Hearts in Atlantis: New Fiction

Rating:
Summary: Reflection, revelation, and regret
Review: Hearts in Atlantis is the first and only Stephen King book I've read. The Product Description had it right when it called this book REMARKABLE, for remarkable it surely is. What particularly grabbed me about this book was the writing style. Since I'd never read a King book before, I was both surprised and confused (in a good way) when I started reading it. The prose is witty, clever, and insightful, characterization is dynamic and complete, and in each of the five stories that this book comprises, there's a common air of mystery and suspense that from what I've heard is what Stephen King's books are all about. My least favorite of the stories is the one entitled BLIND WILLIE, mostly because I don't understand it. In my opinion, you could get a lot out of the book and still comprehensively understand it's messages without even reading BLIND WILLIE. If I ever read the book again, I'll probably end up skipping it entirely.

The main theme of the book, of course, is how the 60s and Vietnam have changed the course of American history, as well as the lives of individuals. Since I began the book knowing virtually nothing about the Vietnam War and about the 60s, only a bit of fashion and music, Hearts in Atlantis was a real eye-opener for me. A lot of it went over my head completely, but I learned from it. I appreciate the metaphors and the character's reflections on their experiences; the moral and historical lessons alike. I don't regret reading the book at all, I only wish I had been a little less oblivious about some things beforehand. I recommend this book only to people who know about the war in Vietnam: I think if I had I would've enjoyed it more. Adults who grew up in the 60s would find this book especially... thought provoking.
I look forward to discovering more Stephen King in the future. He has a very unique way of describing events and depicting personas, and it's not at all cynical, at least not in this particular book, because you can always find a shadow of hope somewhere, no matter how often things go wrong.


Rating:
Summary: If you dug the movie, don't hesitate on the book, go for it.
Review: I'm a non-fiction guy--and Well I hadn't read a fiction for fun, since the last Bush was throwing elbows in Iraq, and I bet that book was Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. But I was entranced by the Anthony Hopkins film, and figured this would be a sure bet.

Well, I could get into great details about how the book differs or enriches the experience one has for the movie but I won't.

Stephen King has a magic of mesmerizing the times surrounding this tale, and an omnipotence in the lives of all the Characters, from the wonderful Ted Brautigan, Bobby, Carole, to some of the despicable characters. You feel them.

I am certainly drawn back to the beauty of being a child through this story, the bonds between children and grandfather figures, the moments of true hapiness, simplicity & love. The timeless attatchments to baseball gloves and vintage schwinns, as well as feeling the struggle to remain young, vibrant and not jaded, while quickly maturing into the world. King is a master in this tale.

The movie is most certainly the "Coles notes" version and allows you to draw your own conclusions about what you saw and what will happen next. The book is far more complete and has it's own beauty to it. At times I thought the book might wreck how I felt about the film, but in the end I like it a whole lot more. It fills in the blanks where your imagination had before.

As I mentioned, I won't get into details about these deviations, but if you loved the film, as I did, you'll definately get sucked into the book.

My paperback copy will no doubt be read many times over the years, as my point of view alters, not changes, and it will always be a timeless tale and a beautiful story I'll treasure.




Rating:
Summary: Hmmm...?
Review: I had to wait a while to write this review because I'm not sure what to say. This is practically a book of three short stories, with the characters sort of intertwining throughout.

I was thoroughly engrossed with the first of the three scenarios. A young boy with a single mother and the old man who lived upstairs. The old man teaches the boy about reading and many other things. The mother is always leery of the man's attention to the boy. This portion of the book was touching.

The second portion of the book was okay, but not as good as the first. It tells the story of college kids in the 60's. One of those college kids was a friend of the little boy in the first part of the book. The kids go in different directions, have an addiction to playing Hearts, and being involved in anti-war protests. What I enjoyed most about this portion of the book was the look back at the sixties.

The third part of the book was just bizarre. I can't think of how to put it better. It covered some Viet Nam vets in the 90's. Of course, one of the vets had been a friend of the little boy in the first part of the book. But something "science fiction"-like creeps in and it gets quite confusing.

The good news is that I finished the book. I was interested in finding out how King would tie this all together in the end. And each story on its own was entertaining enough. But the tying together that I was hoping for didn't really happen and I was slightly disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: I tried to listen to this audiobook while driving... I WANTED to listen to this book... but William Hurt reads SOOOOOO SLOOOOOOW and like some smarmy college professor trying to impress people with his reading inflections. It was so bad that I couldn't make it through the first chapter. Maybe I'll try it again when I have a speed control or if someone else reads it.

Rating:
Summary: If Not for the Rest of the Stories...
Review: See, I has read part of this book and then lost it. I then saw the movie, then I picked up the book again. See, the book consists of 5 novellas (Low Men in Yellow Coats,Hearts in Atlantis,Blind Willie,Why We're In Vietam,and Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling). The 1st and last are what became the movie.
Now,here's the synopsis of LMIYC:
Bobby Garfield lives with his stuck up mother Liz in Harwich,
Conneticut. He has two friends named Carol and Sully. A man by the name of Ted Brautigan moves in and Bobby and Ted become friends. Bobby then finds out that Ted is being chased by otherwordly beings called the Low Men (the Low Men's story is
continued in "Song of Susannah" but when you find out what they are it takes away from their creepiness). This novella really took ahold of my emotions, it was very sad and turned out to some of Kings best writing. I give LMIYC an A+. Now, it's onto
the second novella "Hearts in Atlantis". I didn't like it when it started but it gradually got better. It's about Pete Riley,
who attends college in Maine, who along with some of his friends become obsessed with a card game(Hearts) which begins to screw up their potential. Carols (Bobbys friend in LMIYC) story is continued as well.Hearts in Atlantis, B-. Now "Blind Willie".
What is there to say about BW? For some reason BW is haunting.
It's just strange and i'm not going to get into it.C-.
Now. Why We're in Vietnam. This is the worst novella in the book.
I found it equally annoying,haunting,and boring. This concludes
Sully's story. D. Now Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling. This
turns out to be the second best novella which concludes the story of Bobby Garfield.A-. Now, had this book been just LMIYC
and HSONAF, this book would get an A+. Had it been those and HIA.
It would have been A-. But due to the other two novellas it gets a B-, which if you look at it, really isn't that bad.

Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2 stars for one great story and several duds . . .
Review: I read this in its unabridged audiobook format and was initially held spellbound. At first glance, this isn't a book I'd pick up and read on my own which is is probably why I didn't purchase it before now but I always enjoy Stephen King's voice and the first story "Low Men In Yellow Coats" is no exception.

It clocks in at 320+ pages and is a novel in and of itself. "Low Men" tells the story of Bobby, a young boy growing up in the 60's with a bitter, angry mother who claims to love him but who definitely does not like him. He has a small group of friends who dodge town bullies but finds true kinship with an old man named Ted who has an odd secret. When Bobby's mom goes away on business Ted looks after Bobby. During their time together Bobby learns many truths, some ugly some stunning. It's funny and heartbreaking. Great stuff.

The second story "Hearts In Atlantis", unfortunately, didn't do it for me and I often found my drifty mind floating away as I pondered all of the laundry that I had left to do when I returned home from work. The rewind button got a lot of use during the rest of this audiobook . . . It's basically about a group of college students living through the Vietnam War. The boys do a lot of trash talking and play a card game called "Hearts" which becomes an obssession for many of them. As the Vietnam war protests heat up and these guys fear expulsion for their lackluster grades the plot plods on . . .

Next up is the story of one of the unlikable kids featured in the first novella. Will is all grown up but is haunted by his past, particularly the incident that made him such an unlikable character for me in "Low Men". This story, like the previous one, was unremarkable and tough to get through. Same goes for the next two stories which wrap up a few loose ends. I wish I had stopped the audio after reading "Low Men" but I'm a glutton for punishment.


Rating:
Summary: There Are No more Hearts
Review: This is really a mixed bag. I would definitly read this before I bought i so I wouldn't be dissapointed. This is a collection of interconnected Novellas. The first story, "Low Men in Yellow Coats" is easily the best. It is the story the movie Hearts in Atlantis was pretty loosly based on. Young Child Bobby Garfield is having a hard time as a kid growing up in the 60s. He is a poor kid living in an apartment with his mom. A mysterious old man moves up into an apartment above him. He spends a lot of time with him, talking about books and the such. This story is really about growing up, and how people change, the loosing of firends and the such. With a supernatural twist. King mixes in the Dark Tower and we learn a little more about the old man, he comes from that place, he's a breaker for the Crimson King. The story is reall sad, but very good.

The seconf story, takes place when Bobby's childhood girlfriend goes to college. It takes place during the Vietnam era. There's a bunch more new characters. The story shows two things, how a game of hearts can make many kids fail out and be drafted, and they show the protesting side. This story was sad because Bobbies Girlfriend is not with bobby anymore.

The third and fourth story were pretty terrible. They were about some of the bullies that Bobby grew up with and were darn near unreadable.

The fifth very short story is a tying together of loose ends. IT brings back Bobby and his childhood sweetheart as seniors back in the old hometown. It wasn't really that satisfying. I would get this used or just baoorow it. If you like it, that's great. But I thought this was too much of a mixed bag.

Rating:
Summary: Borrow it and read the first novella and maybe the second.
Review: A strangely disjointed collection of novellas where the only connection between them is one character name (the characters themselves seem to have scant relation).

I'd recommend borrowing the book from a library and see if you like it first. The first two novellas are terrific. The whole collection will be enjoyable for King fans, obviously, but the first and longest one is the one i'd recommend anyone to borrow the book to check out.

The movie adaptation which took the name of this collection is actually based on this story, which is called "Low Men in Yellow Coats." It is the second story, my favourite, set in King's university days, which is called "Hearts in Atlantis."

The first novella is most satisfying as a cohesive work. The others do feel a little tacked on, i'm afraid. Not a satisfying work as a whole.

Rating:
Summary: Heart, heart and more heart.
Review: I thought this book was fantastic. It is called a "story-collection" which i think is stupid because it really is an all in one novel.
It is well-written, as you'd expect from the KING himself, and is full of suspense and heart. probably one of the most heartfelt stories i've read of KING coz it's not the slightest bit scary, or creepy like very other king book i've read.
"Low Men In Yellow Coats" is the first story, a novel in itself around 300pgs. This the film we see called "Hearts IN Atlantis". The story is brilliant. Young Bobby Garfield meets and befriends his strange new neighbour, who turns out to be hiding from someone and has a special gift. Bobby has to keep an eye out for him, and try to cope lvinvg with his constantly-worrying-about-money mother. The film made little of the book, because the book has so much more depth and suspense, and is connected ever so slightly to "The Dark Tower". In the film your left wondering why these people are after Ted, in the book you understand completely.
"Hearts In Atlantis" is also brilliant. In this you see a new character, irrelevent to the first story, cope in Maine University with the pressure of studying while he and his entire dorm barr maybe two or three become totally addicted to the card game hearts. I thought it was great; the story shows us how Bobby's girlfriend, Carol Granger, is like four years later, and mild references to Bobby & Carol's old best friend Sully-John.
"Blind Willie" is a story about a man who is scarred mentally by the Vietnam war. Sull-John is referred to in this story too, but isnt a main character. I think the story just portrays what a scarred mind, particularly from war, can do. Willie, or BIll, goes to work everyday, does nothing and writes in a notepad that he's sorry over and over. Then grabs his walking stick, and puts on glasses. he sits in the streets pretending to be bling and makes thousands of dollars a day. then goes home to write the same thing over and over again. An interesting story.
"Why We're In Vietnam" is where Sully-John becomes a main character again. He's an older man now, and he too is scarred by the war. He meets another Viet Veteran at a funeral and reminices slightly on things. He's haunted by a woman who was killed by one of Petes, out of Hearts In Atlantis, ex card-playing buddies. A good story, one of the most heartfelt in the book.
And last but not least! "Heavenly Shades Of Night Are Falling" is in 1999 where Bobby returns to Sully-Johns funeral. he meets an old friend - not to spoil anyhthing further!
Overall, an excellent book that you will read again and again. Well, not straight away, but maybe after six months to a year you'd probably yearn to read it again coz it's just that good!