»The Green Mile« – so nennt sich der Todestrakt des Staatsgefängnisses Cold Mountain. John Coffey wurde zum Tode verurteilt, weil er zwei Mädchen missbraucht und ermordet haben soll. Dem Hünen wohnt aber auch eine übernatürliche Kraft inne … Kann ein Mörder zugleich ein begnadeter Heiler sein? Und wenn ja, darf oder sollte man ihn dann töten?
Our library had the first 5 volumes, but not the sixth, so my wife bought the DVD and watched the whole thing on film to get to the end of the story. Dates of reading noted separately for each volume.
Review of 'Green Mile book box set' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Oof. What a read! I really loved this book. Stephen Kind is such an amazing story teller. And so visual. He makes you hear and see things, and (unfortunately) to smell them too. I did not see any of the twists coming, and when last did that happen? Usually you can plot twists come trudging up over the horizon and by the time you reach them you can greet them by the hand like old friends.
This story is told from the point of view of Paul Edgecomb, a guard at the Death Row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. His life seems to be ticking over in a fairly orderly way until the arrival of John Coffey. Very large, very black, covered with scars and accused of a horrific crime. And yet even before he knows anything about him, Paul finds himself shaking hands with John Coffey. A thing he has …
Oof. What a read! I really loved this book. Stephen Kind is such an amazing story teller. And so visual. He makes you hear and see things, and (unfortunately) to smell them too. I did not see any of the twists coming, and when last did that happen? Usually you can plot twists come trudging up over the horizon and by the time you reach them you can greet them by the hand like old friends.
This story is told from the point of view of Paul Edgecomb, a guard at the Death Row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. His life seems to be ticking over in a fairly orderly way until the arrival of John Coffey. Very large, very black, covered with scars and accused of a horrific crime. And yet even before he knows anything about him, Paul finds himself shaking hands with John Coffey. A thing he has never done with a death row prisoner before.
Since this is Stephen King, you probably already know that things get pretty grim. You learn a lot more about the electric chair than you really need to know. But wow! What a book. A great story that tears you right along with it.
I did find the Christ symbolism a little over the top at times, but you know what? It made sense as well. Fantastic book.