The Green Mile
*** Also a very good movie, The Green Mile tells the story of the men on death row at the Cold Mountain prison. Paul Edgecombe, the narrator, is the head screw (head guard) on E Block, death row. We follow about a year and a half (that may be wrong, but it's close enough) of his life, seeing the co-workers and inmates he deals with. An enormous black man named John Coffey is brought in, convicted of raping and murdering two young white girls: an unenviable state of affairs in the south during the Great Depression. As with many of Stephen King's books, things are not always as they seem: some ways you expect, others will surprise. This book will make you chuckle, scratch your head, and even cry. Stephen King is one of the best-selling authors of all time for a reason: he is one hell of a storyteller. This book is not a horror story, it's just good. Give it a read, then see the movie. Both are quite worthwhile.Posted by Joe on October 20, 2001 10:08 PM
Comments
This book is definitely better than average. Not only is it excellent story telling, this book has more depth and looks more closely at human character than the "typical" Stephen King book. Of course, I've really only read early books of his (Carrie, The Stand, The Shining), so maybe The Green Mile doesn't stand so alone in this regard.
Posted by Lisa at October 22, 2001 07:45 AM
I find that most people give Stephen King a bad name because of his earlier works (most of which i've never read b/c i have no interest in the farely standard horror books). He's by no means my favorite author, but I do like reading a bunch of his books. And most of them do focus on the characters a lot. In fact, one of the scariest books I've read was his book "Gerald's Game" which is the story of a woman handcuffed to a bed with no one around, and takes place entirely inside her mind, and deals on her fears.
But the books I've read by him that I highly recommend:
The Dark Tower series
The Eyes of the Dragon
both of those are fantasy books, rather than horror (for the most part). The latter is more of a children's book (but of course it isn't) and i like it alot.
i also like "It" alot and "The Green Mile" which started this.
(and my god! there are 503 search returns if you look for Stephen King on amazon's books)