Young boy becomes fascinated with elderly German neighbor man. Kid is the snoopy sort and begins doing some research and discovers neighbor was a Nazi (don't remember if he was a camp guard or not). Kid confronts neighbor and threatens to expose him if he doesn't tell stories about the war. Stories lead to actions as the boy takes the old man for a role model in various things, and the old man is pleased to have someone to teach. I don't remember the ending, and I didn't see the movie because the story is pretty grim and disturbing.

I read somewhere that the ending was copped out on for the movie -- the bits you describe are all pretty faithfully followed.

The ending was darker than I'd expected, but that's dark-for-movies, not dark-for-Stephen-King.

The Nazi is discovered, and now I'm suddenly blanking -- I think he's killed by the ex-internee in the hospital bed next to him. The guidance counsellor discovers the kid knew all along, but when he confronts him, the kid threatens to accuse him of pedophilia, and so gets away with it all.

The ending was pretty different, ita. I think the movie glosses it over a bit, while the story ends with the boy on an overpass picking people off with a sniper rifle, if I remember right.

Also, in the book I think he kills the guidance counselor.

That sounds about right for the kid's mentality--he knows the system and uses it ruthlessly. If I'm remembering hte story correctly, I think there are some murders and some unpleasant sex (the boy has the hots for a Jewish girl, and he asks Neighbor some nasty questions about Jews).

Whoo! Okay, yeah, that's way darker than the movie got.

Yep. I remember I'd read the story first, then saw the movie. That ending was chipper in comparison.

I love Different Seasons. The only story from it that hasn't been made into a movie is really gruesome, but its another one you'll remember.

"Breathing Lessons" would be damned tricky to make into a movie. Not the sort of upbeat story Hollywood is looking for.

edit: I was honestly surprised that they turned "Apt Pupil" into a movie.

God bless Stephen King. He annoys me a lot (I can't read his column in EW, for instance), but when he's one of the best at what he does (and what he does? Not very nice).

I can't submit myself to it too often, but just when I think I'm properly grossed out, he gooses me with the nasty.

Yep. Breathing Lessons isn't really feel good material. And the pacing wouldn't work at all.

Maybe the reasoning behing filming Apt Pupil was that the first two movies were so good.

ETA: And actually, the two least frightening.

I actually prefer King's non-fiction. I like the way he looks at the world. I'll have to see if the library gets his book on the Red Sox season. He hung out with them all year, him and a sportswriter buddy of his.