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The Green Mile

By Stephen King

(167)

| Paperback | 9780752834221

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Book Description

This novel taps into what Stephen King does best: character-driven storytelling. The setting is the small "death house" of a Southern prison in 1932. The charming narrator is an old man looking back on the events, decades later. Maybe it's a little too cute, maybe the pathos is laid on a little thicContinue

13 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

I was surprised at how faithful the movie adaptation was of the novel. Both good.

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Stubob72556 said on Feb 17, 2008 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

I first decided to read this book because of the movie. Obviously, all along the reading, I had the actors in mind, which was at times annoying. But anyway, I really liked the book. It is so touching.

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Patricia said on Mar 19, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

Magnificent! A tremendous read.

This novel takes us into the grizzly realms of execution by the electric chair in America in the 1930's. The rehearsals for an execution, to say nothing of the actual execution itself, is nerve-racking and chilling. The realisation that relatives of the victims of murder, including officials and oth ... (continue)

This novel takes us into the grizzly realms of execution by the electric chair in America in the 1930's. The rehearsals for an execution, to say nothing of the actual execution itself, is nerve-racking and chilling. The realisation that relatives of the victims of murder, including officials and others, sat in chairs - as if in a theatre - in front of the electric chair to watch the execution take place is a reminder of the crowds that thronged to watch a hanging in Britain years ago. The story follows the arrest and sentence of John Coffey, a very large black man, for the rape and murder of two young girls. He is sentenced to death by electric chair and sent to the Cold Mountain Penitentiary. He is uneducated, simple, and afraid of the dark. Although of tremendous strength he never uses it, but lays quietly on his bunk all day long awaiting his date of execution. From the moment he arrives Coffey becomes involved in one way or another with the wardens, particularly the boss, and strange things begin to happen.
The book, for obvious reasons, is far more 'spiritual' than the film of the same name. This was a time when most people would go to church. Talking about spiritual things was not frowned upon. Although the book contains a lot of what would be considered unpalatable language for many people, it is not overdone or excessive considering the environment in which it takes place.
It is an extremely moving story. Sitting day by day with someone about to be executed, whom you come to believe is innocent, affects a person (as it did my father: he often sat with condemned prisoners at Brixton prison, and attended their final moments). At times the description of what is happening is so real it is like a dagger to the heart. A picture forms in the brain and it is difficult to remove it.
This book is a cut above the average thriller. It is in a class of its own.

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GraJon said on Dec 25, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

King at his best. Great movie too!

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jelabino said on Jul 31, 2011 | Add your feedback

Has a Stephen King novel ever make you think about life?

This is a great novel by Stephen King; one of his greatest works. Personally in my opinion I would say it was his Magnum Opus. They later made a very popular film based on the novel with Tom Hanks as an actor (Hanks is remarkably outstanding in most of his films)and the movie was superb. This is a b ... (continue)

This is a great novel by Stephen King; one of his greatest works. Personally in my opinion I would say it was his Magnum Opus. They later made a very popular film based on the novel with Tom Hanks as an actor (Hanks is remarkably outstanding in most of his films)and the movie was superb. This is a book that you should read if you are interested in the lives of convicts and the stigmas that are placed on them.

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Pablo Josué Mendía said on Sep 24, 2010 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback