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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall, not one of my favorite King books, but not all that bad, either. I really enjoyed the first story, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," which involves young Bobby Garfield, who meets a strange, kind man who moves into his building in 1960 Connecticut. It's well-traveled territory for King: young kids from back in the day when King was a young kid, with supernatural overtones.
The remaining stories (all of which are considerably shorter than "Low Men"), don't fare as well, in my opinion, dealing primarily with the Vietnam War and how an assortment of the characters from the first story (now in various stages of adulthood) are dealing with the conflict. I found the stories occasionally interesting, but mostly meandering.
Someone of King's age (he was born in 1947) certainly has a lot to say about Vietnam, and he definitely says it here. But I wish the stories had more focus, and I wish that he was a little more strict with the format. A collection of short stories would have been nice, but what we get here is two novellas, two short stories and one really short story that basically amounts to an epilogue for the whole collection.
I like a lot of what's in this book, but it's kind of a mess. I wouldn't have minded the whole book being a more fleshed-out version of "Low Men," and perhaps a short story collection centered around Vietnam being a totally separate book.
The remaining stories (all of which are considerably shorter than "Low Men"), don't fare as well, in my opinion, dealing primarily with the Vietnam War and how an assortment of the characters from the first story (now in various stages of adulthood) are dealing with the conflict. I found the stories occasionally interesting, but mostly meandering.
Someone of King's age (he was born in 1947) certainly has a lot to say about Vietnam, and he definitely says it here. But I wish the stories had more focus, and I wish that he was a little more strict with the format. A collection of short stories would have been nice, but what we get here is two novellas, two short stories and one really short story that basically amounts to an epilogue for the whole collection.
I like a lot of what's in this book, but it's kind of a mess. I wouldn't have minded the whole book being a more fleshed-out version of "Low Men," and perhaps a short story collection centered around Vietnam being a totally separate book.
Muy bueno, hay algunas cosas malas y otras excelentes pero siento que una lectura obligada si son fans de King!
A great story or should I say stories by king, five tales all inter-connected with the theme of the war in Vietnam running alongside. The first novella about the low men in yellow coats is particularly excellent and loved the references to the dark tower series which is one of my favourites!
I'm rating this only 3 stars bc even though I know I've read it, I can't remember it. So how can it be that great?
An excellent interwoven “short” fiction collection from King—the two novellas and the final story are phenomenal, while the 3rd and 4th stories are powerful and tragic. I couldn’t put it down!
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced