12. THE GREEN MILE
BY STEPHEN KING
Mr. Jingles for President!
MY THOUGHTS:
“What happens on the mile, stays on the mile.”
The Green Mile, the film adaptation by Frank Darabont, is one of my top ten favorite films of all time. That film is a masterpiece! Right up there with The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. I’d never read the novel before this. I was quite surprised to learn it had actually been released as a Serial. That’s crazy to me. But now that I’ve read it, I’m more than pleased to report that not only is the novel excellent, but that the film is a shot-for-shot, line-for-line PERFECT adaptation, the likes of which I can’t say I’ve ever seen before. Frank Darabont proved to the world that you can just put the novel up on the screen, change practically nothing, and it can work. Not just “work”. It’s a masterpiece.
Let me be clear: Things were adjusted for the film, but nothing was lost. For example, in the novel, we skip back and forth in time from when Jon Coffey comes to the mile, then back to a time when Mr. Jingles arrived, then ahead a bit to when Del arrives, then forward more again to Jon Coffey having been there a bit. In other words, the film shifted the chronology of events, making it so Del is already there when Jon Coffey arrives, and THEN Mr. Jingles comes in. The chronology changed so the film can run in order without having to jump back to flashbacks. It works perfectly and changes nothing about the feel of the story. It all plays out exactly as it should.
Listening to this audiobook felt like watching the film all over again. (And I’ve watched that film many, many times.) All the way down to snivelling little Percy, compulsively combing his greasy black hair. The dialogue in the movie is ripped from the pages of the novel and slapped onto the screen. The actors they cast look EXACTLY as described in the novel, INCLUDING MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN! (Rest in peace, you magnificent giant.) Even the scenes in the old-folks home feel the same, despite tiny changes. In the film, Paul Edgecomb is telling his friend the story. In the book, he’s writing a memoir. But that same friend is there, and by the end of the book, she has learned everything she learns in the film.
I honestly cannot think of a better adaptation from novel to screen, save maybe for The Lord of the Rings, though those films, perfect as they are, changed a LOT from the books.
The narrator, Frank Muller, also does a great job with all the voices and accents in the audiobook. And there are some ACCENTS in this. Just think of the difference in speech between Wild Bill and Delacroix. The narrator pulls both of them off with ease. Including all of Delacroix’s Creole French he throws in from time to time. Outstanding.
I now love this book with equal intensity to its film adaptation. They are two masterpieces by master storytellers.
This was my second STEPHEN KING book. I’m starting to see what the hype is about.
Ten out of ten little brown mice.
