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Summary: If You Liked the Movie, Read (or Listen to) the Book!
Review: Yes, I am from that "flower power" era, & I have been reading King since "Carrie." His writing has grown as I have over the years. This book is my favorite--so far. I haven't liked many movie versions of King's books, but I do like Anthony Hopkins, so that's why I went to see the movie. It was excellent, so I took out the audiobook from the public library, & it was EVEN BETTER. I suppose it's that old nostalgia creeping up on me, but it made me cry more than once. Reminiscent of "Stand By Me," which I also thoroughly enjoyed. I thought William Hurt was an odd match (as the reader), but he really grew on me after awhile. (Incidentally, authors should always hire professional readers to record their books. I personally do not care for Stephen King's voice; it detracts from my enjoyment of the story.) The other segments, about the card game in college etc, interested me only to the extent that they related to the first story. Also, I wonder how accurate was the depiction of the Viet Nam war. I've known more than a few vets, & perhaps King's was a little too stereotyped... Anyway, this book made me want to read more about Ted, Bobby, the Low Men, et al.
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Summary: Been There! Done That!
Review: Stephen King speaks to those of us who lived the college life of the 60s. Hearts in Atlantis brought back so many memories, good and not so good, of my experiences in a small midwestern college. The characters are real people. The incidents really happened. It is exciting to find a fictional read that is able to ellicit such historical and universal truth. By changing names and details, the story could have occured on any of thousands of campuses in the country. A great story teller, King magically weaves the pre-campus and post-campus threads into the fabric of the whole. Insight is a gift given freely and gladly accepted by this reader.
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Summary: Hearts in the Wrong Place
Review: As a fellow New Englander, I wanted Mr. King to remain the--well, the king--of pulp fiction. Sure, he will never write like Jonathan Franzen, but at least King can keep my eyes glued and an occasional belly laugh will eminate from my bowels during a hootish read. But not in "Hearts", an overdrawn, sappy atmosphere piece; mostly pulp, not enough fiction. The boy meets Ted story swims in local charm, but truly never goes anyplace interesting. Please note in the other Amazon reviews of this novel--the favorable ones--most of the emphasis is on bringing the reader back to a bygone era. Sure, I am 38, I get the nostalgic bent. But is it, as a stand alone beast, enough to drive a novel of rather weighty proportion. I vote "no". For what it is worth, I think Stephen King's "On "Writing" is a pleasurable read for the correct audience (King fans and creative writers), and I suggest that for it's humor, clarity and fun value. Stephen, as you state in your own non-fictino prose, "above all, tell a story". Writer take thyne own potion. Reader's save your money.
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Summary: Challenging, but SO worth the effort
Review: Read this book! Be aware of the unusual format (see previous reviews) and be prepared to really contemplate what King is trying to say AND do with this novel (also see other previews re: the "several stories linked by a common pulse" approach). This novel is such a poignant love letter to lost innocence and the harsh reality of the growing up of the person and the growing old of the spirit.The best testimonial I can give to this powerful read was that, after all the contemplation, patience, and effort expended to grasp King's message and follow his journey, I was rewarded, as I read the final chapter, "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling", with openly crying (this was in public, and I'm a six-foot, 230 lb. guy!!). If this book doesn't have a similar effect on you, then my only guess is that the child in you has died, or at least has not had much say in your life of late. By the way, if you enjoyed this book on the same type of level I did (see above), I highly recommend 2 other books - one a well-known classic, JD Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye", and one which in my opinion is destined to become a modern classic, "Borderliners" by Peter Hoeg, a Danish author.
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Summary: The Vietnam War, but not really
Review: King's work expertly ties in several different characters to tell the story of the Vietnam War. He launches the story from a single childhood experience and uses that to explode the story. I loved it because wasn't really the story of how the characters handled the war but also how they affected the people that surrounded them. Not having lived during the Vietnam War, I can only imagine that the fury of the protests spread much like the realtionship of Carol and Pete in their college years. I really loved how the story line was about the Vietnam war, because it didn't chronicle a specific history, instead it follows the the effect it had on those that lived during the time.
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Summary: This book brings back memories!!
Review: Except for the men with the yellow jackets, the first story brought back a lot of memories of the best times of my life, childhood playing with my best friends in the summers'. I couldn't get enough of it. I was disappointed at first with the second story because I was continuously waiting to come across the kids from the first story and more of their childhood adventures but realized he wanted to hit every age group (and their take on what was going on in the world) through this very rough time period and I thought that was a great idea. Overall, once I realized what his purpose of totally shifting gears through the different stories was, I thought this was the best book I ever read (then I read Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Lord of the Rings and now this is third place on my list: the first sub story in this is tied for first though!!) YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED with this book, give it a chance and try to see his purpose in changing the characters story to story, and you will see that this book could not have been written any better!!!
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Summary: Hearts in Atlantis Book Review
Review: (...)If you're not afraid to read a novel out of the ordinary, then Hearts in Atlantis may be the book for you. Following Stephen King's abnormal recipe, this book is definitely different from any other I've ever read. At first glance, the title implies some sort of strange romance. However, the title is deceiving.
This book is separated into stories which have familiar characters from different eras, and shifts the points of view. The setting of the first story starts off in a small town in the early sixties with the main character, Bobby, who is an eleven-year-old boy who lives with his mom, Liz, in an apartment. His only friends are Sully and Carol, who grew up in the same neighborhood, and Ted, a strange old man who lives on the floor above Bobby. Sully is the typical athlete friend to Bobby, and Carol is Bobby's potential love interest. When Ted moves in upstairs, Bobby takes immediate interest in him, and soon he finds out that Ted has an extraordinary background that changes their friendship forever, and endangers both of them. The following stories detail the life of a college student turned card playing addict, a schizophrenic con-man who was a childhood "friend" with Carol, Sully after Vietnam, and the friends coming together thirty years later, respectively.
King did a superb job with realistic details from each of the eras he used, and deep, emotional attachment to the out of this world (some literally) characters. He used quotes from Lord of the Flies ("A stick sharpened at both ends") and other sixties-era books and movies. Also, King made sure that there was not one hurdle for the protagonist to jump, but a separate conflict for each protagonist he makes, all of which link together. I really enjoyed this book, but it may not be for everyone. The book is somewhat long because of its multiple-story attribute, and is a bit graphic, especially when the main characters are in college. There is a lot of language, and a bit of violence and sex, but its not used too gratuitously. There is no real genre for this book, as it has so many elements from fantasy, science fiction, fiction, and historical fiction. I would recommend this to anyone that's a fan of strange fiction novels or fans of Stephen King.
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Summary: "Interesting bit of nostalgia--twisted but fitting"
Review: This is the second book I've read by Stephen King, and I must admit, I liked it a lot better than Black House. The first section about the children living in Connecticut and the old man and the "low men in yellow" coats started leading in the same direction as Black House. I found this disconcerting and almost quit reading, however, the next section had a different twist. Each section contained at least one character from the previous one, and so, in a sort of twisted way, they all fit together--like a puzzle. Kings liberal use of the 'f' word was offensive to me, but I have to admit, I enjoyed this book. I actually wanted to read the book before seeing the movie. I'm a big fan of Anthony Hopkins, and thought I'd like to have a frame of reference from the book. Happy reading.
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Summary: Incredible
Review: You MUST read this book. It is just incredible. It is also totally out of character for Stephen King. Being an avid reader of his books, i would know. This book wasn't your classic horror or suspense, but it still had the intricate plot of Kings. The story shifts from place to place, and as new characters are introduced, you realize that they are really old friends....
Its is a twisting but intriging plot and a book that you must read before you can say that you've read Stephen King - or any good book for that matter.
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Summary: KING DOES IT DIFFERENTLY EVERY TIME!
Review: I LOVED THIS BOOK AND DIDNT PUT IT DOWN UNTIL PAGE 253. READ THE 4-5 STAR REVIEWS IF YOU WANT DETAILS OF THE BOOK WHICH CARRIED ME BACK TO MY SCHOOL DAYS, COLLEGE DAYS, AS A MOTHER WORRIED ABOUT SONS AS THE VIET NAM HELL DRAGGED ON WITH ITS BODY COUNT ON THE NEWS EVERY NIGHT.MEN CAME BACK TO AN UNSETTLED LIFE AND MANY DIED TOO SOON, HAUNTED BY THEIR EXPERIENCES IN THE JUNGLES. I THINK KING DID A GREAT JOB STARTING OUT WITH THE KIDS AT AGE 11 AND FOLLOWING ONE CHARACTER HERE AND THEN ANOTHER CHARACTER IN COLLEGE AND ON INTO THE WAR WITH A COUPLE OF COLLEGE KIDS TOGETHER; THEN INTO THEIR MIDDLE-AGE YEARS,SO WHAT IF THE SAME CHARACTERS DID NOT LAST THROUGH THE ENTIRE STORY?HOW MANY OF US ARE STILL TOGETHER SINCE THE FIFTH GRADE? BOBBY AND CAROL SURVIVED UNTIL THE END OF THEBOOK WHEN THEY CAME TOGETHER AT THEIR BEST FRIEND'S FUNERAL SO THE TRIO THAT STARTED OUT IN FIFTH GRADE WERE REUNITED AT THE END EVEN IF ONE WAS DEAD. THE STORTIES THRUOUT THE BOOK RELATED TO ANY ONE OF THOSE THREE THEMSELVES OR TO THEIR FRIENDS SO THEY WERE ALL TIED UP AT THE END JUST LIKE SOME READERS WANT A GOOD BOOK TO END. I COULD ASSOCIATE WITH ALL THE CHARACTERS IN THE BOOK WITH LIKE PEOPLE IN MY OWN LIFE AND I HAD A GREAT TIME THINKING "YEP, JUST LIKE SO AND SOIN MY LIFE!" READ THIS GREAT BOOK AND JUDGE IT YOURSELF...DON'T LET POOR REVIEWS DEPRIVE YOU OF A GOOD READ!'
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