Rating: Summary: Excellent prison story.... Review: Stephen King's "The Green Mile" focuses on a man named John Coffey. He is a giant of a man that is convicted of murder, and sentenced to die in the electric chair at Cold Mountain Penitentairy's death row called the Green Mile. The Green Mile is run by Paul Edgecomb. John acts unlike any murderer that Paul has ever seen, and has supernatural powers that brings a sense of spirit and humanity to his guards and fellow inmates. How can a man like that be guilty of such a horrible crime? That is the question that drives Paul to search for the truth behind what really happened. Once Paul finds the answers that he is looking for however, it forces him to make the hardest decision of his life. Most of the books that I have read by King have been from his older work. That is why I had my doubts about this book. However, after I finished reading "The Green Mile", I was blown away at how good it turned out to be. I am a huge fan of books that are written in a first person narative. King does an amazing job at making himself sound like a completely different person. The story of the Green Mile, is Paul Edgecomb's memoir of what happened. When the story is not focusing on the Mile, we also get to hear about Paul's current life in the nursing home that he is staying at. This part of the story is almost as entertaining. I was also very impressed at how King accurately portrayed the Depression era in this book. This is effectively illustrated by Paul and his crew forcing themselves to keep their jobs, despite everything that makes them want to quit. Another reason to read "The Green Mile" is to see King's excellent character development. Paul Edgecomb is my favorite. The fact that he has seen nothing but guilty men, and is able to put his prejudices aside to help John is very commendable. John Coffey is emotional, and amusing because of his simple mind and naive attitude. The dialogue King creates for Coffey is great. Percy Whitmore is a new guard that is transfered in due to political connections. He is the kind of villan that you love to hate. Percy is sadistic, cocky, weak, and a whiner. Wild Bill Wharton is very cool. He is a mentally unstable inmate who takes pleasure in making other people miserable. The stuff he does will shock you and disgust you. But some of the things he does will also make you laugh as well. Edward Delacroix is a cajun prisoner who adopts an intelligent mouse that he nicknames "Mr. Jingles". The relationship between Edward and Mr. Jingles is one of the best aspects of the book, because of the outstanding dialogue King creates for Delacroix. The Green Mile is a great book. The story is emotional, the first person narative is excellent, all of the characters are amazing, and you get a realistic look at the Depression era. You are deffinately in for a treat with the Green Mile.
Rating: Summary: The Green Mile Review: The Green Mile is about how one man changed the heart of the prison guards of the E Block of the Cold Mountain Penitentiary, and the miracles he possesses. John Coffey is sent to the penitentiary for the slaying of two little girls. But he has a secret, and head guard of the E Block, Paul Edgecombe, is intrigued to discover what it is. This being Stephen King's second prison story, it can be compared to his first, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption". They are both dramatic adaptions about innocent men who go through the hardships of prison life. Though, the differences of the main characters are great, they go through the same thing. By far, the most dramatic Stephen King novel written. I personally enjoyed this book. I haven't seen the movie yet, but after reading the book, I am very interested on how different the movie is from the book. A quote, that I think shows how gentle John Coffey really is, is "Please, boss, don't put that thing over my face," he said in a moaning whisper (page 508). This quote shows John Coffey's fear of the dark. It's hard to compare myself to a character in the story. Mainly because the story took place in the 1930's, and the views and ways of thinking were different compared to the present day. I wouldn't say that King had a certain writing style, but he wrote the only way he possibly could in order to create an emotional scenery. By being told in the first person, where you are seeing what Paul Edgecombe sees. I give it credit for being a good book, but one thing I disliked about it was it gave you the feeling that death row is a great place to be. Jail shouldn't be a place where you say to yourself, "Man, I want to be in the E Block of the Cold Mountain Penitentiary." But all-in-all, I think it had many good qualities to it. I would definitely recommend it to others.
Rating: Summary: The Narrator is excellent Review: This is a dark but wonderful story. Stephen King goes into such detail with his character exploration and scene description that I could smell and taste this novel. The reader, Frank Muller, does an amazing job. His flawless character voices enhanced my enjoyment of the audio book so much. I listened to the book during my daily 2-3 hour commute to work. I actually looked forward to driving the lethargic Los Angeles freeway during the time I listened to "The Green Mile." Thank you to all involved in this outstanding production.
Rating: Summary: Stunning Review: King here delivers a masterpiece. "The Green Mile" is a work of genius that not many authors could have pulled off as well as Stephen King. This amazing novel was originally published as a serial novel in six parts a few years back. The book flows wonderfully even though with the start of a new part King may review the last scene of the last book that was read. I would think that reading each part of the book together as the one whole novel that it is would make the book more enjoyable, so for people who have read this book when it was first being published in parts, you may want to re-read this book to get a better feel for what King is writing. The novel takes place on the E Block of Cold Mountain Penitentiary (a death row, or "Green Mile") and takes place over a fairly short amount of time. The book tells the story of the times when convicted murderer John Coffey is going to be put to death. The book is told in the first person through the eyes of Paul Edgecombe, the leader of the E Block. This novel also involves many other people, such as the other men that run the E Block and other murderers that are on death row. There is a hint of the paranormal in this novel, but for horror [fans], there are no scares here. And quite frankly, I have never been scared by a Stephen King novel. I find his books to lean more in the psychological thriller with supernatural elements area. This book also seems a bit different than other King novels. I really can't put my figure on what made this book seem different from his others, but this book leaned to a very literary side than his other books. (I'm not saying that King's books aren't literary. They are!) One of the things about this book that is so great were the characterizations. Paul Edgecombe is a likeable and believable protaganist as he has his faults and his problems. Some characters, particularly the snobbish Percy, are very hateable, yet you may feel a bit sympathetic for him at times. The murderers that are waiting to "walk the Green Mile" can be felt for as King puts you in their footsteps. John Coffey is one of Stephen King's best characters as you can feel for him on an emotional level. This book is basically a fictional memoir of Paul Edgecombe as it is written in the first person and the book switches a few times to Paul's life at his nursing home. The book takes place when Paul is a senior citizen. This is another masterpiece by one of the greatest authors of all time. This is a definite must read. Happy Reading!
Rating: Summary: Green Mile Review Review: The novel The Green Mile was awesome. The details were so specific, I was actually scared at some points. When I read something, it never really gets to me, it's hard for me to get into a book, but this one definetely got my attention. The way Stephen King described the characters was really interesting. In the beginning, I didn't understand John Coffey, I thought he was really shady. But I loved how as the book went on, you learned specific little details about him, and the other characters. From the beginning, I never liked Billy The Kid, and in a way, I felt bad for Coffey. The only thing I didn't really like about the novel was how it was sometimes long and drawn out. And how it was choppy, that usually throws my attention right out the window, but as I kept reading, he always put in some kind of foreshadowing to pull me back in. Once I finished the novel, I hated the bone chilling twist ending, but as I thought about it, the more I think of how it made me feel, and how it took me by suprise. I actually like that now. This I think is one of Stephen King's greatest novels. Even though I don't read that much, I have read some of his books, and I've liked this one most of all.
Rating: Summary: Stephen King blows our minds with this story Review: The Green Mile is a story about a prison guard at Cold Mountain Penitentary, Alabam whos name is Paul Edgembore. Well, he has seen his fare share of odditties during the years. He has seen every madman, killer, or rapist that was possible and he got to walk them all to Old Sparky ( Cold Mountains electric chair). He thought he has seen everything until a big bear size man comes to the place who asks for the light to be on at night and also weeps all day long in his jail cell. Now, Paul and a couple of his fantastic side characters in the book including Percy WEtmore, Brutal, Dean, Wild BIll Wharton, and even decloraix and his mouse are going to find out the amazing truth about John Coffey ( The big prisoner)and the unspeakable crime which he has allegedly done. This has become one of my favorite books as i read it. Everything is perfect, Stephen King describes every character and every scene with such detail that is really great. Anyone who sees this book in a store or a local library should get it right away!
Rating: Summary: Reviewing "The Green Mile" Review: Over the years at Cold Mountain Penitentiary, Paul Edgecombe had definitely seen his share of oddities, but nothing would compare to his encounter with a death row inmate named John Coffey. In 1932 John Coffey had been accused of murdering two young girls. He was then sent to Cold Mountain Penitentiary in Georgia, Home of Old Sparky, the notorious name given to the electric chair at Cold Mountain and E- Block, the section of the prison where death row inmates are kept until execution. After a few weeks Paul recognize the great and kind man John really was. The following events changed E- Block and every one surrounding these events. An inmate named Eduard Delacroix was up for mass murder of his whole family. The only thing keeping him sane was a little mouse named Mr. Jingles. On day Mr. Jingles was stepped on by a prison guard named Percy. Eduard immediately became upset crying historically. At that moment John said to give the mouse to him, to place it in his hands, and so Paul did. John held the mouse and a few moments later beams of light shined out of his body and into the mouse. The mouse came back to life and appeared to be unharmed. The story of "The Green Mile" is a great, imaginative story of tragic occurrences that bring together this incredible novel.
Rating: Summary: A great example of Stephen King's work! Review: "The Green Mile", by Stephen King, is a heartbreaking, suspenseful novel that takes place in a prison. All of the prisoners are sentenced to sit in "Old Sparky", the electric chair. The story is told in the point of view of Paul Edgecomb, who supervises the prison. His life dramatically changes when John Coffey, a tall, African-American man, is arrested for raping and murdering twin girls. However, Edgecomb notices that Coffey is not the type who would commit murder. It turns out that Coffey is a very kind man who possesses special healing powers, that can even heal the dead. Edgecomb suddenly discovers the truth about Coffey, but can he do anything to save him? Or will Coffey have to sit in "Old Sparky's" lap? This 536 page novel is meant for adult audiances because of its strong lanuguage and content. And, the reader should be notified about the gory, graphic details describing certain events that happened in the story. Overall, "The Green Mile" was a marvellous example of King's work that kept you in suspense until the very end.
Rating: Summary: Is it really that great? Review: First off: yes, it is a great story adorned with likeable and unlikeable personalities. But, there's something about King's writing style that has really crippled along with him in age; he seeems to tell his stories in an indescribable prose that is different, but all the while worse than any of his previous. "The Dark Half" is executed better than this novel [not to say that TDH is bad, but it was jaunty and at times bland], and this was the book that showed to observant people that King is losing his fire in the creativity and talent field. Nevertheless, King is a great writer, but the King of the early 80's could bring down today's King with a simple cold stare. Okay, to the story and its points. As we know, it centers around a black behemoth named John Coffey who is tried and found guilty of rape of murder [liably; this is not that similar to To Kill A Mockingbird] who seems to have the power to heal. Through his dairies [as the story is badly and choppily presented to the reader] E Block head officer Paul Edgecombe questions the ethics of Coffey, his actions, his being, and the people who have convicted him. He searches for different views, going as far as visiting the home of the newspaper reporter Hammersmith to get his opinion. Edgecombe also goes to God and wonders aimlessly why God would behave in such a way to put a man like Coffey on Death Row but to give him healing powers. Edgecombe, along with the neutral Dean Stanton, the sadistic and snippy Percy Wetmore, and the dutiful Harry Terwilliger watches over the condemned on E Block--named "The Green Mile" because of the color of its tiles--including Eduard Delacroix, Arlen Bitterbuck, The Pres, and William "the Kid" Wharton. Though it is choppy, badly-executed [that's a pun, son, as Dean Stanton would say], and dank, The Green Mile is a good story that King had a good mind to write, but it's bad that it didn't turn out as he [and we] had hoped.
Rating: Summary: Absolute Stunner Review: I have found this book to be an incredible journey, one of King's best novels yet. Full of a suspense-packing plot, and unblieveable characters, this book will take you beyond Death Row and into a place beyond anybody's wildest dreams.
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