The Green Mile

staropeace · Oct 11, 2014

The poor lady stumbled unto our board and broke the one cardinal rule that really gets our goat...complaining about Uncle Steve in the intro thread. I was too harsh and should have understood that. I had surgery last friday and I am feeling yucky and afraid. Anna please join our board and enjoy....we will even let you play in our treehouse...but you have to give Scott some cookies.

Neesy · Oct 11, 2014

staropeace said:
The poor lady stumbled unto our board and broke the one cardinal rule that really gets our goat...complaining about Uncle Steve in the intro thread. I was too harsh and should have understood that. I had surgery last friday and I am feeling yucky and afraid. Anna please join our board and enjoy....we will even let you play in our treehouse...but you have to give Scott some cookies.

It is okay - she did not even realize this was a message board, but thought it was just a place to leave comments. Hope you feel much better soon staropeace :cheerful:

Neesy · Oct 11, 2014

Anna Castro said:
Wow, wow....

come on guys! I didn't mean any disrespect. I loved the novel, I love Stephen King's books. I just thought that the ending wasn't nice and the book could have been the perfect one. I actually meant no disrespect to anyone.
I prefer other King's books, and was expressing my opinion on this one. I was expressing my opinion to check if others thought like me... but if you think I'm bitchin' around, so that's about it. This website is not fit for my purpose, which was to create a discussion. But if you see my opinion as complaining, well... there's nothing I can do about it.

I just came here because Stephen King wrote in "Everything's Eventual": I'd love to hear your opinion on my books, etc... go to this website"... But ok, I'll only write beautiful compliments to Stephen King from now on.

Wow - I had to go look at my copy of this book and sure enough - there it is on page xxi of the Introduction!

Mine actually says "To see them collected here like this is a great pleasure for me. I hope it will be for you, as well. You can let me know at Welcome to StephenKing.com, and you can do something else for me (and yourself), as well:

he then goes on to recommend other short story collections by other authors.

Walter Oobleck · Oct 11, 2014

Anna Castro said:
Wow, wow....

come on guys! I didn't mean any disrespect. I loved the novel, I love Stephen King's books. I just thought that the ending wasn't nice and the book could have been the perfect one. I actually meant no disrespect to anyone.
I prefer other King's books, and was expressing my opinion on this one. I was expressing my opinion to check if others thought like me... but if you think I'm bitchin' around, so that's about it. This website is not fit for my purpose, which was to create a discussion. But if you see my opinion as complaining, well... there's nothing I can do about it.

I just came here because Stephen King wrote in "Everything's Eventual": I'd love to hear your opinion on my books, etc... go to this website"... But ok, I'll only write beautiful compliments to Stephen King from now on.

It's okay...most of the members here rarely discuss King's stories. So anything you post is refreshing even if some perceive it as disrespectful. As you said, the man invited people to comment and that you have done. I came here originally for the same reason and because I saw an invitation to comment in another story, Bag of Bones perhaps...or Hearts in Atlantis...and afterword...Bones I think. I've seen the opposite reaction to "respectful" comments, as well...a new member is so enthused about King's stories that they have pages dedicated to exploring the stories. Their posts have been for the most ignored, or at a minimum, not commented upon. People are crazy. (God is great. And beer is good.)

I saw this movie...not much of a movie person anymore, but I did see this one and I've read the story a number of times. I remember in both that Paul lives to be an old man, so forth, so on...so I'm not sure what you're getting at, but other than trying to rent a movie...an iffy proposition with me as I'd also need to rent a fourth-grader to show me how to work the machine that plays the movie...a DVD player I think. Do you know Lundy?

Neesy · Oct 12, 2014

Walter Oobleck said:
It's okay...most of the members here rarely discuss King's stories. So anything you post is refreshing even if some perceive it as disrespectful. As you said, the man invited people to comment and that you have done. I came here originally for the same reason and because I saw an invitation to comment in another story, Bag of Bones perhaps...or Hearts in Atlantis...and afterword...Bones I think. I've seen the opposite reaction to "respectful" comments, as well...a new member is so enthused about King's stories that they have pages dedicated to exploring the stories. Their posts have been for the most ignored, or at a minimum, not commented upon. People are crazy. (God is great. And beer is good.)

I saw this movie...not much of a movie person anymore, but I did see this one and I've read the story a number of times. I remember in both that Paul lives to be an old man, so forth, so on...so I'm not sure what you're getting at, but other than trying to rent a movie...an iffy proposition with me as I'd also need to rent a fourth-grader to show me how to work the machine that plays the movie...a DVD player I think. Do you know Lundy?

Well, maybe yes, maybe no - I know in the Chattery Teeth area which is listed as "general member's discussion and a good place to shoot the..."stuff" we don't talk much about his books but if you explore the entire SKMB you can find discussions about almost everything he has written!

Hey Walt - how's it going? I just remembered I have some of those frozen pasties downstairs in the deep freeze - perhaps I will thaw them out tomorrow for a light lunch with some soup!
:cheerful:

Walter Oobleck · Oct 12, 2014

Neesy said:
Well, maybe yes, maybe no - I know in the Chattery Teeth area which is listed as "general member's discussion and a good place to shoot the..."stuff" we don't talk much about his books but if you explore the entire SKMB you can find discussions about almost everything he has written!

Hey Walt - how's it going? I just remembered I have some of those frozen pasties downstairs in the deep freeze - perhaps I will thaw them out tomorrow for a light lunch with some soup!

And I've also read numerous posts in threads where members are discussing a story...or God-forbid, a theme, a metaphor, something they enjoy discussing, only to have any number of members come in and say they just read the story...as if what the others are discussing is a misdirected adventure...and there seems to be, at times, this over-riding notion that any discussion needs to be wrapped in spoiler tags...I don't think I'd have to look long or hard to find something someone wrapped in spoiler tags to which the valid question could be asked, why? The point seems to be to forget discussion about anything deeper than the level of the liquid inside the porta-pottie. The point, Neesy, is that I have seen people who have become members, post for a bit...no, they don't seem to frequent Chattery Teeth, but they have had some unique perspectives on King's stories, but that dialogue never developed as the dialogue in other threads develops, farts and vomit. John D enjoyed badgering new members who showed their conservative side in this enchanted forest by asking them, "yeah, but what did you think of (insert King story title here.)"...I could point you to the political or hot topics threads, ask you to look who is posting, click on their posts, and see for yourself when the last time was that they posted in Written Works...if ever. But yes, of course, this is only my opinion, my take on the matter...but if we look at the science of the numbers, many of which are available to us...those numbers support what I've posted.

GNTLGNT · Oct 12, 2014

bugs_doing_a_facepalm___remake_by_super_marcos_96-d7b5rh9.png

Neesy · Oct 12, 2014

Walter Oobleck said:
And I've also read numerous posts in threads where members are discussing a story...or God-forbid, a theme, a metaphor, something they enjoy discussing, only to have any number of members come in and say they just read the story...as if what the others are discussing is a misdirected adventure...and there seems to be, at times, this over-riding notion that any discussion needs to be wrapped in spoiler tags...I don't think I'd have to look long or hard to find something someone wrapped in spoiler tags to which the valid question could be asked, why? The point seems to be to forget discussion about anything deeper than the level of the liquid inside the porta-pottie. The point, Neesy, is that I have seen people who have become members, post for a bit...no, they don't seem to frequent Chattery Teeth, but they have had some unique perspectives on King's stories, but that dialogue never developed as the dialogue in other threads develops, farts and vomit. John D enjoyed badgering new members who showed their conservative side in this enchanted forest by asking them, "yeah, but what did you think of (insert King story title here.)"...I could point you to the political or hot topics threads, ask you to look who is posting, click on their posts, and see for yourself when the last time was that they posted in Written Works...if ever. But yes, of course, this is only my opinion, my take on the matter...but if we look at the science of the numbers, many of which are available to us...those numbers support what I've posted.

It has gotten to the point that I am using the "ignore thread" option in the politics, and religion threads or even it it is a TV show I don't watch. I was not around when John Dalglish was alive but I did read some of the archived stuff.

Neesy · Oct 12, 2014

GNTLGNT said:

What's up Doc?
(what's cookin')

Anna Castro · Oct 12, 2014

Sorry, guys! Thanks for welcoming me!

This is new to me and I like discussing books. I've never been to a social network like this before, so I didn't think we were supposed to introduce ourselves before posting our opinions.. I didn't even know there would be replies and such things. So I just posted and left. Then I received an email with replies and I finally saw how it works. I'm sorry for the bad impression and sorry that some of you saw my comment as not respectful to SK. He's one of my favorite authors, so I never thought I'd be disrespecting him. I actually, in my stupid mind, formulated the thought that he would welcome a critic like this. Maybe it's because English is not my first language, I don't know... But I never saw what I wrote as disrespectful.

Anyway, coming back to the subject, as I read the book before watching the movie, I didn't know who the actors would be. And I think there couldn't be a better cast. They were just like I imagined them in the book. Billy, the Kid, was Sam Rockwell for me. It was very interesting. I think the adaptation was perfect.

not_nadine · Oct 12, 2014

Welcome back, Anna!

Walter Oobleck · Oct 12, 2014

Anna Castro said:
Sorry, guys! Thanks for welcoming me!

This is new to me and I like discussing books. I've never been to a social network like this before, so I didn't think we were supposed to introduce ourselves before posting our opinions.. I didn't even know there would be replies and such things. So I just posted and left. Then I received an email with replies and I finally saw how it works. I'm sorry for the bad impression and sorry that some of you saw my comment as not respectful to SK. He's one of my favorite authors, so I never thought I'd be disrespecting him. I actually, in my stupid mind, formulated the thought that he would welcome a critic like this. Maybe it's because English is not my first language, I don't know... But I never saw what I wrote as disrespectful.

Anyway, coming back to the subject, as I read the book before watching the movie, I didn't know who the actors would be. And I think there couldn't be a better cast. They were just like I imagined them in the book. Billy, the Kid, was Sam Rockwell for me. It was very interesting. I think the adaptation was perfect.

I think I get what you're getting at in your original post...the ending...as there are more than a few of SK-stories where the proverbial climatic scene, Act 5 Scene 4 or 5 seems to come at a point in the story where you still hold a finger-full of pages in your hand. I've seen this in others, as well. But seems like in, say the story It, there's all that climate change in Derry...but the story doesn't end there...and I'm not saying good bad or otherwise. I'm simply saying if one likens the SK-story to the five-act play, we get an Act 6...and if you don't, we can always run around to the line and wait to get on the ride again...completely ignoring the head-slappers standing off to the side their face full of complaint.

Anna Castro · Nov 5, 2014

Yeah, I mean. I never disconsider any parts of the story. So, if it's still a part of the book, I'll read it. I think the story would have a better closing and the plot would be rounder if it ended with the mouse part.
I don't think adding that part with the bus accident ruined the story. I just think it would be a masterpiece without it.
I think, sometimes, when people put too much in a story, I mean any story, it loses its magic.
I'm not saying The Green Mile lost its magic, but only that it would be an even better story if it didn't have that bus accident scene.

skimom2 · Nov 5, 2014

Anna Castro said:
Yeah, I mean. I never disconsider any parts of the story. So, if it's still a part of the book, I'll read it. I think the story would have a better closing and the plot would be rounder if it ended with the mouse part.
I don't think adding that part with the bus accident ruined the story. I just think it would be a masterpiece without it.
I think, sometimes, when people put too much in a story, I mean any story, it loses its magic.
I'm not saying The Green Mile lost its magic, but only that it would be an even better story if it didn't have that bus accident scene.

It's been a while since I read Green Mile, so I had to go back and look

To me, those pages rounded out the tragedy of Paul's life--not so much the accident, but that he faces in that moment what John passed on to him: life, in all it's glory and tragedy. The key sentence, I think, is this: "John saved me, too, and years later, standing in the pouring Alabama rain and looking for a man who wasn't there in the shadows of an underpass, standing amid the spilled luggage and the ruined dead, I learned a terrible thing: sometimes there's absolutely no difference at all between salvation and damnation." (my emphasis). I urge you to read those last pages (and indeed the whole book) again with that in mind. I think it's the crux of the entire story. Mr. King has an uneasy relationship with faith, and an absolute gift for shining a bright light on belief and believers; he wants us to use our minds, not just our hearts. The mouse dying...yeah. Sympathetic as hell. Sad, proof that Paul will indeed die... but the book wasn't ever about immortality, per se, but about good, evil, and how big or small the divide between them really is. So many of his books have this theme threaded throughout them.

You could lose the last chapter, sure. But them you lose the part of the novel that takes it beyond a miracle story, a heart tugger and tear jerker, and into an examination of the human heart and how our desires can be curses.

Out of Order · Nov 5, 2014

Nice back..............

Bryan James · Nov 5, 2014

Anna Castro said:
But ok, I'll only write beautiful compliments to Stephen King from now on.

Don't do this^.

Ain't no passive aggressive stuff here. For long.

We are (the core) usually civil. Disagreements happen, and they can be fun...illuminating, even.

Tails can often be kinked, but we let a lot of stuff slide. Despite that silly "point system" (about which no one seems to know), ain't nothing to be gained by rankling a specific poster, or responding egregiously.

When it actually mattered to me, I've dropped a few bombs about The Man himself.

Our currency here is truth.

And maybe donuts.

Bryan James · Nov 5, 2014

And another and:

I agree with her.

Anna Castro · Nov 5, 2014

skimom2 said:
It's been a while since I read Green Mile, so I had to go back and look To me, those pages rounded out the tragedy of Paul's life--not so much the accident, but that he faces in that moment what John passed on to him: life, in all it's glory and tragedy. The key sentence, I think, is this: "John saved me, too, and years later, standing in the pouring Alabama rain and looking for a man who wasn't there in the shadows of an underpass, standing amid the spilled luggage and the ruined dead, I learned a terrible thing: sometimes there's absolutely no difference at all between salvation and damnation." (my emphasis). I urge you to read those last pages (and indeed the whole book) again with that in mind. I think it's the crux of the entire story. Mr. King has an uneasy relationship with faith, and an absolute gift for shining a bright light on belief and believers; he wants us to use our minds, not just our hearts. The mouse dying...yeah. Sympathetic as hell. Sad, proof that Paul will indeed die... but the book wasn't ever about immortality, per se, but about good, evil, and how big or small the divide between them really is. So many of his books have this theme threaded throughout them.

You could lose the last chapter, sure. But them you lose the part of the novel that takes it beyond a miracle story, a heart tugger and tear jerker, and into an examination of the human heart and how our desires can be curses.

Finally someone who disagreed with me using arguments from the book and not insults.
Loved your reply, and I'll certainly have that in mind if I ever read the book again.

I didn't remember that the part you emphasized was in the last chapter, and I think this was one of the main points in the book, if not the main one. Now I see how the last chapter was essential. But I still tend to think that it could be realized somewhere else in the book. Maybe I'm just picking on this part because for me the bus accident carried away from the main story, and in my opinion, was too exaggerated. Like, I think everyone who had to die in the story had already died in a very incredible way that contributed to the book's literature and plot. And then suddenly, UOW, bus falling, tragical accident, people dying, I don't know... I still think it doesn't match the rest of the book.

But thank you for your reply. I knew that I could be missing something, but nobody replied to the discussion I wanted to create. Now I understand better and I think this message board complied with what I expected from the website at first.

skimom2 · Nov 5, 2014

Anna Castro said:
Finally someone who disagreed with me using arguments from the book and not insults.
Loved your reply, and I'll certainly have that in mind if I ever read the book again.

I didn't remember that the part you emphasized was in the last chapter, and I think this was one of the main points in the book, if not the main one. Now I see how the last chapter was essential. But I still tend to think that it could be realized somewhere else in the book. Maybe I'm just picking on this part because for me the bus accident carried away from the main story, and in my opinion, was too exaggerated. Like, I think everyone who had to die in the story had already died in a very incredible way that contributed to the book's literature and plot. And then suddenly, UOW, bus falling, tragical accident, people dying, I don't know... I still think it doesn't match the rest of the book.

But thank you for your reply. I knew that I could be missing something, but nobody replied to the discussion I wanted to create. Now I understand better and I think this message board complied with what I expected from the website at first.

You wouldn't be the first to disagree with Mr. King's pacing. I sat in on a The Stand panel at our FanX where that was mentioned quite often--in fact, two of the four panelists agreed that the story climaxed in the section where Glen meets Flagg and laughs at him, saying something like, "You're what we were so scared of?" They called the rest of the book 'clean up'. I don't actually agree with that; I find the ends of Mr. King's books very satisfying because that's where he often shoots out the sentences that really make me think. If you disagree, that's okay, too

It's my impression that Mr. King would be just as happy that his books can be read for story--subtext is just the icing on the cake.

Anna Castro · Nov 5, 2014

Yeah, this is a particular case. I like most of his books and hardly ever feel there's something exaggerated or anything like that. I think, for example, books like Gerald's Game, The Shining, Pet Sematary, they all have that good pace. Especially the short stories like The Man in the Black Suit. It felt so right for me to stop reading on the mouse's death scene. Then when I continued reading I felt like... aaah, no... a little too improbable.
But just as you said, readers have different perceptions when it comes to when the story climaxes.
I was hoping there would be someone who would share my opinion, though. I wonder why the guys that made the movie didn't put that scene too. Hahaha.

The Green Mile

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