A Review of The Green Mile, Part 1: The Two Dead Girls by Stephen King

Although I have seen a few adaptations of Steven King’s books on the big screen (e.g. Green Mile, Dead Zone, etc.) I had never read any of his books until now. What intrigued me about The Green Mile was that it was written in six installments (aka a serial novel – over a six-month period) with each part revealing yet another piece of the puzzle around John Coffey, an inmate on death row.

In Part 1, readers are taken back to 1932 where they get to meet Paul Edgecombe who dubbed himself “the E Block super—the head screw” at the Cold Mountain State Penitentiary. Readers also get to learn about the Green Mile, a long corridor with its lime green floor. If prisoners made a left turn at the corridor then they were lucky enough to be given a life sentence and if they made a right turn then they were headed for Old Sparky, the electric chair.

King’s prolific characterization of the inmates and the penitentiary guards is spot on as well as their dialogue. I thoroughly enjoyed the first-person narrative as told by Paul Edgecombe. He was funny, insightful and caring.

Also, as I compared the actors in the movie with the description of their characters in the book, the casting was perfect. Yes - Michael Clark Duncan as John Coffey was spot on. I may have to watch this movie again!

Great read! Two thumps way up!

My favorite lines:

When Harry stood back (Coffey had remained motionless during the entire unlocking ceremony, as placid as a Percheron), I looked up at my new charge, tapping on the clipboard with my thumb, and said: “Can you talk, big boy?”

“Yes, sir, boss, I can talk,” he said. His voice was a deep and quiet rumble. It made me think of a freshly turned tractor engine. He had no real Southern drawl—he said I, not Ah—but there was a kind of Southern construction to his speech that I noticed later. As if he was from the South, but not of it. He didn’t sound illiterate, but he didn’t sound educated. In his speech as in so many other things, he was a mystery. Mostly it was his eyes that troubled me—a kind of peaceful absence in them, as if her were floating far, far away.

“Your name is John Coffey.”

“Yes, sir, boss, like the drink, not only spelled the same way.”

Rating: 5 stars

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