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Summary: My heart just wasn't in HEARTS IN ATLANTIS!
Review: Hey! What happened to King? This story made no sense. It failed to connect the Regulators and the Dark Tower, which apparently was the only reason I could see for Mr. King having wanted to have written this book.Trivial story, problems and characters made this a waste of time. I'm glad I borrowed this book, like all his others since GERALD'S GAME (another annoyingly stupid story), from the library. Boring.
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Summary: King's got the goods
Review: Stephen King's new novel uses the horrors of Vietnam to weave together several different stories. Each story is intricate and well-written and King is in...Ah, who am I kidding? I didn't even read this book. I stopped reading King after Desperation, a great novel. Better get back to horror, Kingman, or the readers will revolt.
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Summary: Low Men in Yellow Coats was spine-tingling, the rest just OK
Review: I've never read Stephen King before (stop laughing now) I've never been into the horror genre. I stick to stuff like The Testament or The Triumph and Glory, sometimes even an Oprah book if I'm in the mood for a change of pace. But as a Vietnam veteran I had to see how this fellow handled the era. Low Men In Yellow Coats was chilling, I was mesmerized. The title story was just average, but it did bring to harsh reality what many of us experienced--the surreal experience of going from college hijinks and nonsense to 365 days of life or death hell 10,000 miles from home. I am a new Stephen King fan because of Low Men.
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Summary: A Kinder and Gentler King
Review: Stephen King continues to earn his place as a national literary treasure. While King himself continues to insist that his place in American letters is little better than the literary equivilant of a Big Mac and fries, this is clearly his humility at work. Of the popular writers working today, few can approach King's ability to draw finely-tuned characters who seem to come to life on the page. His latest effort, "Hearts in Atlantis," is a prime example of his enormous gifts in this area. It is axiomatic that, in order to be fully drawn into a story, we must first care about the characters who inhabit it. "Hearts in Atlantis" allows us to do so as it intertwines the same cast of characters through several different stories. In one of them, a character might be the central figure. In another, he might only rate a passing mention. But the world that King creates is rich with veracity, thanks to this technique. "Hearts in Atlantis" is not King's scariest effort, to be sure. But it ranks right up there with "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," "The Body" (filmed as "Stand By Me,") and "The Green Mile" in the pantheon of "serious" Stephen King works. I breathe a heavy sigh of relief that the author's close brush with his own mortality turned out well and that he continues to write his six pages per day, seven days a week. The release of each new King book is an event for me and I'm not ready to give that up.
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Summary: Incredible Imagery and Characters
Review: Stephen King has brought the past to life with a book that has both an interesting story line and wonderful characters. Having been born just a little too late to actually experience the sixties, I can now understand a little of what my older brother went through during the Vietnam Era. To say that King is masterful would be a grave understatement. His characters and imagination are second to none.
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Summary: King never ceases to amaze me..
Review: I just joined the Stephen King book club to replace all my tattered paperbacks, and this was the first book I received. By the time the next book arrives in my mailbox, I will need to replace this one. King's story-telling skills have always kept his books glued to my hands for hours and this one is no different. I was completely caught off gaurd by the Dark Tower reference and later suprised by who the main character really was. The last story made me want to pack up the car and take a leisurely drive home. I highly recommend this book, even if you have not been interested in King's other works. You will not be disappointed.
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Summary: Beautiful book, but a killer
Review: This book is phenomenal! It wove an incredible spell over me, but left me with a profound sadness, and I never even lived through this stuff. A friend who did, and who is a wiser person than I said of the sixties: "you never felt more certain you could change the world, and never felt more dissapointed when you couldn't do it." King captures this spirit perfectly. I loved the inclusion of more material on the path to the Tower as well. And the moment in the fourth section when the materialistic world literally collapses on the lost innocence of an entire generation is pure genius! Fantastic book!
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Summary: I remembered, it hurt, and I cried.
Review: You see I grew up in the late 60's and early 70's. Much of what is in this story I lived through. Granted, the first part of the book is a little off the wall and somehow relates to the Gunslinger series though I am not sure how. I can say this much, the rest of the book about first loves, school, the game of "Hearts", the Peace movement, and God forgive us all, That War, seems like they happened only yesterday sometimes. How did they all fit together? As in the book, I didn't know then and I can't say that I ever will. ___ + ___ = Information. JCD
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Summary: I forgot how much I love Stephen King
Review: This is an addendum to my previous review. When Ted gave Bobby "Lord of the Flies" to read, I realized how much of an impact it would have on a young mind. I remember reading it when I was 16. I am now 53 and can still recall almost every event that took place. King probably read it at an early age too. Low men in yellow coats...where does he come up with these ideas. I love them. There have been King books that made me wince and forced me to put them aside for days at a time until I had the nerve to pick them up again. But this one, it is a charmer. Fully fleshed-out characters that took me back to my college years. Don't look for horror in this one. Being a middle school teacher, I could totally understand the caring side of young people as well as the brutal side as depicted in the first story. King is a master at portraying both. Read it and weep! I did.
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Summary: A wonderfull piece of penmanship,the world should read it..
Review: All I can say is, that it took me 4 hours from start to finish to read it ..I could try and write a novel about this review,but why, when I can say in it in one word "GREAT" It even has a touch of the dark tower in it.I lust after its sequel(there must be one). One of my favorite card games is Hearts, now more so than ever.I wish I could write like SK,The mind this man must have amazes me,keep it up SK,you'll always have a fan here..
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