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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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:
No
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the first Stephen King novel I've read, and though I've heard his stories can be uneven, particularly when it comes to their endings, I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with this one. A Christ story set in the 1930s Deep South, "The Green Mile" is an enthralling and heartbreaking book that showcases human beings at their best and worst. Paul Edgecomb, warden supervisor of a death row prison, serves as our narrator, and his modest sense of fundamental decency serves as our bulwark against the ugliness and cruelty of the events that unfold, from the small-scale petty sadism of men like Percy Wetmore to the unstoppable forces of institutional racism and systemic injustice. Coffey, our Christ-like savior figure (hint: look at his initials), is the breaking point for Paul, who eventually quits his job soon after Coffey's stint at the Green Mile, but ultimately it was just the straw that broke the camel's back for him; constantly facilitating the deaths of human lives, even the most despicable ones, will wear on any man. This is a bleak, bleak book, but it's so well-written and its characters feel so real that it makes the grief you'll feel worth it.
Though it's somewhat of a side plot to the whole John Coffey narrative, The story of Del and Mr. Jingles was probably my favorite part of the book. Part of it is that I just like animals, I think, but it also felt like a distillation of the book's empathetic approach to the complex, sometimes contradictory nature of the human condition. Del was a rapist and a murderer, but his love for the mouse was simple and pure, and somehow that mouse loved him back too. It was a small piece of brightness in a man whose life was filled with evil inflicted both by and towards him, and it reminds us why, in spite of everything, life is still worth living.
Though it's somewhat of a side plot to the whole John Coffey narrative, The story of Del and Mr. Jingles was probably my favorite part of the book. Part of it is that I just like animals, I think, but it also felt like a distillation of the book's empathetic approach to the complex, sometimes contradictory nature of the human condition. Del was a rapist and a murderer, but his love for the mouse was simple and pure, and somehow that mouse loved him back too. It was a small piece of brightness in a man whose life was filled with evil inflicted both by and towards him, and it reminds us why, in spite of everything, life is still worth living.
One of my fav movies, what a touching tale this book is!
John Coffey
John Coffey
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Les personnages ne sont pas particulièrement haut en couleurs, mais ils ont une telle décence et une telle humanité dans un cadre où il serait pourtant si facile de déshumaniser leurs résidents !
J'ai été très touché par l'intrigue et la direction qu'à pris l'histoire et le dénouement est vraiment très triste.
Comme à mon habitude, j'ai un peu moins aimé la partie "non linéaire" du récit qui n'apporte pas grand-chose.
J'ai été très touché par l'intrigue et la direction qu'à pris l'histoire et le dénouement est vraiment très triste.
Comme à mon habitude, j'ai un peu moins aimé la partie "non linéaire" du récit qui n'apporte pas grand-chose.