My daughter would come down to me crying while reading this book. Personally, it is my favorite. No, it is not horror.

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Product Description

'Although it is difficult to believe, the 60s are not fictional; they actually happened' (from the Author's Note). "Hearts in Atlantis" comprises of five brilliant, interconnected, sequential narratives, each deeply rooted in the 60s and haunted by the Vietnam War: In "Low Men in Yellow Coats", 11-year-old Bobby discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror. In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest and confront their own collective heart of darkness. In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam", two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the post-Vietnam era. And in "Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling", Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45327 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 688 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780671024246
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
With his idiosyncratic blend of patrician airs and boyish charm, narrator William Hurt provides a wonderful complement to this wildly imaginative collection of short stories by author Stephen King. Hurt carefully weaves the disparate elements into a cohesive whole, embracing the subtle complexities of each character; one moment a wizened sadness leaks into his voice as a haunted old man, pursued by demons, asks his 11-year-old lookout, "You know everyone on this street, on this block of this street anyway? And you'd know strangers? Sojourners? Faces of those unknown?" Then, in a profound yet almost imperceptible switch, he exposes the boy's naive enthusiasm, "I think so." Right about here your neck hairs will stand at attention. Hurt's peculiar vocal style is in perfect pitch to King's dark, surreal vision of growing up amid the monsters of post-Vietnam America. (Running time: 21 hours, 20 CDs) --George Laney

From Publishers Weekly
This collection of five thematically linked short stories dwells on the legacy of the 1960s. They share a collective moodiness, a feeling of depressed hangover coming after youth has been lost and the nation has suffered troubled times. Read aloud, this pungent atmosphere is especially strong. A-list actor Hurt stylishly performs the lengthy opener, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," in which 11-year-old Bobby Garfield falls under the spell of an older man his mother has taken in as a boarder (a father figure who introduces him first to literatureALord of the FliesAthen to supernatural phenomena). Hurt skillfully evokes pathos from the story's fine detailing: its sense of small-town place and Bobby's child's-eye-view of the evil characters around him. King reads the title story, "Hearts in Atlantis," about Maine college students who mindlessly play cards instead of studying while the Vietnam War rages in the background. The author's modest, reedy voice rings with autobiographical truthAas the protagonist is a young would-be writer, na?ve to the ways of the world. Taken together, at 21 hours' listening, however, King's shining moments too often give way to fatigue: the stories are repetitious, full of plot rehashings and meaningless asides. Also available on CD. Simultaneous release with the Scribner hardcover. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-An intricate and compelling tapestry of the '60s and those who came of age during that turbulent decade. Readers first meet 11-year-old Bobby Garfield in suburban Connecticut in 1960. He and his friends, Sully John and Carol, come to the end of their collective childhood during that summer when violence, rage, guilt, shame, and heroism break up their close-knit relationship. The second story begins six years later on the University of Maine campus. A card game, Hearts, threatens the college future of a group of freshmen. Outside, the Vietnam War and its concurrent rebellion are raging. Pete, the protagonist, offers a firsthand view of the craziness of the time. The link to the first story is Carol, Bobby's childhood friend, with whom Pete falls in love. The next two stories each follow another figure from the summer of 1960: Bobby's friend Sully John and a member of a trio that assaulted Carol. Both young men are Vietnam vets, each one crippled in his own way from his war experience. The final story finds middle-aged Bobby returning to Connecticut, coming full circle with the events of his life. This is a very long book; however, after reading a few pages, most teens will be hard-pressed to put it down. The characters are compelling and well drawn, the action is ingeniously interwoven from story to story, and the feel of the 60s, and the baggage carried into later decades, is vivid, harsh, and absolutely true.
Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

A Book Worth Considering
In his final novel of the 1990s, Stephen King has shut the door on his normal assortment of nightmares and created a series of stories that deals with another kind of horror. In Hearts in Atlantis, King writes about loss of innocence, struggles of conscience, and the Vietnam war.

The first thing readers will notice is that Hearts in Atlantis is not a novel, but five stories. The first two are long novellas (which together constitute 400 pages), while the last story is a mere 13 pages long. But all of the stories are interconnected, spanning the lives of four Connecticut youths from their pre-teens in 1960 to 1999.

The first story, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," is traditional King. In fact, the story is something of a companion piece to King's popular Dark Tower series. Here the reader is introduced to three kids, Bobby Garfield, Carol Gerber, and John "Sully-John" Sullivan. Although it doesn't deal directly with the Vietnam war, it helps set the backdrop for the stories that follow.

In the summer of 1960, eleven year-old Bobby takes first steps out of childhood innocence. He begins to see the evil of which men are truly capable, a parallel to the book Lord of the Flies, given to him by his new neighbor Ted Brautigan. But the old man has another kind of evil chasing him. The "low men" are tracking Ted and want him to return to their world, a place where "All things serve the Crimson King."

"Hearts in Atlantis," the second story, changes to a first-person narrative. Pete Riley, a freshman at the University of Maine, and his friends become obsessed with the card game Hearts. Many jeopardize their grades and thus their scholarships as a result, but the real threat is greater than flunking out. In 1966, leaving school means drafted to Vietnam. The story, although told from Pete's point of view, is also about Carol Gerber. She left Connecticut behind her, but has found a new life in protesting the war.

The third story, "Blind Willie," deals with Willie Shearman, a minor character in "Low Men in Yellow Coats." Now a veteran of the Vietnam war, Willie is doing penance for his misdeeds, those from his childhood and the war.

Sully-John attends the funeral of an old army buddy in "Why We're in Vietnam," set in 1999. In reuniting with his lieutenant, they discuss the war and the affects it had on the men who fought there.

It is in this story that the most frightening, most vivid account of the war is relayed. If the other stories were preamble, this is the final climax where the whole book comes together. For Sully-John, haunted by the image of a dead Vietnamese woman, everything after the war has been about trying to "get over." Get over the physical pain, get over the trauma, get over the war.

In the short closing story, "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," Bobby returns to the town of his youth to pay his respects to one departed friend and discover the fate of another.

I really liked the first story, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," but I am also a big fan of the Dark Tower trilogy. The fact that it tied together with the Dark Tower stories made me tingle. I hope to see more of Ted in the future.

The others stories were also good, but not normal Stephen King-type fare. They didn't scare me or give me that creepy gooseflesh sort of feeling, but they made me think. My only complaints would be that "Hearts in Atlantis" (the second story) ran long, and "Blind Willie" has an unsatisfying ending. Is it good writing? Yes. Is it King's best? Probably not. But King tries something different in this book than in his last several books. For that alone he deserves a nod of respect.

When Ted discusses Lord of the Flies with Bobby, he states, "[G]ood books don't give up all their secrets at once." And that's true of Hearts in Atlantis. At first, the stories appear to be a series of glimpses into American life, but there's something else going on here, something deeper.

Atlantis becomes a metaphor for America, literally sinking beneath the feet of its people. The dreams and ideals of the 1940s and '50s become lost in the '60s, as the Vietnam war divides the country. Later, the hippies trade in the ideals of the '60s for junk bonds and cocaine. Now, that generation has nothing to show for it. "What have we done since Nam?" one character questions. We've created video games, trash television, and porn on the Internet. All we like to do is watch. "But there was a time... when it was really all in our hands."

And there are moments in these stories when that is literally true. The image of one person physically carrying another is often repeated, showing heroism of the individual under extraordinary circumstances. Bobby Garfield carries Carol up the street when she is injured. Pete and his classmates carry a crippled student out of the icy rain when he falls. Of course, the quintessential moment of heroism comes during the war when Willie carries Sully-John to a waiting chopper in Dong Ha Province.

In the midst of a story about the loss of a country, we have moments of hope created by acts of heroism of the individual. As we leave the 20th century, we continue to drift as a nation. But in the individual there may still be hope. Hope to carry on.

As Ted Brautigan said, "Consider it. Good books are for consideration after, too."ÿ

Hail Atlantis!
I've been a constant reader of King's since 'Salem's Lot (Gee... I guess that dates me). I've watched with growing wonder the changes in his style, the themes he tackles, etc. And I must say I'm rather annoyed at those who say he's lost his touch or whine because he doesn't write "real" horror anymore (what IS that, exactly?). Face it, folks -- King is one of our greatest, most important writers. He isn't just a "horror" writer, nor is he now trying to be a "literary" writer. For the most part he simply writes plain ol' fiction -- you know, the good stuff, or as he's often called it, "the truth inside the lie." He's an original, and there'll never be another with quite his narrative power again. Yes, his style may have changed a bit (but, hey, I thought life was supposed to be about change), but no one else can turn a phrase so it'll stop your heart the way King does, or write a sentance that's just so damned right it'll bring tears to your eyes. Everyone needs to read this beautiful book about love and loss. The so-called "great American novel" might be a pipe-dream, but after you read this book you may not be so sure. If this ends up being King's last novel, then it makes a fine capstone to a brillaint career. If not, then maybe the best is yet to come. Get well, Mr. King. As I said before, no one writes like you...

Wow. Crawl inside this book and live awhile.
This short story cycle is packed with vivid, real characters that seem like you've known them all your life. King embodies different viewpoints masterfully, plausibly capturing the perspectives of innocent children, college revolutionaries, vietnam vets, and baby boomers.

The first story, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," kicks off the action but is the weakest of this strong set. It's too tied into the Dark Tower series to seem as real as what follows. That said, it's still scary and moving, it just won't be as accessible to those who haven't read the Dark Tower series.

The remainder of the stories concentrate on real people in real situations with only a smattering of the supernatural. That's not to say there's no horror -- Vietnam certainly qualifies -- but this is the closest King's gotten to straight fiction.

What surprises literary types (and doesn't surprise those who've actually read King) is how well he pulls it off. He gives us social commentary, believable, complex characters, and engrossing storylines without a single vampire or undead cat.

I read this book in two sittings, then closed it and wiped away tears. King is not merely a fine horror writer, he's a fine writer, period.