January and February 2012's SK Flavor of the Month - The Green Mile

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January and February 2012's SK Flavor of the Month - The Green Mile

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1jseger9000
Editado: Ene 1, 2012, 2:51 pm

I split The Green Mile over two months even though it isn't especially long. I was thinking of the six little books this was published as and that it would be fun to read three a month. (And it will maybe give me a chance to catch up since I'm still working on the unabridged version of The Stand.)

2cal8769
Ene 11, 2012, 3:27 pm

I read the six little books as they first came out every month or so. Talk about torture!

3Madcow299
Ene 13, 2012, 6:30 am

I have all of them together in one volume. This is a great novel. I just got the part where "wild bill" enters the prison. I have forgotten what a slimy almost crazy SOB Percy is. In the movie he's well portrayed, but the book really captured how dangerous he is. I like almost all the characters in this book particularly Mr. Jingles.

4tjm568
Ene 14, 2012, 1:32 am

This serial hits a wierd memory chord for me. I was stationed in Bosnia when the first couple of these were released. My parents sent them to me as they came out. Interesting how even the mention of something can bring you back to a specific moment.

5Madcow299
Ene 14, 2012, 10:54 pm

Yeah I have a few books like that. A few CDs that do the same thing as well. I cannot stand matchbox20 because it reminds me too much of my awkward adolescence. So does John Grisham. :)

Finished the books. Too fun not to. Reading through again I realized that the guards a little less perfect in the books than in the movie. Not much, but just enough to make them more real. Paul can be a judgmental SOB at points. I like that though. I could almost do without some of the nursing home spots though. The jumping back and forth doesn't always add to the story for me. Perhaps I just hate brad Dolan that much. Who knows. Anyways, great book, and it was fun to read it again.

6tjm568
Ene 16, 2012, 12:40 am

5- John Grisham should just remind you of bad writing. Great stories poorly written.

And all of our adolescences were awkward. That's the problem with being the smart kids. But there are upsides later on. Hopefuly, anyway.

7Storeetllr
Ene 16, 2012, 2:13 am

First time I read The Green Mile was as an audiobook. It was an experience I will not soon forget. The execution scene had me shaking and sick to my stomach. The film didn't affect me quite as much, nor did reading it in print later, though both later experiences were memorable. Could've been because the audiobook was my first exposure to that scene, but I think it was more than that.

8Madcow299
Ene 21, 2012, 10:31 am

Tjm568 - Ha! Yeah well before I was allowed to read King, I was allowed to read Grisham. He was the safe adult author I guess from my mom's point of view. She also let me read Dean Koontz because she thought it was better/cleaner than King. She was wrong on both points. And life always gets better after high school, if it doesn't, you're doing it wrong :).

9tjm568
Ene 22, 2012, 12:03 am

Madcow- That's hilarious that your Mom would let you read Grisham but not King. And Koontz!? In Grishams first book the main character has extra-marital sex on the beach. In one of the early Koontz books a guy uses subliminal sugestion to rape a woman in front of her young son. King was well known early on for having very little sex in his books; to the point where critics were speculating that he just had no idea how to write a sex scene. That aside, Grisham was an awful writer (I haven't read anything of his in a while, so I can't comment on later works). Koontz was fun for a while, but he became so formulaic that I stopped reading him at some point quite a while ago. As I got older I started to disagree with a lot of King's political perspective that he injected into his stories, and became less of a rabid fan. However, I would never denegrate his writing. King is a great writer. If I wanted to show a kid how to write a good story and develop great characters using modern mainsteam novels, King would be my choice of authors. There are authors out there that can write a prettier sentence, but I would argue that King is one of the best going at character development.

10PaperbackPirate
Ene 22, 2012, 6:56 pm

I just finished rereading Part 1. I still like this story but I think part of the fun of reading it the first time was waiting in suspense for the next part to come out!

I was working at Target when these books were first published. I remember checking the book section during my break to see if the next one had been released. I would buy it with a Pepsi and a Nestle Crunch and have a lovely break.

11jseger9000
Ene 23, 2012, 11:59 am

Arg, I haven't even started yet!

I just finished The Stand and wanted to quickly read something else first (Hill 488, a non-fiction novel about the Vietnam war).

12jseger9000
Feb 6, 2012, 4:27 pm

Finally started The Green Mile. I'm sixty pages in and I feel like I showed up after everyone else has gone home.

The book is so close to the movie that I am having trouble seperating the two. Can you see anyone other than Michael Clarke Duncan as Coffey?

13cal8769
Feb 6, 2012, 4:44 pm

I felt that the casting for TGM was some of the finest casting ever! Michael Clarke Duncan was superb as was the guy that played Wild Bill.

14BuffaloPhil
Feb 6, 2012, 5:32 pm

Agreed, MCD was a perfect John Coffey, and I agree about Wild Bill - and having just looked on IMDB, I'm stunned to find out that it was a young(ish) Sam Rockwell! Never would have put Wild Bill together with Zaphod Beeblebrox...

15PaperbackPirate
Feb 6, 2012, 8:51 pm

I'm on The Green Mile Part 2: Mouse on the Mile so don't worry! I'm going to read the series mixed with my regular reading every other book to try to recapture the serial feel.

16Madcow299
Feb 7, 2012, 11:09 am

Dang, Wild Bill was Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2. I never realized that till now even though I have seen both multiple times!

17jseger9000
Feb 9, 2012, 6:07 pm

Agh, I just finished part 3 Coffey's Hands and my break ended. What a place to leave off! I felt like shouting "God damn you, Percy Wetmore!"

Now that is some strong writing my friends. I couldn't IMAGINE having to wait a week to see what happened.

18PaperbackPirate
Feb 20, 2012, 11:36 am

I finished The Green Mile Part 3: Coffey's Hands last night. It probably has my favorite scene in it of the 6.

19jseger9000
Feb 21, 2012, 12:01 am

Oh, I hope you don't mean that final scene that made me so mad!

20PaperbackPirate
Feb 21, 2012, 7:35 pm

No...I mean the scene when John grabs Paul's __________ and then he feels __________.

How's that for not spoiling it for anyone?!

And I agree that that last scene is beyond irritating.

21jseger9000
Mar 1, 2012, 10:46 am

#20 - Your sentence sounds so indecent!

You know, I'm surprised I didn't blab a lot more about this one. I loved the book. Loved it.

22LibraryLover23
Abr 3, 2012, 7:34 pm

It's funny how a lot of us have a "where we were" when we first read this story. My own is that I brought it with me to Japan when I stayed with a host family for a few weeks one summer when I was in high school. I remember avidly reading it in the morning or evening when no activities were planned. I also remember my host father talking about it, he liked it a lot too!

Anyway, it was just as good this time around. I was sort of thinking of "Shawshank" while I was reading it, and how King seems to write some pretty great prison stories. I also thought this one read fast. Whereas it took me a solid month to get through Rose Madder, I finished TGM in just a few days.

23PaperbackPirate
Abr 3, 2012, 9:35 pm

Wow, rereading it must have brought back some good memories for you then, LibraryLover23.

I just finished rereading The Green Mile Part 4: The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix. I like how the series just keeps getting better and better with each installment.

24PaperbackPirate
mayo 12, 2012, 3:12 pm

I finally finished rereading Part 6 this morning. Most of the details I had forgot which made it more enjoyable.

25Moomin_Mama
mayo 1, 2013, 10:42 am

Haven't picked up a King book since Rose Madder, after which I needed a long break.

Was expecting good things from The Green Mile and I'm not disappointed. Flew through Two Dead Girls last night, it's King on top form again.

I remember the serial coming out and being very excited by the concept but making no time to read it, and of course now I've seen the film so I know the whole story, but I'm still impressed he pulled it off. It's funny that it was seen as such a novelty at the time even though it's far from a new idea.

My copy has an introduction by King where he states that one of the few things he changed when the story was published complete in one book was the reference to someone wiping sweat from their brow while in a straight-jacket :D

26Moomin_Mama
mayo 11, 2013, 8:53 pm

I'm some way into The Night Journey. The format suits King and it's a shame it was a one-off. I'm not reading it in monthly installments so I'm more aware of the repetition at the beginning of each part, but it's lightly done and merely a reminder that each part was originally an individually printed book.

I really missed out not getting into The Green Mile when it was released in its original format. I'd read a lot of his books as they first came out in my teens but had moved on to other things, plus I was disappointed with some of his later books. If I'd read this at the time I'd have fallen in love with his writing all over again (friends did try to tell me...).

27Moomin_Mama
Jun 2, 2013, 10:57 am

Finished, and loved it. Even having seen the film a number of times, I still got a lump in my throat (or two). Liked the ending, a bit darker but more grown-up and less twee than the film.