Rating: Summary: Stirring Novel Review: This is one of the more moving novels I have ever read. The wrap-around story-within-a-story technique King utilizes of Paul Edgecombe telling the tale of John Coffey's stay on the Green Mile and the events surrounding it is amazing and very characteristic of King's writing. The movie version is possibly the first adaption of a King novel (with the exception of The Shawshank Redemption, incidentally, directed by the same person) to remain true to the essence of the novel. The characters in the film are exactly as I had pictured them when reading the novel. There is one distinct difference between the novel and the film version: John Coffey watching Fred Astaire dance while singing, "heaven...I'm in heaven" before his trip down the Green Mile. This act changes the outlook slightly from what King intended because Paul Edgecombe repeats the words earlier in the movie. King tries to maintain an aura of good versus evil in his work instead of launching into an exploration of Christianity. To me, this was a significant difference between the film and the novel.
Rating: Summary: King is great! Review: Stephen King is one of the greatest writers of all times. The Green Mile was an excellent series. I recommend that everyone try to read his books before seeing the sceenplays. Mr. King is so descriptive that his novels do not warrent becoming movies.
Rating: Summary: A beautiful story Review: A very moving and well-told story. Describes various human behaviors, motives, and reactions to events. Evokes a variety of reactions in the reader, also. This is definitely a "keeper".
Rating: Summary: The Green Mile Review: I think this is one of the best books I have had the privilege to listen to. Stephen King is a wonderful writer. I have enjoyed all of his books so far. Wonderful job, you can listen to Mr. Kings books, and see in your minds eye what he is writing about. Excellent mind. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Rating: Summary: Green Mile Review: This book could bring tears to the strongest of people. It was well written, and it helps to read the book before you you see the movie. The best book I have ever read, and I had trouble putting it down.
Rating: Summary: Incredible story ! Review: I saw this movie and HAD to read the book ! The movie was AMAZING and the book added to that, giving the reader more detail about the who, what, where, when and why's......This book did drag a little ( a little too much focus on Mr.Jingles! ) but all in all, this was a great story.....John Coffey will be a part of your life..."the gentle giant" is what I said when I first saw him on the big screen ! and that he is !
Rating: Summary: A Compelling Epic with an Unsatisfactory Ending Review: Though I have not read a great deal of King's works (I have read Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption), I was very impressed with the Green Mile. I found myself truly caring about the characters and literally on the edge of my seat several times just waiting to turn the page. Overall, the book was a great success with me, but I have one small bone to pick that keeps this book from earning a 5-Star rating: the ending. By this I do not mean the final ending of the book, but the ending of John Coffey's portion of the book. It is simplistic, amatuerish, and tidy, not the kind of ending I would expect from a writer of King's renown and readership. It feels to me that he was running out of ideas in a book that is full of innovation, and the ending left a hollow place in my stomach. However, despite this pitfall, the book is definately worth the reader's time and is one of the better books that I have read this year. Check it out, and enjoy!
Rating: Summary: Emotional and Entertaining Review: "The Green Mile" turned out to be an entertaining novel for me. In a relationship between a prison guard his co-workers, prisoners, and a special loving creature name John Coffey, Stephen King produces a storyline using imagery and many colorful decsriptions for characters and settings. However, he doesn't get too deep and most of the book can be taken for what is directly said. It evoked several emotions from me including anger, sadness, and laughter. I can best sum it up as a entertaining, emotional, easy to read, and detailed novel. I read this book after having seen the movie. The storyline keeps much to the novel in the movie, so if you'd rather watch a movie than read a book, I would say that there is not reason to do both.
Rating: Summary: Powerful work Review: While the literary elite often like to dismiss Stephen King as a hack, works like "The Green Mile" will outlive the author's critics and establish themselves as fixtures in the history of American literature. It is very unusual for me to become deeply and emotionally involved in a work of fiction; "The Green Mile" is in this rare company. Stephen King carefully and masterfully fashions the characters into reflections of our own life experiences. The unusual situation in which these characters find themselves draws out expertly the essence of the human spirit, both good and evil, and King makes the reader a part of his reflection on this phenomenon by providing numerous ways for the reader to personally identify with the events occurring. This is a deeply thoughtful work, and worthy of anyone's attention. I would highly recommend this to any person, even those who would not normally enjoy Stephen King.
Rating: Summary: Quintessential Stephen King Review: Stephen King must be an acquired taste.One of the most-asked questions a King fan gets is "What's all the fuss over Stephen King? I tried one of his books, but it was just weird." The answer: King writes from his heart. When at his best, he is possibly the consummate storyteller of our time, with enough attention to character, detail and action to draw the reader in. And it doesn't hurt when he scares the snot out of us. Yes, his stories can be weird if one approaches his novels the wrong way. I started off with "It," and at first swore never to read a King book again. So I tell people to start their King experience with "The Green Mile," arguably King's best work. All of the author's storytelling capabilities come alive- indeed they leap off the page and into your heart- and display whatever weird astral plane King is writing from. Surely, it is not of this earth. "The Green Mile" sets the mood for King's other works, allowing the reader to understand, in a way, where he is coming from. "It," "Misery," "The Stand" - they'll all be a piece of cake after this. The book was originally released in a serial format - six editions - in 1996, later compressed into a single edition, and the film version is to be released later this year. Paul Edgecombe is a veteran guard on the Green Mile, a 1930s Death Row, when John Coffey is brought on board. A big, black bear of a man, Coffey's been convicted of raping and murdering two little white girls, so Edgecombe is caught off guard when the new inmate's first question is "Do you leave a light on after bedtime?" In time, Edgecombe comes to realize that Coffey possesses a miraculous gift, and he begins to question Coffey's guilt. Along the way, we are introduced to Edgecombe's fellow workers and the other inmates waiting for their time in the electric chair. Among them are two of the most disturbing characters in literature: Percy Wetmore, a snivelling, whiny weasel who stands as a testament to the argument that power corrupts; and William "Billy the Kid" Wharton, a nineteen-year-old behind cell bars who just doesn't care, as the head warden has noted. Hell, they can only fry him once, right? Special attention must be paid to Mr. Jingles, the mouse with almost human intelligence who hangs out on the Mile. Mr. Jingles is the epitome, the very soul, of the plane King is operating on. There is character here, and heart, with more than a whisker of the supernatural. The mouse is mesmerizing. Indeed, "The Green Mile" is one of those books that frustrates reviewers in that, in addition to being damn near perfect, no amount of description will be adequate in describing the perfection of the book and what works within. Suffice it to say that anyone who reads this novel will be taken with the tale, and if you ever read a Stephen King book, read this one. Heck, if you ever only read just one book, let this be the one. Finally, read the book and then watch the trailer for the movie then, knowing the story as you do, try to suppress a shiver when Tom Hanks says "This is the story of a miracle that happened here where I work . . . on the Green Mile." I get goosebumps just typing about it.
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