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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Critical Score: C+
Personal Score: B-
Reading Experience: 📘📘📘📘📘(5/5)
This novel in stories is quite the roller coaster. The first half (“Low Men in Yellow Coats”) is excellent, and the rest ranges from mediocre to horrible.
I don’t care much for a straight white male perspective on the Vietnam War and the social unrest that came out of it. Every time I read a description of this book saying it encapsulates America in the 60s, I get so annoyed because it doesn’t even *mention* the civil rights movement. So the spinal themes of this collection didn’t appeal to me.
For years I’ve expected to read this way down the line, only when I’d be running out of King books; that’s how uninterested I’ve always been. And then suddenly, two days ago, I was inexplicably in the mood, so I picked it up.
A breakdown:
“Low Men in Yellow Coats” A-. One of King’s best? I teared up multiple times. I often don’t connect with his nostalgic literary fiction, like Stand by Me and Shawshank, but this one worked so well for me, and put me in the mood for more Dark Tower reading (I’ve only read books one and two). Endearing characters, a steadily moving plot, unique genre blending, and surprisingly strong thematic development. Plus an achingly moving ending.
“Hearts in Atlantis” C. What a severe drop in quality. I mildly enjoyed reading this, but it’s just such a juvenile and privileged take on the politics of the time. Plus it’s pretty boring.
“Blind Willie” C+. I didn’t enjoy reading this one as much, but it’s really not that bad.
“Why We’re in Vietnam” D-. Horrifically boring. Sorry…I had to skim. And I feel slightly weird about King writing a long literary fiction piece about the experience of being a war vet. Idk.
“Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling" B-. A relieving return to the first story’s MC and a welcome reminder of why I loved that story. Wraps things up well, even if it doesn’t do a lot more than that. Very much a coda rather than a story that stands on its own.
Critical Score: C+
Personal Score: B-
Reading Experience: 📘📘📘📘📘(5/5)
This novel in stories is quite the roller coaster. The first half (“Low Men in Yellow Coats”) is excellent, and the rest ranges from mediocre to horrible.
I don’t care much for a straight white male perspective on the Vietnam War and the social unrest that came out of it. Every time I read a description of this book saying it encapsulates America in the 60s, I get so annoyed because it doesn’t even *mention* the civil rights movement. So the spinal themes of this collection didn’t appeal to me.
For years I’ve expected to read this way down the line, only when I’d be running out of King books; that’s how uninterested I’ve always been. And then suddenly, two days ago, I was inexplicably in the mood, so I picked it up.
A breakdown:
“Low Men in Yellow Coats” A-. One of King’s best? I teared up multiple times. I often don’t connect with his nostalgic literary fiction, like Stand by Me and Shawshank, but this one worked so well for me, and put me in the mood for more Dark Tower reading (I’ve only read books one and two). Endearing characters, a steadily moving plot, unique genre blending, and surprisingly strong thematic development. Plus an achingly moving ending.
“Hearts in Atlantis” C. What a severe drop in quality. I mildly enjoyed reading this, but it’s just such a juvenile and privileged take on the politics of the time. Plus it’s pretty boring.
“Blind Willie” C+. I didn’t enjoy reading this one as much, but it’s really not that bad.
“Why We’re in Vietnam” D-. Horrifically boring. Sorry…I had to skim. And I feel slightly weird about King writing a long literary fiction piece about the experience of being a war vet. Idk.
“Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling" B-. A relieving return to the first story’s MC and a welcome reminder of why I loved that story. Wraps things up well, even if it doesn’t do a lot more than that. Very much a coda rather than a story that stands on its own.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a solid collection. I like the concept more than the execution. It's 5 stories all interconnected that all have the theme of the baby boomer generation not living up to their moment. It's an interesting concept but I just wish there was more "story" in the middle stories.
Thoughts on each of the stories:
1960: "Low Men in Yellow Coats" - I adored this coming of age story. Bobby's bond with Ted and Ted's paternal friendship with Bobby is wonderfully realized in and of itself. The novella being so directly and unapologetically linked to The Dark Tower is a wonderful added treat.
1966: Hearts in Atlantis - Took a bit for this one to click with me. The threat of being drafted if the characters fail out of school and the way the characters don't really care or fear that makes for an interesting look at the mentality of the age group that we send to war.
1983: Blind Willie - Pretty brief and just okay. Willie's penance for his actions as a child and his actions as an adult are interesting enough. I don't think we spend enough time with him, though.
1999: Why We're in Vietnam - Maybe not in the right headspace for this one. I like the general structure/idea of it but the interconnected nature of the collection is wearing thin. Sully's story is well told. I just didn't connect with it or feel much emotional resonance from it.
1999: Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling - Sweet end to the collection. This and "Low Men" act as bookends and wrap the whole story together. It's effective. I just kind of wanted more.
Thoughts on each of the stories:
1960: "Low Men in Yellow Coats" - I adored this coming of age story. Bobby's bond with Ted and Ted's paternal friendship with Bobby is wonderfully realized in and of itself. The novella being so directly and unapologetically linked to The Dark Tower is a wonderful added treat.
1966: Hearts in Atlantis - Took a bit for this one to click with me. The threat of being drafted if the characters fail out of school and the way the characters don't really care or fear that makes for an interesting look at the mentality of the age group that we send to war.
1983: Blind Willie - Pretty brief and just okay. Willie's penance for his actions as a child and his actions as an adult are interesting enough. I don't think we spend enough time with him, though.
1999: Why We're in Vietnam - Maybe not in the right headspace for this one. I like the general structure/idea of it but the interconnected nature of the collection is wearing thin. Sully's story is well told. I just didn't connect with it or feel much emotional resonance from it.
1999: Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling - Sweet end to the collection. This and "Low Men" act as bookends and wrap the whole story together. It's effective. I just kind of wanted more.
Going into this I didn't realize it was a collection of 5 short stories that take place over several generations. The first story was my favorite story out of all 5 of them. It's the only one that felt like I got a full story. The rest were felt like little snippets of stories and I found myself not caring about any of them. I like how each of the stories connected in some way to the first story. Each story follows someone that was mentioned in the first story and I like how one character seemed to be the link between all of them and I also like how the first and last story were about the same character but at different points in his life. Beyond that I didn't really care for these stories.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An interesting book from King. The first fourth seems like an average King novel, with a boy coming-of-age and befriending a strange old man with special powers. The other parts are tied together by characters from the first section, but are very different. More real world. Set in the 60s and then the 80s and then the 90s. It's not that the last three sections were bad, they just didn't feel as much like King's normal work.
I just wrote a really long review of this but the internet ate it because I also changed the edition that I read since I did not read the one with Anthony Hopkins' face on it.
Pretty much I just said that the book is a really good one. It reminded me how much I used to like reading King: he comes up with unique stories and is really good at describing internal things that people feel so deeply that they forget can be commonly shared experiences.
The four stories complement each other really well, even though they could also all stand alone as great short stories. There is also a killer Lord of the Flies motif that is a little bit overdone, but especially great the times you expected him to make the reference again, but just let the situations sit there, reeking of Golding.
Anywho, it's a great book and I think it could even be called an important book (although I hesitate to say that because it's King, which I know is unfair of me), but it's not an easy book to read. It's emotionally draining, but worth the drain.
Pretty much I just said that the book is a really good one. It reminded me how much I used to like reading King: he comes up with unique stories and is really good at describing internal things that people feel so deeply that they forget can be commonly shared experiences.
The four stories complement each other really well, even though they could also all stand alone as great short stories. There is also a killer Lord of the Flies motif that is a little bit overdone, but especially great the times you expected him to make the reference again, but just let the situations sit there, reeking of Golding.
Anywho, it's a great book and I think it could even be called an important book (although I hesitate to say that because it's King, which I know is unfair of me), but it's not an easy book to read. It's emotionally draining, but worth the drain.
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes