I know I speak about
Stephen King a lot, but let me say this: He is one of this world's leading bestselling authors. I make no mention of him being a Horror writer, because he is so much more than that. His fiction is above and beyond anything you could term "bump in the night." As usual his stories circle around people and life's struggles - even the mundane,
repetitious ways we handle our lives, and he does it just right. For this article I felt it was more important to make my Coterie readers understand that to pick up a King book because it is a Horror novel would be wrong. Yeah, sure I love Horror; I mean look at this blog for example. Underneath the strangeness of
horror is the familiarity of the everyday. When you pick up a Stephen King novel you experience something closer to literary fiction.
Hearts in Atlantis is just that kind of book. Firmly placed in the '60s this collection of novellas and short stories looks at life during that time in a realistic light. Vietnam,
Baby Boomers, the idea that maybe they got it wrong is all part of the
integral thread that runs through all five tales. Connecting characters and themes present in many of King's other novels, including
The Dark Tower books, fill in this massive testament to something that really happened. I am not going to tell you the plot points of each story; this book you need to read for yourself. It has classic trademark King moments, I won't say it doesn't, but unlike his other stuff you won't care or look out for those moments. You will become engaged to these tales like a junkie. You'll care about the characters, and cry when you need to. (Or at least I hope you will.) This book was even a well received selection of a regular Literary Book Club I hosted many years ago. Everyone talked about it for many hours. Like all good literature it constantly challenges you to think outside the box, to wonder about things you are not familiar with and to take something back with you. I know this sounds way preachier than I normally get, but I am passionate about this book and what it does for fiction. Hell, the book made me cry many times. If you would like to know more before you pick it up and read it click the Post title and it will take you to
Wikipedia - but I warn you: SPOILER ALERT!! Just keep in mind, "There are other world's than these."*
* Jake Chambers,
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Stephen King
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