The Green Mile: The Complete Serial Novel
Welcome to Cold Mountain Penitentiary, home to the Depression-worn men of E Block. Convicted killers all, each awaits his turn to walk “the Green Mile,” the lime-colored linoleum corridor leading to a final meeting with Old Sparky, Cold Mountain’s electric chair. Prison guard Paul Edgecombe has seen his share of oddities over the years working the Mile, but he’s never seen anything like John Coffey—a man with the body of a giant and the mind of a child, condemned for a crime terrifying in its violence and shocking in its depravity. And in this place of ultimate retribution, Edgecombe is about to discover the terrible, wondrous truth about John Coffey—a truth that will challenge his most cherished beliefs…
Reviews (188)
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: The Green Mile
I did not read this book in the original serialized aspect. Instead, I read this not too many years ago as the one book. And I do not believe that it hurt the book at all. I don’t think there is anything that could hurt this book. The Ugly: As I said, there is hardly anything wrong with this book. The only thing I couldn’t stand about the book was the fact that it was told in flashback form. I don’t know what it is, but when it comes to flashbacks I don’t usually have a problem with them. It was just in this book it didn’t seem to work out for me. The Bad: Just because a man isn’t smart, doesn’t mean that he won’t be able to find a way to make it be known that he wasn’t the one to the kill the girls. Just by looking at the man, one would be able to tell that he wasn’t a killer. Sadly, he wasn’t smart enough to even kill a person. I know it was part of the book, but it also hurt the story going through. The Good: The emotions of the book is what drove it along. And it was what made the book so damn good. King was brilliant in the way he made everyone seem like their lives are nothing more than their emotions in the writing. It just seemed that this is the most emotional book that King has written. Final Thoughts: Even if you have seen this movie, you need to read this book. Easily one of King’s best books just because of the emotion in it.
YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK!!
I could write a thousand word essay and never do this book the justice it deserves. The FLAVOR of the time and place is more than HD could ever be. So please do not let me hear, "Oh, I saw the movie." So what? The intimate story is told in 7D, with help from the master story-teller. NO, NOT EVER will the move be as good as the story was meant to be - and is. (I saw the move as well, it was darned good!) Stephen transports you to a place and time that no longer exist. People lived in such a different world then; even though not that many years ago, that time is so... gone.. The narrative style is GENIUS. Of course it goes without saying that things happen in this book that are better left unspoken. But you leave satisfied.
Wow. Wowie wow wow!
A few friends have recommended that I read this book over the years. I'm glad I finally did. It's a flawlessly told story of life inside the Death Row block of a penitentiary. There's ostensibly a mystery that's slowly revealed as the story progresses. But even though I've never read this book before, and never seen the movie in its entirety (just snippets here and there), the sheer weight of this story's success means you know who done what from the start. There's still plenty of suspense, though, and loads of twists and turns. I absolutely loved it. I was pretty sure I was going to give this book four stars, because of the formatting issues in my Kindle edition. I got the impression it was scanned in from a print version, and then someone was tasked with reading through it and fixing all the OCR software's mistakes. Only they missed quite a bit. It's the typical OCR stuff: mostly n, h, and b being confused, so you'd see the word "hoss" instead of "boss" for example. Being tech-savvy, I immediately saw what probably happened... but sometimes, both possibilities are actually words, making the situation worse. The last couple of chapters though... wow, those last few chapters are intense. Gut-wrenching. Incredibly emotional. With an ending like that, I'd be nothing more than a petty lugoon if I docked a star for some silly software issues!
Pleasantly surprised
I've seen the movie more than once, but the last time was still a very long time ago. It was one of those moving stories that one doesn't tire of. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie only tells the one side of the story: the part that happens in 1932 and forms the memoirs that Paul is busy writing when we first meet him - about 60 years later. The other part is what happens to Paul while he is busy writing the story and where he is, his friends in the present day, and (eventually) what happened to everyone else who featured in his life at the time of The Green Mile and John Coffey. I'm still sad about what happened to John Coffey. I wish there could have been some other way.
What a masterpiece!
This book just gets more brilliant and heartbreaking every single time I read it. I always think I’m prepared for the emotions I’m about to feel but I never am and it destroys me every single damn time! It’s just such a heartbreakingly beautiful story, it touches on every emotion and just makes me feel so much. And when it comes down to it, I think that’s what makes it such an excellent story. There are horror and heartbreak and anger and everything in between and it’s all woven together so perfectly that you can’t help but be completely drawn in and invested in these characters and their fate. This is definitely one of my top favourite King stories, it truly is a masterpiece!
Highly recommend...One of his best.
I had gone on an amazon book haul for sad/tear-jerking novels, and this was the only one that succeeded. This is just a beautiful. beautiful. novel and its gives beautiful insight into the human journey towards justice. The novel tantalizing begins describing what is known of a case of the rape and murder of two girls, and the man convicted is waiting on death row. The story is told from the perspective of one of the workers of 'the green mile' and without giving anything away, I can say that all is not as it seems. Warning: When reading, for the first few chapters, you have to put some effort into sticking with the book because there are sections that seemingly run dry. However, when the book begins to pick up again, you'll be so glad that you never put it down.
Did not read until recently
I have only really like one King book which is "The Stand". I also very much disliked the authors habit of including a character from a previous book. If such an Easter egg exists for The Green Mile, I am unaware of such. So, early on I made a note in my Kindle that I hoped one of the men would tell John Corey that it was okay for him to simply lie in his bunk and die. I think he would have said, "Yes, Boss, I'm tired." This ending would have been appropriately miraculous. I am sure that Mr. King meant to save that gift from God from torture. So how about it, wanna do a re-write?
Made me emotional
I couldn't put it down, normally I'm lucky if I can get through 2 or 3 chapters a day but last night I read 12 in a row. I got to 2 chapters in particular that caused me an anxiety attack because I got so into it (it's important to note here that I have panic disorder as well as several others so it's probably not going to happen to you)
Different, Powerful, Amazing
I don't know how many times I have read this, but Paul Edgecombe telling the story of "E Block" at Cold Mountain Penitentiary in 1932 rips my heart out ... Every ... Single ... Time ... Obviously I know going in what is going to happen and how it is going to happen. That doesn't make it any easier. I feel the grief just the same. I might even feel it more intensely because of the anticipation of it. There is some repetition because of the original serialized format, but nothing can take away from the power of this story.
A Classic That's Still Amazing
If you've seen the award-winning movie with Tom Hanks, then by and large, you know exactly what to expect from this book. That's not to say you shouldn't read this book for fear it will be redundant. In fact, I would almost advise you to watch the movie first, then read the book. The movie recreates the novel almost scene for scene, so much so that, barring some minor omissions, the movie quotes much of the dialogue verbatim. I say watch the movie first because when you read the book, you'll compulsively imagine each of the characters using the actor that portrayed them in the film. Each actor that was cast was PERFECT for the character as they're described in "The Green Mile", so for those who have trouble transforming words into a face and accent, the movie helps out a lot. A word of caution though: while 3/4s of the novel is translated to film almost perfectly, the movie cuts out multiple scenes that occur later in the book, and ultimately changes the ending quite extensively ... and that's for the better. The final scenes in the book are good, without a doubt, but in comparison to the film, somewhat lacking for dramatic impact. Additionally, there is a chapter at the very end of the book that, really, can just be ignored, as it feels tacked on and doesn't add anything to the rest of the story. If you're familiar with, and have read Stephen King's work, then in many ways you know what to expect from this novel: dialogue, including slang and vernacular, are handled beautifully in this novel, and as always, makes you feel like someone you know is relating this story to you. In the case of "The Green Mile", this is especially true since this is one of King's only books to use the first person perspective throughout. And it's not simply that instead of a lot of third person phrasing it uses first person phrasing, but that the narrator himself is truly a character both within and outside the story. What I mean by this is that "The Green Mile" takes the format of an old man recalling, bit by bit, his experiences from 60 years prior. As would be befitting of something like this, this means the narrative is frequently interjected with frank opinions, incongruous recollections, and general use of slang that makes it feel exactly like a real person is recalling a real set of memories. To some this might make the story somewhat confusing; at times, the narrative doubles back on itself (though this is mostly an artifict of the conversion from serial novella to one piece novel), and each chapter begins in the present day before flipping back to the 1930s. Unlike many of King's novels, this story is largely devoid of any monsters, aliens, or magical happenings. In fact, other than a few scenes (possibly a half-dozen in number or so), this story reads mostly as a period piece centered around one strange man's time on death row. But this isn't a bad thing at all; this story is still incredibly compelling, reading like a combination of a character study and a classic mystery tale. The eventual plot twist heigtens the drama and throws things for a loop, which makes the conclusion of both the 1930s plot, and the current day plot nothing short of memorable to a degree that might bring forth a few tears. I would definitely advise that you leave yourself an hour or so to read right through the final chapters of the novel to avoid interrupting the pace and emotional impact.
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