Well I finally finished second book of Stephen King. And it was absolutely amazing.
Here's a short summery of book,
A
first-person narrative told by Paul Edgecombe, the novel switches between Paul as an old man in the Georgia Pines
nursing home sharing his story with fellow resident Elaine Connelly in 1996, and his time in 1932 as the block supervisor of the Cold Mountain Penitentiary death row, nicknamed "The Green Mile" for the color of the floor's linoleum. This year marks the arrival of John Coffey, a 6 ft 8 in powerfully built black man who has been convicted of
raping and
murdering two small white girls. During his time on the Mile, John interacts with fellow prisoners Eduard "Del" Delacroix, a
Cajun arsonist, rapist, and murderer, and William Wharton ("Billy the Kid" to himself, "Wild Bill" to the guards), a wild-acting and dangerous multiple murderer who is determined to make as much trouble as he can before he is executed. Other inhabitants include Arlen Bitterbuck, a
Native American convicted of killing a man in a fight over a pair of boots (also the first character to die in the
electric chair); Arthur Flanders, a
real estate executive who killed his father to perpetrate
insurance fraud, and whose sentence is eventually commuted to life imprisonment (while serving his sentence, he is killed by another inmate in the laundry room); and Mr. Jingles, a mouse, whom Del teaches various tricks.
Paul and the other guards are antagonized throughout the book by Percy Wetmore, a sadistic guard who enjoys antagonizing the prisoners. The other guards have to be civil to him despite their dislike of him because he is the nephew of the Governor's wife. When Percy is offered a position at the nearby Briar Ridge
psychiatric hospital as a
secretary, Paul thinks they are finally rid of him. However, Percy refuses to leave until he is allowed to supervise an execution, so Paul hesitantly allows him to run Del's. Percy deliberately avoids soaking a sponge in brine that is supposed to be tucked inside the
electrode cap to ensure a quick death in the electric chair. When the switch is thrown, the
current causes Del to catch fire in the chair and suffer a prolonged, agonizing demise.
Over time, Paul realizes that John possesses
inexplicable healing abilities, which he uses to cure Paul's
urinary tract infection and revive Mr. Jingles after Percy stomps on him. Simple-minded and shy, John is very
empathic and sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others around him. One night, the guards drug Wharton, then put a
straitjacket on Percy and lock him in the padded
restraint room so that they can smuggle John out of the prison and take him to the home of Warden Hal Moores. Hal's wife Melinda has an inoperable
brain tumor, which John cures. When they return to the Mile, John passes the "disease" from Melinda into Percy, causing him to go mad and shoot Wharton to death before falling into a
catatonic state from which he never recovers. Percy is committed to Briar Ridge.
Paul's long-simmering suspicions that John is innocent are proven right when he discovers that it was actually William Wharton who raped and killed the twin sisters and that John was trying to revive them. Later John tells Paul what he saw when Wharton grabbed his arm one time, how Wharton had coerced the sisters to be silent by threatening to kill one if the other made a noise, using their love for each other. Paul is unsure how to help John, but John tells him not to worry, as he is ready to die anyway, wanting to escape the cruelty of the world. John's execution is the last one in which Paul participates. He introduces Mr. Jingles to Elaine just before the mouse dies, having lived 64 years past these events, and explains that those healed by John gained an unnaturally long lifespan. Elaine dies shortly after, never learning how Paul's wife died in his arms immediately after they suffered a bus accident, and that he then saw John Coffey's ghost watching him from an overpass. Paul seems to be all alone, now 104 years old, and wondering how much longer he will live.
I don't really like to read the Gothic or Dark fantasy novels because I hate the feeling of being afraid of something that doesn't exist. But I guess I can make an exception for Stephen King's books. Because its not just the fear that takes control of us while reading his stories. There is something much more to understand and comprehend in it. I loved the small lines which keep lingering even after its gone like the feel of train which left the platform. and all the interconnected parts of the story which makes total sense in long term. And you are trying to remember everything there is to find how it effects the story.
Green Mile was different in a sense because it kind of made me think about my old age days. The time when Paul is spending his days in retirement home all alone despite his kids. And when Paul's life is at the end he is trying to find ways to spend rest of his life doing something.
I dont know what I'd be doing to pass my time in my old age, probably too old to read anything and too slow to comprehend them. :D Perhaps I will keep the audiobooks stocked so as to be prepared for the green mile to pass.
