Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
I really wish the only black character in the book hadn't been King's typically magical being and that we didn't have to have him be magical for his incarceration to be in question. I do like that King made some comments early on that minorities in prison are rarely given the same freedoms, or excuses, or even pardons that white people are. But some of the use of Coffey in this story is hard to hear because not only is he incredibly large, he's incredibly dim witted. He is simply a being of instinct with a deeper sense of the world than the rest of us. He is almost childlike in some aspects, being afraid of the dark, not being able to tie his shoes etc. It is uncomfortable at times to hear it that way.
The other thing is that listening to it as an adult versus reading it as a teen I really wanted Paul to stand up to Brad a bit more. There never was any consequences for him and that just didn't sit right with me. But then, rarely are there consequences in life.
Criticisms out of the way, the episodic writing really made the whole feel of the book different than most other King books. Usually we sit with the main character for half to two-thirds of the story before anything really happens and we just get to know them. But with an episodic story like this, you have to get to know them organically and to me that really felt like Paul was sitting down and telling me the story of the fall of 1932 on the green mile. It felt comforting, like a story my own grandparents would have told me around a campfire. Apart from all the brutal murdering that is.
It really felt King did some work here to make criticisms of our prison system, nepotism, and, of course, capitol punishment. There is some light commentary on how race plays into a lot of these things and I think for a book published in 1996 by an older white man, that is maybe not as common as it would be today. While the commentary was clunky and not without it's fair share of white saviourism, it was nevertheless, at least broached.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit
Minor: Ableism
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Racism