The Green Mile: Book & Movie review.

I started reading this book back about a year or so ago, stopped right at the first quarter as it was really sad and my depressive state couldn't take much of it. 10/9/2026, I finished reading it and watched the movie! 

The book

Throughout the book, I felt this calmness within me. This sort of mellow, but melancholy feeling that just stuck around for the year. This book I think is one of Stephen King's best. I don't think there was one time where I felt even a little bored reading it and that's not something that happens often. From the very start, I felt very intense emotions; a lot of hate, a lot of sorrow, and I suppose a bit of fear. Sometimes I dislike the way that Stephen King writes, like with all the sex, and the repetitiveness and the jumbling things up a little, but somehow in the end, it all worked for me to feel content. Some bits were so very gruesome reading, and my imagination picked up on every bit of what Stephen King described. I suppose I was quite disappointed when Eduard Delacroix's eyes didn't come out of their sockets during the execution in the movie. Plot twists are hard to pull off, but damn. I gasped on the bus when I found out William Wharton was the one that had raped and murdered the Detterick twins. This is now one of my favourite books and I look forward to reading it again. 

The movie

I am more than surprised on how accurate the movie is to the book. Pretty much everything about it was exactly what I had imagined. It was very well done in its entirety and understand why it's such a popular film. I will admit I shed a few tears at the end. A few things though, I'm annoyed that some of the dates are incorrect considering the majority of the book, Paul Edgecomb wouldn't let you forget that it all happened in 1932, where in the movie he says it's 1935. I know it's nitpicky but getting the dates correct isn't that hard. I didn't picture Percy Wetmore to look like that in the film, I thought he'd be a blue eyed blonde faggot, but he's just a black haired fuck who looks like he should be on that TV show 'Botched'. John Coffey looked exactly how I imagined him to be, I wish that in the book Stephen King showed how much further his powers reached than just healing. I get why my grandfather had this movie on repeat, but what a twisted man he was. 

Some of my favourite quotes: 

"Weird love's better than no love at all" 

"I helped it, didn't I?" 

"I'm tired of people bein ugly to each other" 

Overall, both were very enjoyable, but I think I enjoyed the book a bit more than the film.

- Sally.