Low Men in Yellow Coats - ****
Hearts in Atlantis -***
Blind Willie -**
Why We're in Vietnam-**
Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling-***

I really like the Ted Brautigan character, but the overall tone of all the stories is too depressing. ( )

There is no such thing as vintage King. He has broken all kinds of barriers with his writing. Expect the unexpected from Mr. King. A great collection. ( )

There's a lot to like about this collection of long stories. The opener, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," is set firmly in the Dark Tower universe but also a great standalone coming-of-age story. The remaining stories are about the Vietnam generation, both during the war and after it, and aren't necessarily the supernatural horror that King is known for. Of these, the most compelling are the title story and "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," the last story, but the entire collection is very good writing and kind of a departure for King. ( )

The second Stephen King fiction I've read (Bag of Bones), there was a longing for normalcy among the characters. Bobby Garfield, a child in the first chapter and middle-aged by the last, is a long lasting character memory-wise. I'm told other characters like the extraterrestrial Ted recur in the Dark Tower series. Quite an engaging book I'm glad I read. ( )

Enjoyed this collection of stories more than I expected. The first story, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," is part of the Dark Tower canon, though the title story is King at his best as a writer.The movie took the name of the collection, but was based on "Low Men" alone. And it was terrible. ( )

Eh, no "real review" this time. This is an older book that has been reviewed a hundred times. Anyway, I wrote a llloooooonnnnng "What I thought".

I knew that, eventually, I’d give Stephen King another try. I was very near mortally scarred by reading The Stand when I was 12 or 13. Look people, I’ve never even seen a Friday the 13th or anything like that. The scariest movie I’ve ever seen is Silence of the Lambs. I was a restless sleeper for weeks after seeing The Blair Witch Project. As for books, I still get goosebumps when I think of Christina’s Ghost or Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls.

Suffice it to say, I’m a wimp.

Anyway, this book didn’t look to scawwy. It seemed to fall into the Non-horror-Stephen-King category (of which I’ve seen several movies…).This is technically a collection of short stories, but it reads more like a novel. A few characters wind a common thread between the five stories.

We begin with Low Men in Yellow Coats: it is 1960. Three friends; Bobby, Carol, and Sully-John; live in a pretty little suburb in Connecticut. Bobby has a new upstairs neighbor, a strange older man named Ted. Against Bobby’s widowed mother’s wishes, he and Ted become friends. Bobby was recently gifted an adult library card, and Ted guides him through the world of adult fiction. Bobby’s mother constantly worries that Ted is abusing Bobby…there’s definitely a very King-esque creepy-old-man vibe coming from Ted. But the strangest thing that Ted does is warn Bobby about “Low Men in Yellow Coats”, and tells him to be on the lookout for strange things in his idyllic, suburban neighborhood: lost pet signs, upside down car-for-sale ads, things like that. This story is a great example of another common Stephen King theme: boys coming of age.

One thing happened that I feel I have to mention – Ted, at one point, mentioned “The Gunslinger.” ‘The Gunslinger!’ I thought. ‘Like, the Dark Tower Gunslinger?’ A few pages later, the Dark Tower is mentioned. I slammed down the book. I know OF The Dark Tower. I know it’s a lengthy series of novels, and I very VERY MUCH do NOT want to get involved in a series right now. I went to my handy catalog and only picked Hearts in Atlantis up again after I’d ascertained that it was not one of the Dark Tower series. In fact, those two little mentions were all that was said of it. Someday, when I have the time to get involved with a series, I hope to find out why King mentioned it in passing in this book.

Flash forward to 1966. Peter Riley’s a freshman at the University of Maine. He arrives on the first day with a Barry Goldwater bumper sticker on his car, and leaves at the end of the year with a hand-drawn peace sign on the back of his jacket. In between, he plays a helluva lot of Hearts and flirts with the pretty girl he works with in the cafeteria dishroom, Carol from Connecticut. I liked this story the best of them all because, well, I wasted away a large chunk of my college years playing euchre. I know of what Peter Riley speaks.

Blind Willie Speaks finally takes us out of the 1960’s. Willie is a seemingly normal businessman in 1983 – but he is haunted by two incidents in his life: the senseless beating of a girl when he was a bully growing up in Connecticut, and what happened when he wound up in Viet Nam. What he does to cope may seem outlandish to some, but whatever keeps him going, I guess. This, and the following two stories, is far shorter and more snapshot-like than the first two.

Why We’re in Viet Nam is probably the shortest story, but the one that haunted me the most. Sully-John meets with a fellow veteran at a third’s funeral, and they speak of things that they can only talk to each other about. In particular, of the My Lai massacre: the Hearts-obsessed soldier and Mama-san the old Vietnamese woman that he killed. This story is of a deeply troubled man and the ghosts of his past. I loved it.

Finally, we get to “Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling”. At first, I was kind of annoyed at this sort of neatly-tied-up ending to the book. It does give resolution to a couple of the folks in the stories.

So! Stephen King: I enjoyed it. At some point, I’ll try another one. I think I’d like to read another one of his books when I have the time to really get into it and read large chunks at a time. This book was read in bits and pieces – I felt like I couldn’t really get sucked in when I kept being interrupted by LIFE. ( )

I love this book. Interesting tale about the Vietnam era (my father was drafted as a soldier, so I'm interested in this era). The supernatural events correspond to what happened during the times. Follows kids who eventually grow up and are "scarred" from their childhood.

I loved the writing in this book. Very descriptive. I could also identify deeply with the characters. One of the biggest reasons I liked this book was the crossover sections from the Gun Slinger Series. If you don't love the Gun Slinger Series this book may not be as enjoyed. ( )

This book attempts to tell a good story, but I think it get's lost in some of the smaller points. Overall it's a good book, written in the Vietnam era about two childhood friends and a mysterious elderly man they have befriended. Seems to make for a good plot, but I was disappointed when I finished it. ( )

growing up in the 60s and post-Vietnam era. Great reading by William Hurt

One of my favorite SK books. Great stories, minimal scariness. One great cautionary tale for college freshman about the importance of maintaining focus. Love the tie ins to the Dark Tower series. ( )

A collection of sorts, based around the sixties experience and Vietnam, from early teenagerhood to many years later, following some people intersecting paths over the years. Maybe a touch autobiographical from what the author says in the intro.

The supernatural bad guys in the first long novella I think are likely from The Dark Tower series, which I have not read a lot of beyond some novellas that make up the first book.

Hearts In Atlantis : Low Men in Yellow Coats - Stephen King
Hearts In Atlantis : Hearts in Atlantis [short story] - Stephen King
Hearts In Atlantis : Blind Willie - Stephen King
Hearts In Atlantis : Why We're in Vietnam - Stephen King
Hearts In Atlantis : Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling - Stephen King

You can take me, but don't Breaker the boy.

3.5 out of 5

Hunt the Bitch in a little more moderation.

3.5 out of 5

Post Vietnam dodgy begging.

3 out of 5

Old mamasan ghost.

3.5 out of 5

Fits like an old glove.

3 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/06... ( )

Not being a die-hart sci-fi fan, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It combines some typical King sci-fi writing with a heavy dose of more realistic general fiction; the central theme being good versus evil.

The first half of the book, the sci-fi portion, involves several twelve year old children in the summer of 1960 in the town of Harwich, Connecticut. Later sections jump to 1966, 1983, and 1999 following the lives of the Harwich kids through college, the Vietman War, and later life.

Engrossing! Suspenseful! I couldn't put the book down. ( )

This is surely among SK's best work! The title novelette is followed by a straight on anti-war Vietnam piece, the only one SK has done so directly. ( )

Another set of excellent stories by King detailing the impact of the Vietnam War on small town America. ( )

A bit disjointed. It seemed to me that this could be broken into two separate novels. I liked both parts separately, but it never really came together for me. ( )

The first part of the book is classic Stephen King. Great stuff. But it is really the second part of the book which I liked the most. Excellent social commentary and a lot of wise words. I just can't figure out how all of the sections of the book tie together. ( )

"Low Men in Yellow Coats" boosts this an extra half star. The story is the best in the collection and William Hurt's narration only adds to the value of this collection. ( )

I really loved the first part of this book and if I stopped reading it at that point I probably would have given it 5 stars. ( )

très déçue!
Moi aussi fan du maître, je m'attendais à plonger petit à petit dans son monde et au fil des pages rien de tout cela! Le King nous délaisse-t-il pour s'aventurer vers un autre genre de roman? ( )

I am not American. Maybe that's why I don't enjoy Stephen King as much as quite a lot of others.

Somewhere into the book, I got the feeling that I was missing out on the "aside" -sensing that there was an emotional sweet spot which the Author had zeroed on, but I had on too thick a skin to feel it.

I did read somewhere that Stephen King "allows" his novels to write themselves, without figuring out the end until he gets to it. Perhaps that could explain his allure - his loyal readers probably savour the atmosphere of his books , unlike, say, a Golden Age Locked-Room Mystery.

There was , after all, a movie made with Anthony Hopkins in the lead.But I'd be interested in seeing how many people outside North America root for this.
I give it three stars, not very common in my library.
But I guess a lot of people really liked the book. ( )

Another great display of how King can write from the perspective of a child. ( )

A collection of linked short stories about kids growing up in the 1960's and the effect the 60's had on their lives as they get older. The story “Low Men in Yellow Coats” is a Dark Tower story that takes up the first half of the book and introduces the characters. The later stories are more mainstream and centered around the Vietnam War. This was an OK book, but didn't seem like anything special. The growing up the 60's story has been done so many times now, that these did not seem to have anything new to add to that. ( )

http://malaysianatheist.blogspot.com ( )

The title story took me right back to hanging out in the guys' dorm across the quad in the early 70's. King gets it just right. ( )