The Green Mile - Stephen King

Advantages: Great and gripping storyline.
Disadvantages: None

...get this once I'd seen the film. It's a genuine masterpiece. Basic Plot: ----------- Following a double rape/murder of 2 young girls in a small town, a huge Black man named John Coffey is arrested at the scene and tried for the crime. He's sentenced to die in the electric chair at Cold Mountain Prison. Under the watchful eye of Paul Edgescombe and Brutus "Brutal" Howell he sees his term out, witnessing all manner of cruelties and degredation from ...
...I don't wish to spoil the book for anyone). As the book goes on one comes to realise that there's a lot more to John Coffey than first meets the eye. He has certain gifts which set him aside from the usual death row inmates, a fact which dawns upon the guards at Cold Mountain during his stay there. Principal Characters: --------------------- John Coffey : The focus for the book, a "gentle giant" of a man, serves his time at Cold Mountain Penitentiary ... Read review

Advantages: Great storyline, not too short, not gory, a good read
Disadvantages: Sad, a bit longwinded on occasions

...book that keeps you turning the pages all the way through. Before I start I will warn you that it is not Kings usual style of book at all, it isn't at all like Kings usual horror books. I have never been found of King because of his horror, but this is ... differnt... it has a slight hint of horror, but is mainly a captivating thriller. Yes it has gore, but for some reason that only makes it more exiting...anyway; on with the review. General Info ...
...as a movie (which by the way is remarkably close to the book and is well worth watching!) Plot This amazing book is set in 1935, which if I am correct is the Great depression. The whole book is written as one man remembering his time as a warden at a death row prison. You have a variety of different characters from all the wardens to the prisoners, it is a story which expresses peoples reactions to these prisoners very, very well. From Percy Wetmore ... Read review

Advantages: Thrilling
Disadvantages: Eh? Disadvantages

...book was, but reading through the other reviews I decided that this has already been done somewhat. So I decided to just tell you how it made me feel when I read it. You've probably all seen the film or read the book so you know what it's about. But how did it make you feel? For anyone not au fais with the basic plot, here it comes so hold onto your seats! The story is set in a small "death house" in 1932 in southern USA. It's narrated by an old ...
...of the death row, the cell block where people who were sentenced to death were kept, awaiting execution by electric chair; "Old Sparky." The name Green Mile comes from the fact that the walk is often called the "Last Mile" in other prisons but here it has a green floor, hence the name. Paul Edgecombe is happy, although ill with an infection. That is until a mysterious prisoner called John Coffey arrives with seemingly astonishing supernatural healing ... Read review

Advantages: One Hell of a good read.
Disadvantages: Came in parts before released as a single book.

I first read The Green Mile a few years ago, when the partwork came out, and was eager to go to the shop for the next part. It starts off with an elderly gentleman who seems to be writing his memoirs, and turns into the most gripping will they/wont they story I have read for a long time. The gentleman, Paul Edgecombe, is the boss of E-Block, in Cold Mountain Prison. E-Block is death row for them. It centres around a particular man, John Coffey, and ...
...and to death row, called the Green Mile, on account of how the linoleum is the colour of faded limes. There are a few characters in this story. Paul Edgecombe, known as Boss Edgecombe. He is married to Jan. Brutus Howell, known as Brutal, because of his size, but he is a good guy. He is another guard, and a real friend to Paul. Dean Stanton and Harry Terwilliger are another pair of guards, who are often on the mile. There is also the electric chair, ... Read review

Advantages: it tell the story well, makes you want to be there
Disadvantages: the film is not as indepth as the book

I have read the most gripping story that Stephen King has ever written this was The Green Mile. When i first bought this book just form reading the back cover it was the book that was never going to be put down. The story is focused in the Cold Mountain Correctional Facility in the 1930's, along the lonely stretch of cells known as the Green Mile, killers await death, whilst their guards watch over them. Good or evil, innocent or guilty, none of ...
...Paul Edgecomb is the head Prison guard on Death Row at the Cold Mountain Correctional Facility. When a new inmate, John Coffey, is sent to the prison for the brutal murder of two children, the guards notice something very odd about him. The way 'the green mile' was written made me feel as if I was there like a as an extra guard on duty, watching Paul Edgecomb taking the prisoners along the green mile to death row. The book is deeper in texture and ... Read review

Advantages: Thought-provoking book on an interesting subject
Disadvantages: Not for the faint-hearted

...Isn’t it strange how some books start to fade as soon as the final page has been reached while others haunt the reader for weeks, months and even years thereafter? It’s over a year now since I read “The Green Mile” by Stephen King and yet the main characters have stayed with me, forcing me from time to time to give consideration to the issues that they faced, and the unresolved questions in my mind that they raised. Whenever I hear of a prisoner in the U.S. on death row awaiting their fate, I find myself thinking of the occupants of the state penitentiary in Cold Mountain in the year 1932 as it is portrayed in this novel. If I see a comment advocating the re-introduction of the death penalty in this country, I wonder if the proposer has thought through the details of how they would implement it. Paul Edgecombe, the narrator... Read review

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Advantages: Emotional, tragic, epic.
Disadvantages: Some may not like plodding style.

...John Coffey arrives at Cold Mountain Penitentiary ready to walk "The Green Mile" for the murder of the twin girls under his protection. Prison Guard Paul Edgecombe has a duty to ensure even the most psychopathic of murderers such as Billy "The Kid" Wharton journey along the mile towards the electric chair is a peaceful one. Why then does Paul start to doubt Coffey's guilt and what does Coffey mean when he says, "I tried to take it back but it was too late"? Stephen King's "The Green Mile" is that rarest of beasts, a novel that has a wide appeal crossing numerous genres along the way. Perhaps it is because it was originally written as a six-book serial that King is able to defy genre and write so expressively but either way the results are impressive. This is a novel that refuses to be pigeonholed. Part supernatural-thriller, part... Read review

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Advantages: Another great masterpiece from Stephen King
Disadvantages: None

...I am amazed that Stephen King's works seem to get better and better unlike many other authors that have been around for so long. With The Green Mile now being my favourite(with IT very close behind!)I cannot wait for his next masterpiece. I watched the film before I read the book and after reading the book am impressed with how close the film and book really are. All throughout the book as I read the pages, I could hear Tom Hanks saying the words to me as he did an excellent portrayal of Paul. Paul is a prison guard on death row in the 1930's. It is written based in the present with Paul writing a diary and going back to this most memorable time. The book is well written as all Stephen King's novels are. The characters are all excellent and you will find yourself loving some and hating others. There are twists and turns that... Read review

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