🧵Spoiler Free Book Review🐀
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“...sometimes there is absolutely no difference at all between salvation and damnation.”
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I read The Green Mile for the first time in 1996, my senior year of high school (yes I’m that old), when it was released as six separate installments. I’d been a constant reader for almost a decade by then; I loved everything Stephen King published and this was no exception. I’ve watched the movie several times since and loved it as well. The book is better, but Darabont makes it a close call. As I sat down to reread The Green Mile a few days ago and made my way through the first few pages, all I could think was “Why did I wait so long?”
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As Paul Edgecomb started telling the story about his days working at the Cold Mountain state penitentiary, I was enthralled, just like all those years ago. Unlike a lot of King’s more well known books, The Green Mile doesn’t waste words. There’s no huge cast of characters, or town to learn your way around, or unnecessary backstories. Each part is it’s own well paced story and all six flow together perfectly. 
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The characters are fantastic. Some have humor and heart while others are vile and repugnant, but all are memorable. My one critique there is I would have loved more depth around John Coffey instead of him just filling the stereotypical ‘magical negro’ trope. Despite that issue, most of the writing is beautiful. “A man with a good wife is the luckiest of God’s creatures, and one without must be among the most miserable, I think, the only true blessing of their lives that they don’t know how poorly off they are.” Just when I think King can’t write a novel without some kind of weird sexual reference, he shows how romantic he can be. No, it isn’t perfect, but it is great storytelling, and that’s what makes this book stand out.
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I made it to part five before I realized why I’d waited almost 25 years to read this one again.
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I rarely cry when I read. I may tear up; that’s happened a fair amount actually, but actual tears falling...that’s just not me. Well, it’s not usually me. I lost track of how many times I had to stop reading in parts five and six because I couldn’t see the words. The final third of this book is heartbreaking and the last two chapters absolutely gutted me. Was it worth it? Absolutely. 
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“I dreamed of you. I dreamed you were wandering in the dark, and so was I. We found each other.”