Rated "Good" in our old book database. ( )

I didn't expect to throw five stars at this one.

I remembered bits and pieces of this collection from my one and only read 25 years ago, however I do also remember truly enjoying the first story, and not being all that impressed with the ones that follow.

I was also 25 years younger, and now, some themes hit very differently.

I think the thing that bugged me the first time around was, I was expecting horror. The Low Men story delivered some, but then King seemingly eschews horror for the rest of the book...or does he?

King knows that horror can take many faces, and with this book, it's the horror of war—and the mentality of opposing war "at all costs" and what it can do to rational people—and he takes his time to examine it from many different angles.

And while all but one of the stories utterly captivated me, and a couple left me in tears, overall, this is King firing on all cylinders.

Just a gorgeous, terrible book. ( )

Audiobook version. I loved, loved, loved, William Hurt's performance. Although he doesn't put much effort into creating different voices for all the characters, he reads the story with such passion and... rhythm. That's the only word I can think of to describe it. The only two stories that I really enjoyed were Low Men in Yellow Coats and Why We're In Vietnam. The rest I could do without, but the others were classic King. ( )

I've read this book twice in the past 20 years, and enjoyed it immensely both times. There is so much here to think about and enjoy, there's no way I can do it justice with a review until I read it again. ( )

I wanted to read this book because it's related to The Dark Tower series. Of the 500+ pages, only about half of it relates. And I loved that part.

The rest centers on the mid/late 1960s, Vietnam, the counter-culture, protestors, etc. As someone born in 1970, and a political conservative, I really didn't like the 2nd half of the book. Understand this isn't a reflection of King's writing. The guy's certainly one of the greatest American writers ever and certainly in the 20th Century. But I can't cheer for characters I don't philosophically respect.

If you're a child of the 60s, I think you'd "dig" the half I didn't. I'm not sure you would really get or appreciate the first part (especially if you haven't read DT) but damn, King writes kids well. That first section, DT-related or not, reminded me of "The Body," which of course became the movie "Stand by Me." ( )