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A review by meadforddude
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
4.0
"Low Men in Yellow Coats" is one of the best stories King's ever written, and would get a full 5/5 from me on its own. I found the whole thing overwhelming, even in spite of already being familiar enough with the film adaptation to know where things were (more or less) heading. The way it's connected to King's Dark Tower saga is genuinely thrilling and emotionally rich in ways I honestly didn't anticipate, and it made me anxious to revisit that whole book series all over again.
"Hearts in Atlantis" is nowhere near as strong, and spins its wheels for far too long before ultimately arriving at its conclusion. I understand what King's going for here, and I appreciate the way the stories begin long and grow shorter as they move forwards through time, but some of the length here feels a bit forced (which admittedly is not unusual for King). I'm probably looking at a 3/5 for this one.
"Blind Willie" explores an interesting idea, but it never quite landed for me and it honestly probably ended up being my least favorite story of the bunch overall. Something about the "part-time homelessness" angle of the narrative struck me as oddly exploitative and weirdly unsympathetic to its characters. Probably a 2.5/5 but I could be talked into rounding it up to a 3/5 to put it on par with its predecessor.
"Why We're in Vietnam" - A full 4/5 for this one, especially for the way King crafts a genuinely haunting and oddly beautiful death scene for its central character. At first, it seemed so heightened I was confused, but the final reveal clarifies everything and makes it all work.
"Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling" - 5/5, a beautiful and earned conclusion for a couple of characters I was surprised to discover I'd begun to care so much about. The final moments of the story serve as one of King's all-too-rare perfect endings.
Overall, the book reminds me more than a bit of "American Graffiti," and it's probably King's best (non-Dark Tower) work of the decade. Even including the Dark Tower series, I'd only rank "Wizard and Glass" ahead of this.
"Hearts in Atlantis" is nowhere near as strong, and spins its wheels for far too long before ultimately arriving at its conclusion. I understand what King's going for here, and I appreciate the way the stories begin long and grow shorter as they move forwards through time, but some of the length here feels a bit forced (which admittedly is not unusual for King). I'm probably looking at a 3/5 for this one.
"Blind Willie" explores an interesting idea, but it never quite landed for me and it honestly probably ended up being my least favorite story of the bunch overall. Something about the "part-time homelessness" angle of the narrative struck me as oddly exploitative and weirdly unsympathetic to its characters. Probably a 2.5/5 but I could be talked into rounding it up to a 3/5 to put it on par with its predecessor.
"Why We're in Vietnam" - A full 4/5 for this one, especially for the way King crafts a genuinely haunting and oddly beautiful death scene for its central character. At first, it seemed so heightened I was confused, but the final reveal clarifies everything and makes it all work.
"Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling" - 5/5, a beautiful and earned conclusion for a couple of characters I was surprised to discover I'd begun to care so much about. The final moments of the story serve as one of King's all-too-rare perfect endings.
Overall, the book reminds me more than a bit of "American Graffiti," and it's probably King's best (non-Dark Tower) work of the decade. Even including the Dark Tower series, I'd only rank "Wizard and Glass" ahead of this.