Wednesday, March 21, 2012

We each owe a death, there are no exceptions, I know that, but sometimes, oh God, the Green Mile is so long

Stephen King. Whether you love the guy or hate him, you can't deny that the guy can tell a story. I decided to re-read The Green Mile for Ben's Smooth Criminals Reading Challenge for the Prison Book category. I'm so glad I did. I know I should be branching out, reading new things, blah blah blah but no regrets with this one. I originally read this sometime after the movie came out but most of the details I remembered were from the movie.

This isn't a horror story. For those of you that stay away from King because you're afraid, this isn't a horror story. It's not a happy, rainbows and kittens. I mean, the story takes place on death row during the Depression. But there aren't demonic hotels or zombie cats or anything like that. It's the story of Paul Edgecombe, a prison guard at Cold Mountain penitentiary and John Coffey, a giant black man convicted for a brutal crime and sentenced to die. But there's something about Coffey. He doesn't seem like a killer. His first night on the E Block he asks if they leave a light on at night because he's afraid of the dark.

King sucks you into this world he's created. I didn't read this as it first came out, so I didn't read it in its serialized version. I wish I did. It would have been amazing to have the story drawn out like that, waiting to see what was going to happen in the next installment. My copy has all of the books smooshed into one, but you still have the separations for each of the books, so you can see where it would have ended. I could imagine how it would have been to have the story end and have to wait for the next part. It's not like waiting for the next book in a series, because here the story isn't done yet. You don't have the story wrap-up that you get with something like the Harry Potter books.

The story is heart breaking but it never feels manipulative. You feel these characters trapped in the situation and you get angry because it's so unfair. But it's supposed to be unfair. The Jesus references are a little heavy handed. OK, they're a lot heavy handed, but I don't remember them being so obvious. Maybe because the first time I was so enthralled with the story. This time I could take in the scenery a little bit more. But still, it wasn't enough to hurt the story. Which was wonderful and this will definitely be a book I read again.

So even if you don't like horror or aren't a King fan, give this book a try. It's worth it.

Two challenge books in a row completed! What's that? Why thank you, I am on a roll.

Title quote from page 536.

King, Stephen. The Green Mile. Pocket Books, 1996.

Comments (15)

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You're so right about that. It's odd to think of a death row prison guard being as calm as he is, but he makes such a good point about the job being about keeping the inmates calm. You almost forget about the crimes the men committed. Which actually makes it nice that Wharton is there, so you can remember that, at least for most of the men, they're there for good reason
I will read some Stephen King someday. Someday. And possibly this, because I really hate being scared.
2 replies · active 677 weeks ago
Read this one! It's not scary. It has some gruesome and sad things (it is death row after all) but I wouldn't call this a horror story at all.
Yeah, read it! It's one of the best.
I've been racking my brain for a prison book for this challenge. Maybe this is it? But it's so looong!
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago
It's a really quick read so I would at least consider it. I couldn't come up with any other prison book when I saw this one on my shelf.
After reading 11/22/63, I'm a little more eager to pick up some of his other titles. I'm not generally a fan of horror, so this seems like a little more appropriate. I wonder if the Jesus references will grate on my nerves after reading this! Haha. I'm interested now.
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago
This is more along the lines of 11/22/63 so if you want more King but want to avoid horror I would give this a look.

The Jesus references are annoying because there will be a subtle one followed by a "in case you didn't notice, let me smash you over the head with the reference". Like perhaps King (or maybe his editor) didn't believe the audience would get the more subtle stuff.
Ever since I read 11/2//63 I've been interested to read more King. I did see this movie (and cried really hard) so I'm not sure I'll pick it up since I kind of already know the end, but I'll keep it in mind.

Congrats on two challenge books in a row!
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago
The book made me cry again. Even though I've read it before and seen the movie (which is pretty true to the book) but it's still a good read. I would def keep it in mind if you want non-horror King.
I have read The Green Mile about 3 or 4 times, and I cry every single time. A lot. At all the sadness and horribleness and oh my GOD the first time I saw the movie I was literally sobbing and now I can't listen to the 'cheek to cheek' without tearing up and OH THE SADNESS!

So obviously it goes without saying that I love this book. And I definitely agree with you about it not being like manipulative or sentimental like, say, The Book Thief, but just being so sad and tragic and ARGH.
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago
It's so good and so sad and normally I hate sad books but this one is so good I'm like "fine you're making me cry. In public. But it's worth it, dammit!" When Brutal (my fav character) has that line about telling St. Peter he had to kill JC cos it was his job? That line extra gets me, more than anything else. I'm a sap.
This is one of my favourite Stephen King books. Don't feel bad about rereading - it's something we should all do more often!
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago
Normally I don't have too much trouble with re-reads but I was thinking for the challenge I should branch out. But I'm so happy I re-read this because it was such a good excuse to revisit it and I forgot how great this story is.

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