“Mary wished to say something very sensible, but knew not how.”
Jane Austin - Pride & Prejudice
Hearts In Atlantis, by Stephen King
A few months ago I was lent a copy of Stephen King’s ‘Hearts in Atlantis’ by a good friend. I looked upon it with much skepticism. I had heard of the movie and remember hearing negative reviews.
I gave it a go. I think I need to explain something about myself at this point; I have never read a bad book. I do not complete a book if it bores me, I simply put it down and walk away. This may be a character flaw of mine, I will leave that up to you to decide, but the positive is that it means I will try any novel once.
And so on to ‘Hearts In Atlantis’.
Based around the controversy of the Vietnamese War, this story was not what I thought it would be. The interwoven stories of various characters is intriguing. Each character has impacted on the other in a subtle and yet highly involved way. The novel requires full concentration and required me to actually think. I love it. I hate novels that are just chewing gum for the eyes.
At times creepy, at times brutal, at times romantic. There is something for everyone. And unlike King’s other novels, it did not give me nightmares (me and my overactive imagination!).
I rate this novel highly and have recommended it to several people. I would recommend it to you too!
