Hearts in Atlantis

By Stephen King 


Being a huge Stephen King fan, there are only a few novels of his that I haven’t perused as of yet. This is one of them, and another example of one of his books that has been made into a movie. 


 This book consisted of multiple stories, which are tied together by similar characters. The stories take place along a timeline encompassing the youth, adolescence, adulthood, and old age of the characters involved. The crux of the novel ends up being the Vietnam War and the events surrounding it. 


 I guess the best place to start with my review is to talk about what I liked about this book. As always, Stephen King does a great job about making you feel for the characters and developing the emotional state of each of them. I loved the first and second part of the book, and the rest was definitely readable (saved perhaps only by Mr. King’s writing style).


What I didn’t like about this book, as I have eluded to was the rest of the stories. First off, I was so interested in the first main character (Bobby) that I didn’t feel satiated once his story was over. Mr. King eluded to a number of things that were to happen in Bobby’s life, that I almost wish that he would have just written the rest of the book about these events. Instead, we are taken to the next story, somewhat rudely I might add. The final 3 stories were interesting of course, but nowhere near as gripping as the first two. It almost even feels like they were included, and changed appropriately to fit in with the rest of the story. I was also very disappointed with the conclusion of the book, and didn’t really feel like all the loose ends were tied up. 


An additional complaint I will submit, is that this book will make more sense to a seasoned King-reader due to his references to his ubiquitous villain, The Crimson King. There are several elements which are commonplace in many of his books, which will be missed by the casual reader. 


Overall this book was a good read, and it did get me interested in Vietnam (the war, the times, etc.). However, I feel that the author could have done more with some of the stories, and way less with others (even not including them). 


Rating: 3/5 Bunsen Burners


Next:  The Gunslinger by Stephen King