily in a bad or dangerous way. Almost like the inverse of the Overlook Hotel or a harmlessly strange pocket dimension somewhere in the Dark Tower multiverse. I’d like to see more of it in other stories.

The Breathing Method is the weakest story in Different Seasons in my opinion, but still really solid. The second half of the story is especially good.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing tale-within-a-tale of the super-willed woman who doesn't give up on her pregnancy no matter what! And that of a mysterious club!!

[ChopinFC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another masterful short and sweet novella by the horror mind of Stephen King. This one takes place at a special Club where gentleman gather to tell stories. All stories culminate in the tale of a pregnant women and her fairy bizarre unfortunate delivery. This is truly a horror story with some some specs of light interspersed in it. If you are a horror genre fan this one is a must-read!

4 Stars

[Nick Iuppa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just re-read The Breathing Method about ten years after my first time through it, and I have to say I found it much more rewarding this time. the novella probably suffers from the fact that it’s packed into Different Seasons with 3 of King’s most famous works, The Body, Shawshank Redemption, and Apt Pupil, and it is really the only true Horror story in the bunch. I’d forgotten that King uses a far different voice than in his other books, almost a H.P Lovecraft tone. His old gentlemen’s club seems very Victorian, but then it’s from another place and time, isn’t it? In fact, this may be the first time King introduces a concept that will become so prominent in his later works: “There are other worlds than these.” I Don’t recommend this for couples who are about to experience their first pregnancy. Still, it’s a great read. The tragic story of Miss Stansfield’s pregnancy and the almost supernatural effects of her doctor’s prescribed breathing exercises are explored for full horrific effect and the accident leading to her tragedy is described as only a world class writer like King can.

[Georgia Zarkadaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Μόλις τελείωσα την μικρή ιστορία με τον τίτλο "Μέθοδος αναπνοών" που βρίσκεται στην συλλογή μικρών ιστοριών με τίτλο "Different seasons" που επιλέξαμε με την ομάδα ανάγνωσης μου για αυτή την εβδομάδα. Μπορώ να πω πως είχα πολύ καιρό να ευχαριστηθώ τόσο πολύ μια ιστορία και να επωφεληθώ από αυτή- νιώθω τι αναγνωστικό μου τέλμα να κάνει μερικά βήματα πίσω!

Λοιπόν, δεν θέλω να αναπτύξω την υπόθεση μιας και υπάρχει ήδη μια γενική περίληψη πάνω από το κείμενο μια πάρα μόνο θέλω να μιλήσω για τα συναισθήματά που γεννήθηκαν μέσα μετά το πέρας της ανάγνωσης.
Αν υπάρχει κάτι που χαρακτηρίζει τον Κινγκ σα συγγραφέα είναι η απύθμενη ικανότητα του να δημιουργεί αληθινούς χαρακτήρες και να σε εκβιάζει συναισθηματικά ώστε να αποκτάς κάποιου είδους σχέση μαζί τους. Με λίγα λόγια καταλήγεις πάντα να τους σκέφτεται σα πραγματικούς ανθρώπους και να συμπάσχεις μαζί τους.
Η ιστορία αυτή είναι μαζεμένη ως προς τον αριθμό των χαρακτήρων, και δη των κύριων, ώστε να έχουμε να κάνουμε με τρεις, κατά την άποψη μου, χαρακτήρες που μας ενδιαφέρουν. Πρώτος είναι ο μέτριος δικηγόρος που έχει μια πιο "ουδέτερη χροιά " και που μας βοηθάει με τη εξιστόρηση της ιστορίας, δεύτερος ο γιατρός που συναντάμε αργότερα που είναι μανούλα στο να μας "χρωματίζει" όλα όσα γίνονται μέσα στην ιστορία με έντονα και άγρια συναισθήματά και φυσικά η τρίτη χαρακτήρας η δυναμική και συμπαθητική κ.Stansfield. Αυτός ο μικρός αριθμός χαρακτήρων βοηθάει πολύ τον αναγνώστη στο να έρθει πιο κοντά σε αυτούς τους τρεις χωρίς να χάνεται μέσα στις διάφορες δεύτερες προσωπικότητες. Αν και υπάρχουν μερικά δεύτερα πρόσωπα πολύ ενδιαφέροντά με το δικό τους τρόπο.
Θέλω να πω σε αυτό το σημείο πως η γραφή του Κινγκ σε αυτό την ιστορία με εξέπληξε. Ήταν τόσο συναισθηματικά πλούσια και πολύ "λυρική". Όμορφα τοποθετημένες προτάσεις που βοήθησαν διακριτικά να μεταφέρεται εκείνο το συναίσθημα επικείμενης καταστροφής που νιώθεις εξαρχής. Πολύ πολύ το ευχαριστήθηκα!

Αχ, πόνεσε η καρδούλα μου με αυτή την ιστορία. Περίμενα και περίμενα να δω που θα το πάει ο Κινγκ και πως θα μας απογειώσει και δεν με απογοήτευσε. Υπήρξε μια στιγμή προς το τέλος του βιβλίου που χρειάστηκα και εγώ την Μέθοδο των αναπνοών! Το προτείνω ανεπιφύλακτα σε όσους αγαπούν το ταλέντο του Κινγκ.

[Vimal Thiagarajan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one gave me the creeps alright.Had to learn the breathing method with bated breath for most part.Successfully annulled the effects of reading four Wodehouses in a row.

[Nova · Rating 3 out of 5]

فکر میکردم تا حالا استفن کینگ نخوندم؛ ولی مثل اینکه خوندم 😁
این داستان رو خیلی خوب یادمه. نمیدونم چرا ولی بدجور تو ذهنم حک شده. گاهی توی موقعیت های استرس زا به خودم میام و میبینم دارم به انجام همین تکنیک تنفس فکر میکنم.
شاید تصور صحنه تصادف و غلطیدن سر قطع شده ی یک زن باردار تنها کف خیابون درست جلوی بیمارستان برای منِ ��۵ ساله هنوز زیادی هولناک بوده.

[Swati Singla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novella of less than a 100 pages, I finished this in one read which is probably why I was so mesmerized by it. There were moments when it got so mysterious that I had to keep the book away from me for 10 seconds to make sure I get to sleep during the night. Although I would not categorize this under horror at all which is exactly why this is a must read. A very ordinary story made so engrossing by the extraordinary writing. I would have preferred the mystery of the club being revealed in the end but the open-endedness makes your heads wrapped around the thrill just a little longer.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Compared to the other novellas I've read by Stephen King, this would have to be my least favourite. It wasn't terrible, I just didn't really enjoy it. The first half of the novella was boring, but it started to pick up once the story of the 'Breathing Method' was told.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was messed up.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had an odd experience with this one. I had first tried reading it in print as part of Different Seasons and I could not finish it. I found it boring, uninteresting and not engaging. This time I listened to it in audio format and really enjoyed it.

It's a story about a story and I think that is why I liked it better as an audiobook. I enjoyed sitting back and just imagining that I was at the Club in the book and I was being told the story during Christmas just like the members of the Club.

It's generally considered the weakest story in Different Seasons (the other three being Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, The Body (which would become the movie Stand by Me) and Apt Pupil)) and I would agree with that statement but still a fine tale of a woman who is determined to give birth no matter what. It's really the only "horror" story in Different Seasons and even that is a stretch.

So not sure what I would say about recommending this story. I couldn't finish it in print but really enjoyed it as audio. I guess what I'll say is...it's short, give it a try, if you don't like it you wouldn't have wasted too much time and if you do like it the reward will come quickly as I think it's only about 50 pages in print.

[Kristen Mcmahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this suspenseful story about stories or "tales." This is a story of a men's "club" who gather around once a week to drink fine wine and tell each other tales. The story is told from the point of view of David, however, the point of view changes to another character Emlyn McCarron who takes over to tell his uncanny Christmas tale. The story by Steven King is all about this story telling gentleman's club and how David came to be a "member." However, the purpose of writing it is for Emlyn to tell his story of him as a young doctor treating a young, husbandless, pregnant girl in the 30s.

The most predominant element of craft that stands out to me in this story is Voice. In the story Steven King portrays two very distinctly different voices. The voices of David and Emlyn are very different. They focus on different aspects of story and have two very different ways of communicating to the readers. The voices of the two characters differ in grammar, words choice and style. For one author to evoke two totally different ways of writing in one short story is very impressive and educational to read. If I were to teach a class based on this work I would teach a lesson about writing a story from character's voice and not always your own as the author. The first lesson in this would be to really know the character that you are writing. The best authors are able to manipulate their writing voices based on the characters that they have created, rather then utilizing their own to tell different stories.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Doctors were responsible for some of this hysteria, I'm sorry to say. The stories the pregnant woman heard from friends and relatives who had already been through the birthing process also contributed to it. Believe me: if you are told that some experience is going to hurt, it will hurt. Most pain is in the mind, and when a woman absorbs the idea that the act of giving birth is excruciatingly painful-when she gets this information from her mother, her sisters, her married friends, and her physician-that woman has been mentally prepared to feel great agony".

So, the author of The Little Green God of Agony wrote this. He would deserve to be kicked in the nuts every five minutes by someone who tells him smugly that he's only in pain because doctors have convinced him that being kicked in the nuts is painful, and that he would be perfectly silent like any respectable man if he realized that the pain is all in his mind. For all eternity.

[Patricija · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was okay. Nothing special. I'm starting to like Stephen Kings writing style though.

[Stephanie’s Libby Antics · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is well told, the issue I have with the story is: did it really need to be told?

I’m not convinced it did.

[alex (winter break!)]

The Breathing Method by Stephen King

Language: 2.5-3/10 (a bit but not much if I remember correctly, pretty average for a Steve novel)

Horror/Scary Level: 1.5/10 (the ending is a bit graphic in terms of the descriptions of stuff, but overall not bad)

Synopsis: The Breathing Method is told in three parts. The first and last are of a man named David who is invited by one of his colleagues to come to a gentleman’s bar and what the bar is like. Every Thursday before Christmas, they tell spooky stories. The second part is just that. The story is told by a man in the club, who was a physician or a doctor of some sort. He helps deliver babies and it’s about how he helps a woman through the process of being pregnant and giving birth. The Breathing Method is a technique used by Native Americans (so the narrator describes) and helps women giving birth to not hyperventilate. The ending/climax is very strange and makes sense yet also not making much sense at all.

Review: Honestly, I don’t know how to rate this. The actual meat of the novella, the story being told, was not very long, which was a bit disappointing. The descriptions of the club were amazing and very cozy, yet a bit sinister. It was a strange story, and it was interesting, but really weird. I think if the story were fleshed out more, this novella would be much better. Overall, not a bad one!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/75

[Aditya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different Seasons consists of 4 novellas & all of them are basically character studies.It firmly established King as a pure literary genius & quashed all naysayers who had him typecast ed as a horror writer.It shows off the width & variety of human emotions that King could easily write about without ever sounding cheesy or unrealistic & how his style makes us care for characters whom we otherwise would have hated.I would provide a brief synopsis of each of the 4 novellas & what i thought about them instead of writing a detailed review for all of them as they are so mufti-layered & deep that the effort would be too long & seem futile.

1)Rita Hayworth & Shawshank redemption - It deals with an atypical prison break of a person wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit.Giving a greater synopsis seems redundant as most have already watched the movie(those who are yet to must drop whatever they are doing & get a blu-ray copy of the film which has to be in the top 3 movies i have ever seen in my life). Though the book stands tall on its own merit but when compared to a far better movie it feels a bit tedious & the ending seems a bit of a letdown.The movie had a far better ending with a more satisfying payoff & as i had already seen a superior version of the story i felt this was the weakest of the 4 novellas.My rating - 3.5/5.

2)Apt Pupil - This book is about a young boy who gets so enthralled with a Nazi war criminal that he loses all sight of what is right & how their mutual association brings out the worst in both of them.It seems closer to King's Richard Bachman persona as it explores the most negative ones of all human emotions & sometimes the book is so bleak & disturbing that it might not be fitting to all tastes.However if one can look past the Nihilistic outlook of the book one gets an acute picture of how seducing the allure of evil can turn out to be.There is not a single redeeming quality in either of its 2 main characters and it is a testament to King's writing ability that he can yet make it a fascinating read.However what stops the book from true greatness is a folly often associated with King that it is a bit too long in the middle & has an abrupt ending.This was also made into a movie but most of the part that made the book great was left out as it was too dark to appeal to casual movie-goers.My rating - 4.5/5.

3)The Body - This one is about a group of 12 year old boys setting out to find a dead body of a kid run over by a train in search of an adventure of a lifetime & in hope of a reward for finding it.The tale is all about growing up & how boys in space of a couple of days become men.They come to realize the true meaning of friendship,loss,betrayal & for the first time they feel a sense of achievement & how in those couple of days they as though find a concrete purpose in life which they want to achieve or succeed in at all costs.Their journey to the body is fraught with challenges & when they reach the body they meet a group of bullies who had come to claim it as their own.This leads to a standoff & one of the best pieces of writing in King's career.Though some can argue that nothing of note happens for a long part in the book,the writing style is so lucid & engrossing that it was never a problem for me.
King should be complimented because of the manner in which he had given each of the 4 kids a distinct personality as most authors struggle to provide distinct personalities to protagonists of their different books, forget providing four such relate able personalities in a single story.The narrative is compelling & the ending is also fitting but it is difficult to explain why reading the book is such a tour de force.It is safe to say this is one of those books that stay with you long after the read is over.It was made into a critically acclaimed movie - Stand By Me but i am yet to watch it so i don't know if it is any good (it is in the list of top 250 movies ever made on IMDB). This undoubtedly is the best novella in the compilation & my rating - 5/5.

4)The Breathing Method - The last one is the shortest of the lot & more in-keeping with what we had to come to expect from King.It is a horror story in an unique format where the titular story is told within another story.An elderly lawyer joins a club where everything seems surreal & dreamy & every Thursday before Christmas an eerie story is told by one of its members.The Breathing Method is told on one such evening & is about a maiden woman who would go to any length to give birth to her child which the society does not want to accept as it is a bastard.The titular story is chilling & thought-provoking & at the same time having a great ending.However the ending of the overall novella seems a bit rushed as the mystery of the club is never explicitly stated & only hints & clues are given as to what it actually maybe.But i felt that King intentionally wanted to keep the ending vague though he makes the club such an interesting place that a proper conclusion would have been more befitting.My rating - 4/5.

Overall this book is more quintessential King than most King fans realize as it consists of all the King staples - Great & relate able characters, Stories that stay with you long after you have finished with them & (unluckily) Rushed endings.The biggest asset of the book is that there is something in it for all kind of readers & no one will walk away from it dissatisfied.I must add that there is also a very interesting afterword added at the end of the book which provides a wonderful insight into the mind of the author as well as on the art of writing.

However as none but one novella gets a perfect score from me i would have to say that Night Shift still remains the best collection of king stories & my final rating for Different Seasons is 4/5.

P.S. I originally wrote this review for Different Seasons but as that page sees very little traffic or viewers compared to the pages of the individual novellas i could not resist the temptation of copying & pasting the same review on the pages of all the four stories.

[Anjan Das · Rating 4 out of 5]

বেশ ভাল লাগল বইটা।খারাপ না।মাঝে মাঝে এসব গল্প বিষন্নতা সৃষ্টি করে।বিশেষ করে লাস্ট পার্টটুকু

[Mayad Tarabey · Rating 5 out of 5]

That’s how you write a short story.
I always saw this book in my school library but I was never sure if I was going to like it.
Now I’m glad I have it.

The suspense, the mood setting of the story, the creepy illustrations and the creepy characters. I loved it all.

The beginning of the story got me hooked as soon as I started reading. Stephen King managed to freak me out in only 60-ish pages.

I literally didn’t want it to end and I read the last few pages over and over again. I’m sure there’s more to this story because the ending doesn’t close the story, it opens its second chapter so a sequel will be good in my opinion.

It’s definitely now one of my favorite works by Stephen King. It’s also my new favorite short story as well.

[Sondhyashoshii · Rating 1 out of 5]

এখনই কেউ কেউ কওয়া শুরু করবো, "সবাই কিং বুঝতে পারে না", "কিং সবাইর জন্য না"... সুতরাং, একদম সোজা বাংলায় বলি - ইহা একটি ব-এ আকার+ল-এ একার+র কাহিনী। একটা ক্লাব, অদ্ভুত সব বই, জিনিসপত্র, কিন্তু ক্লাবের সভ্যরা কিন্তু মানুষই, আবার ক্লাবের বারম্যান যাকে বলে ক্রিপি অফ এনাদার লেভেল। আর ক্লাবের সভ্যরা এসে কাহিনী শোনায়, তাও আবার অদ্ভুত সব কাহিনী। আমার যাকে বলে মাথার কোন তারই নাড়া দিতে পারে নাই এই বই। মেজাজ খারাপ হয়েছে। আমরা সবাই জানি, ২০২০ এর বইমেলা হবে সায়েন্স ফিকশন আর কিং এর বইমেলা। কিং চর্চাটা বাংলা ভাষায় দরকার। অসাধারন একজন লেখক। তাই বলে এমন দূর্বল একটা লেখার অনুবাদ অপ্রয়োজনীয় ঠেকলো আমার কাছে। নবীন অনুবাদকের প্রচেষ্টা প্রশংসনীয় ছিল কিন্তু একটু খটমটে লাগলো।

[Nick Katenkamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly the strangest and least impactful story in King's Different Seasons book, The Breathing Method is half the narrator describing his life and the strange club he is a member of and half the strange story one of his friends tells in the club. The story that is told is of mild interest, but the really interesting part was the club itself which sadly does not get completely explained. This is good in that it left me with a sense of mystery but also left me feeling unfulfilled. This reminded me of one of HP Lovecraft's earlier work where this is a great plot with much mystery but little in resolution. An interesting read but one i feel could have been better.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Wasn’t a fan of the first half but the second half was great!

[r. a. Savery · Rating 2 out of 5]

“There is no comfort without pain; thus we define salvation through suffering”.
[ESP]
The Breathing Method, que hace referencia al método de Lamaze, busca que el parto sea menos doloroso auxiliándose de técnicas de respiración. Es parte de los cuatro relatos de la colección Different Seasons de Stephen King, correspondiente al invierno.

Inicia en un club extraño donde por tradición navideña se cuentan historias peculiares, el narrador (un abogado promedio de una firma en Manhattan) hace hincapié en una historia que tiene como centro al doctor Emlyn McCarron y Sandra Stansfield, una joven que con valentía y determinación lleva un embarazo siendo madre soltera en los 1930… pero con un final fatídico, casi predestinado.

Como siempre cuando se trata de King, tengo sentimientos encontrados con esta noveleta. En definitiva es la más floja de la colección (y creo que la más rara también) pero lo cruda y punzante de la narración me pareció brillante. No sólo eso, el temor certero y creciente de que algo horrible pasará está presente en las últimas páginas de la novela, y culmina de forma fuerte e intensa.

Con esto confirmo que prefiero a King en historias más cortas (E incluso en esta, sentí que daba muchas vueltas al inicio), porque encuentro que es más preciso y mordaz.

Me quedo con 2.5 pero no porque sea malo, simplemente… no es mi tipo de historia.

[ENG]

The Breathing Method, which refers to the Lamaze method, seeks to make childbirth less painful with the help of breathing techniques. It is one of four stories in Stephen King's Different Seasons collection, specifically The Winter’s Tale.

It all starts in a strange club that has a Christmas tradition of telling peculiar stories; the narrator (an average lawyer at a firm in Manhattan) emphasizes a story that centres on Dr. Emlyn McCarron and Sandra Stansfield, a young woman who with courage and determination carries a pregnancy as a single mother in the 1930s... but with a disastrous, almost predestined end.

As always regarding King, I have mixed feelings about this novelette. It's by far the weakest of the collection (and I think the weirdest too) but I found the rawness and poignancy of the narration brilliant. Not only that, the dread and growing fear that something horrible will happen is present in the novel's last pages and culminates strongly and intensely.

With this one, I can assure you that I prefer King in shorter stories (and even in this one, I felt like he was yapping a lot at first), because I find him to be more accurate and biting.

I'll stick with 2.5 but not because it's bad, simply... It's not my kind of story.

[Hunter Camara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rated the book The Breathing Method by Stephen King 5 stars. Set in New York City in the 70s during Christmas. The story follows a young lawyer, David, who gets invited to a men's club where they read, drink, play pool, tell stories, etc. But then around Christmas an older man names Dr. Emlyn McCarron tells a story that is both frightening and heart-wrenching. My mom gave me this book and it ended up on my bookshelf for a bit before I picked it up to read. One thing I really liked about this book that differs from other Stephen King books is actually the description. The way the story is told there is description but is more to the point as well as is extremely vivid and vibrant throughout the short story. It makes you feel like you are standing over the character's shoulder as you experience what they do. I also liked the ending which I won't spoil but I will say this it is both gruesome and depressing. The way that the story twists a full 180 is a complete curveball. You expect something to happen but the way it does it is just so crazy that you will be left in shock as you continue to read wanting to stop but not being able to. I would read other books like this because of the great mystery and plot twist and anyone who likes Stephen King books and his style would love this book.

[Omkar Shinde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbbb!!!!!!!!!!

This is my first short novel n I'm glad I pick up this one (my friend suggested me ).

The suspense build by Stephen Kind worth appreciating 👏👏

In mid of the book I was thinking : What if everyone's around David in the club are not the living ppl ? Is there anything like 249 35th Street ? What if it's all came to know anything suspicious for David to let tell him something is must to know about? Coz the books and the publisher also the billiards making company was not found by David.

N that room's voice, it's like snake hissing after then I was thinking about that women's choo choo n I thought what if she will be there 😂😂😂

Later I start thinking what if the David is the same child whose the Dr given the birth but later dr mentioned the ppl they adopted them.


Many opinions and stances at every situation as a bit n bit of reading...

Although I thought it'll end up like David got something to know about he will be stunned. But that's okayy!! ;)


Short and amazing!! :) ❤️

[Mohadese · Rating 4 out of 5]

☆۳.۵ ستاره‌ی معمولی☆
من همیشه از دنیای داستان‌های کوتاه فراری بودم. اما یه کار ترجمه داستان کوتاه در زمینه ادبیات ژانری بهم پیشنهاد شد و به همین بهونه دارم داستان‌های کوتاه از نویسنده‌های مختلف رو میخونم و آقای کینگ هم تو این ژانر پیشتازه و کلی نوِلا داره!
داستان "شیوه‌ی تنفس" یه جورایی روایت‌ در روایته: راوی مرد مسنی که در محفلی مرموز در نیویورک، پای یکی از داستان‌های همیشگی شب‌های پنج‌شنبه نشسته. محفلی که در آن همه چیز رازآلود است: خدمتکاری که پیر نمی‌شود، اتاق‌هایی که هیچ‌کس نمی‌شماردشان و جمله‌ای که بالای شومینه حک شده:
«این داستان است که اهمیت دارد، نه راویِ آن.»
راستش من داستان‌های بلند و رمان‌های کینگ رو نخوندم (قول میدم امسال برم سراغ‌شون) که بخوام تخصصی نظر بدم اما این داستان رو دوست داشتم. ایده یه محفل مرموز جذاب بود اما این که سوال می‌پرسید درباره‌ش و جوابی نمی‌داد رو مخ بود. درباره داستان دکتر مک‌کارن، که در واقع اسم کتاب هم بر این اساسه، باید بگم که بسی پسندیدمش. دقیقا همونقدر دارک و خشن که مطلوب منه. البته فکر کنم این نسخه پنگوئنی که من خوندم کوتاه شده و تعدیل شده بود.