NOTE: Reviews are the opinions of the individual reviewers and not necessarily those of The Chiaroscuro as an entity unto itself.
NOTE: Reviews are the opinions of the individual reviewers and not necessarily those of The Chiaroscuro as an entity unto itself.
| by David Niall Wilson
Email: shadeaux10@mchsi.com RATING SYSTEM: 1 Star - don’t bother 2 Stars - If you need to sleep, use this. 3 Stars - Okay story or okay performance, but not both 4 Stars - Adequate Fluff 5 Stars - Worth getting into 6 Stars - Good enough to listen to more than once 7 Stars - Absofuckinglutelyamazing HEARTS IN ATLANTIS By Stephen King Performed by William Hurt & Stephen King 16 Cassettes - 21 Hours - Unabridged RATING: 5 Hearts in Atlantis is actually four separate stories that blend into a sort of interactive novel. This was okay, as far as it worked, but in the end might be the biggest flaw. Part one, read by William Hurt, is “Low Men in Yellow Coats.” This is King at his finest. A young boy, baseball–buddies–bullies and young love. Awakenings on many levels, including the jump from Rick Brant and The Hardy Boys to THE LORD OF THE FLIES, a work that comes back again and again to haunt the reader as King uses first one, then another scenario to show you the pig-hunting wild boys that surround us all. Also the question recurs - who will save the crew? There is just enough of the otherworldly in "Low Men in Yellow Coats" to twist things so that htey don’t really fit our reality, and just enough reality to the characters that you can cry with them, laugh with them, and share their dreams. Low Men ends on a down note, as so much modern horror seems to, not really answering any questions for the characters, or the reader, but then–you have the hope of parts II and III. Part II, the title piece, is “Hearts in Atlantis.” This is also wonderful writing. Kids caught in their first year at university, caught in the cusp of high-school and adulthood, the war in Vietnam looming all around them and the reality of scholarships dependent on grades haunting them day and night. "Hearts in Atlantis" is the story of a generation, its rise and its fall, and of addiction–the addiction of a game, in this case, but a study in obsession that goes well beyond the occasional beer, or the stack of magazines with Pamela Anderson in the corner. The kind that eats at you day and night, leaving you wanting to quit, even as you grin and call out for more. One character from “Low Men” comes back to us in this second part of this book, Carol, who was the love interest of the young hero of part one. Here is where it sort of starts to crumble, for me. This story would be wonderful if it weren’t for the attempt to link it back to the first story. I don’t see how the connection furthers the tale, really - it is more as if it were forced, making this a book-length work when it is really a series of novellas. The college, the “game” and the way King draws back in the Lord of the Flies - the at first we were joking, and then, we weren’t mentality–and the coming of age–all of this is the kind of writing that leaves you aching–sometimes with memories, other times with the desire to reach people in that same way–and at times, to BE those characters. Then there is part three. “Blind Willie” has an interesting concept, to be sure. A man who is three men. A man who is so caught up in “penance” for an act of cruelty and violence he participated in as a child ( which you will have read about in part one ) that he has created an elaborate web of identities and ritual to try to cleanse it from his soul. A web he can’t even see for the insanity it is, and, when you are reading, you see it as–if not normal–possible. That is King’s gift. The problem with this, again, is that it is tied to the first story - even more tightly than Hearts in Atlantis is–but it is incomplete, there are huge gaps, and without the first story–it does not stand alone. Thus, Blind Willie is good reading, but not–to me– memorable. Not in the way the first two parts are. Part four is the conclusion. This is almost a sequel to "Low Men in Yellow Coats," characters meeting their ends–whether they be happy, sad, together or apart–the wrapping up of threads spun by the first three stories. Unfortunately, that is all they seem, in the end. It is as if King took these three stories, read them and sat down to write conclusion that would just tie everything up and let it go. Again, no truly happy endings for anyone. Again, really, no resolution of conflict, except for one character who checks out for good. There is also a small flurry of tie-ins to the Dark Tower series that are meaningless out of that context–tie-ins that, rather than strengthening the work–lessen it. Overall, I enjoyed this performance of HEARTS IN ATLANTIS. William Hurt is expressive, reads well, and has the perfect voice for a story with kids as protagonists...he still seems to understand, much in the way King does when he writes. The performance of HEARTS IN ATLANTIS and Blind Willie by King himself are good, as they always are. His is a voice that lends itself to reading–that understands the spoken form of the art. Once you hear him read his own work, you can’t help but hear that voice when you read more on your own, and it changes everything. If you like audio books, you will like this one. It is entertaining, and, though a bit disappointing in the end, well worth the journey
|
