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Hearts in Atlantis

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Hearts in Atlantis

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: William Hurt
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About this listen

 Hearts in Atlantis is composed of five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War.

In Part One, "Low Men in Yellow Coats", 11-year-old Bobby Garfield discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighbourhood. He also discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers, but at the heart of the terror.

In the title story, a group of college students get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest...and confront their own collective heart of darkness, where laughter may be no more than the thinly disguised cry of the beast.

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 in an America which sometimes seems as hollow -- and as haunted -- as their own lives.

And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling", this remarkable book's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.

Full of danger and suspense, most of all full of heart, Hearts in Atlantis will take some listeners to a place they have never been, and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave.

©1999 Stephen King; (P)1999 Simon and Schuster Inc. Anthologies & Short Stories Fiction Genre Fiction Horror Short Stories War & Military Scary Heartfelt

Critic reviews

"An incredibly gifted writer, whose writing, like Truman Capote's, is so fluid that you often forget that you're reading." ( Guardian)
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The description for this says it's read by Stephen King. It's not! It's written by someone who constantly pauses at odd times as if he's unable to immediately read the next word. It's irritating and completely spoils one of King's better works. +3 stars for the story and -2 for the reading and that's being generous.

Be warned.

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What made the experience of listening to Hearts in Atlantis the most enjoyable?

The content. The writing was among King's best.

What did you like best about this story?

It's sensitivity

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of William Hurt?

Anybody ... absolutely anybody, Stephen should have done the whole thing. Hurt rarely captures the mood or the purpose of a sentence or moment. He also has a gratingly irritating tendency to roll between sentences like he's late for the bus. Very annoying.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh some, smile a lot.

Any additional comments?

The book, as wonderful as it was, was almost ruined as an experience for me due to Hurt's choice of style. I'm sure some people dig it but I can't stand it.

A beautiful piece, ALMOST spoiled by the narrator

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If was a well written story, just went on for what belt like forevert! Not one of his best

Good but dragged on a bit

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A different Stephen King novel than the others I've listened to. Really enjoyed it for that reason

King does it again. Great listen

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wonderful... ... ... ... ... perfect... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... just, perfect. listen. love.

just...

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