Book Three Review

Stephen King is an excellent author. You would not know that by reading The Green Mile. Although, I do have to admit if I was trapped on a deserted island and I could have only one book, this would be it. Why? Firewood.

One of the better known authors for horror and si-fi is Stephen King. If you can think of a cross between Edgar Allen Poe and Agatha Christie, this is who you’re looking for. In fact, if you get on Google and search Stephen King, Google will show you what other people have searched for and one of the results is Edgar Allen Poe. True story! King has written an insane amount of books. And that’s a lot of books.  Most of them are extremely dark. With writing that many books you can imagine that there will be a few that are not so spectacular, and The Green Mile is one of them.

Okay, so what is The Green Mile? Metaphorically speaking, The Green Mile is a toaster crossed with Bella Swan. It’s boring and useless. You may think that’s a little harsh but it’s not. When you get past the first fifty pages of the book you will understand. A story like The Green Mile does require a lot of back story which is good. You don’t want to just jump in the middle of a prisoner breathing life back into a dead mouse without having a little idea of how we got to that point. You will need to be informed about the murder of the twins in the begging of the book. A man that doesn’t have the mental capacity to kill an ant (and is afraid of the dark) is convicted of a disturbing crime.

The Great Depression is waging a relentless war on the typical 1930s Americans. Paul Edgecombe is faced with the gruesome task of making sure the scum of society gets a date with the electric chair. I guess you can say sparks will fly. Get it? Sparks! Ha! As you can imagine, anyone who lands on death row ought to be a little messed up but you haven’t met John Coffey. Or anyone other Cold Mountain death row inhabitants for that matter.      

The book opens with rolling out the welcome mat in front of the Cold Mountain Penitentiary. The narrator (prison guard Paul Edgecombe) shares a little bit about John Coffey (like the drink but not spelled the same) and then we have a 200 page long flashback. Eventually you’ll get back to John Coffey but it’ll take a while. I understand that King has to give a bit of a back story but come on! Most of the things you need to know in the flashback I can tell you in 30 seconds. Let’s try it out: mouse, urinary tract infection, brain tumor, William Wharton. Ta da! I’m not sure what I’m allowed to tell you without giving anything away but make sure you keep an eye on particular illnesses of particular people *wink wink*. Also, don’t forget the murder of the little girls in the beginning of the book.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Throughout the story you’ll also learn about Paul Edgecombe’s current life in a retirement home. He’s writing about his experiences on the Green Mile like one would in a memoir. “I believe that the combination of pencil and memory creates a kind of practical magic, and magic is dangerous.” (King 63). This will help things make a bit more sense later on.  

Pay attention to Percy's interactions with Delacroix. They both have a good memory. “Like some dogs: kick them once and they never trust you again, no matter how nice you are to them.” (King 207).

Reading The Green Mile is similar to watching a long documentary. There’s good content but it just drones on and on and on…. You get the picture. If you love pages upon pages of descriptions of a single event, this book’s for you. There is so much unnecessary detail it almost makes it not worth reading, which is a shame because it is such an incredible book. Don’t get me wrong, I love long books. But I do not books love books that just don’t know when to stop. None of the descriptions are dull, though. There were just so many incredible ideas; King didn’t know when to stop (I’m assuming). Despite this, most of these pages of text come off as filler. Like when you have to write a three page long paper but you only have about three sentences and no material. Which doesn’t make sense because King includes a crap ton of material. If you find an edited version of The Green Mile that’s about 300 pages shorter, you’ll love it. 

One more question before we leave, is this book worth reading? That’s entirely subjective. I’d personally give the book two and a half stars out of five and will never read it again. You should just read it. Unless you’re illiterate (then you aren’t reading this). After reading The Green Mile I was left with several questions. One of these being, how do we question what evidence we have been presented without any evidence otherwise? Should we go with our gut when we feel it’s the only thing we can trust? Should you really just trust my review of the book? Go find out on your own. Which begs the question, why do we need reviews? Let’s be honest here, we thrive off other people’s opinions. No matter whose it is, we listen to it and take it into account. Do you really need Mitt Romney’s opinion on Harry Potter? No, but if you happen to hear anyone’s opinion on anything it will be permanently burned into your subconscious. 

Want some more cool quotes from The Green Mile? Click here