The classic collection of five deeply resonant, interconnected stories from No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author Stephen King, now with a new cover look. 'Although it's difficult to believe, the sixties are not fictional; they actually happened' (Author's Afterword) Stephen King, whose first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, the year before the last US troops withdrew from Vietnam, is the first hugely popular writer of the TV generation. Images from that war - and the protests against it - had flooded America's ...
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The classic collection of five deeply resonant, interconnected stories from No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author Stephen King, now with a new cover look. 'Although it's difficult to believe, the sixties are not fictional; they actually happened' (Author's Afterword) Stephen King, whose first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, the year before the last US troops withdrew from Vietnam, is the first hugely popular writer of the TV generation. Images from that war - and the protests against it - had flooded America's living rooms for a decade. Hearts in Atlantis is composed of five linked stories set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War. Full of danger, full of suspense, most of all full of heart, Hearts in Atlantis will take some readers to a place they have never been...and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave.
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Add this copy of Hearts in Atlantis to cart. $4.37, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Pocket Books.
Add this copy of Hearts in Atlantis to cart. $4.37, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Pocket Books.
While admitting he has written several books that became cracker jack movies, I admit I am not a Stephen King fan. Decades ago I tried one of his books---I forget which---found it unreadable and have not gone back.
Until now. For which I thank The Slickster. She made the recommendation and she has found so many of my favorite writers on her own or enjoyed them at my suggestion I decided to follow her advice. Good decision on my part.
Part of the book's appeal, I warn you, is that it starts about the time I started to become aware of the world, about the time I started to have memories. He progresses through my college time, missing my exact years by one. Playing cards figures strongly here, and while the game is different, cards were a big part of my college days, as well as for about a decade afterwards.
King describes the mood of the periods he covers, and it is not a surprize his college days were spent at the same time mine were, and not far away from where I was. His description of how Viet Nam seemed to many of those who participated resonates, a thing I know because a few who were there have confided in me, to my great honor, and because a few of the more driven have written about their experiences.
Starting as a bildungsroman and progressing to later life for different characters, the story lines converge in odd ways. Suitably, parts of the book incorporate a soupcon of the super-normal. We accept it, as we accept that Shane is good with a gun or that people can change, a concept strongly underlined by the presence of "Lord of the Flies" throughout much of the book. Indeed, part of the appeal is the reference and homage paid to the 'classical' novels we used to read in high school: "Lord of the Flies", "A Separate Peace", "Catcher in the Rye", "1984", "Brave New World", "Of Mice and Men' and so on. If these were not your generation's books, that is fine. You will recognize your own books and movies here; you will recognize yourself.
The nature of courage, the force of addiction, the bonds formed when young, the difficulty of growing up, the phases of life all form threads throughout the book. "A different kind of novel" to quote The Slickster.
Highly recommended.
larcre
Oct 28, 2008
highly recommended
An excellent book, however you must read to the very last page to get the full impact, if you stop too early you will miss a lot. This is a great example of Steven King tying everything together in such a way as to have you thinking about the book after you have read it. A classic example of the authors creativity at its best.
maggiecate8990
Jul 24, 2008
A King Great
Very good book by King, an intriguing, intimate, and intertwining story that is alittle unlike most of King's bogeyman tales.
