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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