Review: The Green Mile

The Green Mile by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Green Mile by Stephen King is a classic. Infact, it says tonnes about the quality of a book when it gets adapted into a major Hollywood film starring the brilliant Tom Hanks and directed by the wonderful Frank Darabont. A book with that pedigree needs little introduction and even less of a review.

However, since I am bent on writing my opinion /review of the book, I guess I just got to get on with it. Right off the bat, let me say that I truly enjoyed this book. I found it one of King's better works. It is tightly written, full of action and drama and in my opinion one of King's best edited books. Every word has an urgency, every situation fits perfectly and the story progresses swiftly and smoothly. The plot itself is rather unique and fairly original as far as I know.

The plot involves a large black man, John Coffey, being sentenced to death for raping and murdering 9 year old twin sisters. However, as John Coffee is brought to The Green Mile for execution, the turn of events suggest that he possesses an amazing supernatural ability to heal others. Also, it also appears that he has been mistakenly convicted for the murders. The prison guards also realise the same. The question then is whether they will save him from the electric chair, and whether the real murderer would be brought to justice.

As you can see there are plenty of dramatic and a few supernatural elements in the story. Yet, despite the story dealing with supernatural, fantastical elements, King's ability to add realism through his characters, his language and his almost poetic poignant, at times deeply philosophical lines really tugs at the heart of the reader. There's an undercurrent of sadness and loss that flows through this story and captivates the reader.

Perhaps the only week bit is in the ending which is a little stretched and melodramatic. However, in terms of its importance to the plot it is extremely important.

I would definitely reccommend this book to everyone. It is not just an interesting tale but as with most Stephen King's novels it is also a wonderful take on humanity and its many shades.

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Review: The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It rarely happens, if at all, that one enjoys and rates highly a book that for it's better part was actually too complex to be understood, however when it does, you could be bloody damn sure that it must be one hell of a book. Well...that's exactly how good 'The Martian' by Andy Weir is!! This is science fiction in its truest most conventional and practical sense. No romanticization or ultra futristic scientific jamboree but real and serious scientific principles, applications and explanations to a fictional situation and setup. It is definitely a tribute to the author that despite using some fairly heavy science and space technology as a part of his story, he manages to draw the reader so deeply into the characters and the situation that the science becomes only academic and a minor obstacle to what is a thrilling and enthralling tale. As a layman reader like myself, who could not make much sense of the science, the major interest lied in knowing just how this man, Mark Whatney, botanist/astronaut, who gets left behind on Mars by his team, after their mission gets aborted mid way. would survive this extreme situation and if he would ever make it back to earth. This in short is also the plot of the story. It is the ultimate story of survival, of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds but it is about the capacity of the human spirit to take on adversity and of humanity coming together for a cause. The writing here is clever, witty, vivid and extremely intelligent. It is also heavily researched lending it great detail and factual support. What is however most admirable is the way Andy Weir handles the science while still keeping the flow of the narrative fast, gripping and most importantly entertaining. The use of wit and humour keeps the story from getting burdened by the heavy concepts while the science adds credibility and plenty of realism to the incredible events. I enjoyed reading this book despite my problems with science and was greatly invested in how the story developed and the fortunes of Mark Whatney changed with every passing chapter. This ability to hold the reader is the strength of any good writing, 'The Martian''s position as the No.1 Bestseller is fair evidence that this book is better than good.

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Review: The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It rarely happens, if at all, that one enjoys and rates highly a book that for it's better part was actually too complex to be understood, however when it does, you could be bloody damns sure that it must've been a hell of a book. Well...that's exactly how good 'The Martian' by Andy Weir is!! This is science fiction in its truest most conventional and practical sense. No romanticization or ultra futristic scientific jamboree but real and serious scientific principles, applications and explanations to a fictional situation and setup. It is definitely a tribute to the author that despite using some fairly heavy science and space technology as a part of his story, he manages to draw the reader so deeply into the characters and the situation that the science becomes only academic and a minor obstacle to what is a thrilling and enthralling tale. As a layman reader like myself, who could not make much sense of the science, the major interest lied in knowing just how this man, Mark Whatney, botanist/astronaut, who gets left behind on Mars by his team, after their mission gets aborted mid way. would survive this extreme situation and if he would ever make it back to earth. This in short is also the plot of the story. It is the ultimate story of survival, of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds but it is about the capacity of the human spirit to take on adversity and of humanity coming together for a cause. The writing here is clever, witty, vivid and extremely intelligent. It is also heavily researched lending it great detail and factual support. What is however most admirable is the way Andy Weir handles the science while still keeping the flow of the narrative fast, gripping and most importantly entertaining. The use of wit and humour keeps the story from getting burdened by the heavy concepts while the science adds credibility and plenty of realism to the incredible events. I enjoyed reading this book despite my problems with science and was greatly invested in how the story developed and the fortunes of Mark Whatney changed with every passing chapter. This ability to hold the reader is the strength of any good writing, 'The Martian''s position as the No.1 Bestseller is fair evidence that this book is better than good.

View all my reviews