Зеленият път, част 3: Ръцете на Кофи

The Green Mile #3

by Stephen King, Стивън Кинг, Крум Бъчваров (Translator)

Ръцете на Кофи

Добре дошли отново в блок Е, най-смъртоносното място от тази страна на електрическия стол, където насилието е ежедневие и където скоро ще започнат да се случват чудеса. Пол Еджкоум все повече се заинтригува от Джон Кофи, бруталния убиец на две момиченца.
Но Кофи разкрива нещо необичайно и животът на Зеления път навярно никога повече няма да е същият.

Зеленият път

Нищо от онова, което сте чели, не е в състояние да ви подготви за най-дръзкия експеримент на Стивън Кинг с ужаса, роман, който започва в отделението на смъртниците и потъва навътре към най-вледеняващите тайни на човешкото сърце.
Оставете се в ръцете на Стивън Кинг и ще усетите как хватката му става все по-силна.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery, Crime, Supernatural

156 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 30, 1996

About the author

Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Edgecombe, the superintendent of Block E, continues his story. He's in a nursery home and looking back at his time at Cold Mountain Penitentary. This time you come to know how Paul's urinary infection was healed and the troubles that came upon the arrival of Wild Bill Wharton. Besides you'll hear more about Delacroix and the further adventures of Mr Jingles, the mouse. Brilliant narration here. Absolutely convincing, compelling and sometimes even tragic. It's also about getting older and terminal ill. There's a nice comparison between those sentenced to death by law and those dying by disease. Wonderful tale I will have to continue! Highly recommended!

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn that reversal! Grrrr. I wanna slam that jerk.

My first impression of this novella was that it was all about pissing away a miracle. Literally. But no, just that pissing IS the real miracle.

I love it when I can walk away from a tale with a strong moral. ;)

I thought the dog university was cute, and what they were doing for the poor guy on death row was really sweet, so of course when spoiler spoiler spoiler happened, I was Really Pissed. Literally.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Green Mile was the first King story that I'd attempted to tackle as I wanted to start reading more 'grownup' books, the unique publication history of the serialized nature being a throwback to Dickens era was a tempting way for 13 year old me to try and read something more mature in short bursts.

Each month whilst still buying the latest Goosebumps (more out of loyalty at this point), I'd take a trip to the Cold Mountain Penitentiary and the events surrounding the condemned killers on death row.

King has always been strong on character and both Paul Edgecombe the stories narrator and death row supervisor alongside the massive figure of convinced John Coffey are the heartbeat of the novel.
King needed to work extra hard to establish a connection for his constant readers in hope they'd stick with them each month.

So much of the stories themes were clearly ill suited for this impressionable young reader first time around. 
Whilst most of the novel focuses on the magical realism, there's plenty of horrific moments that you'd expect from King.
Firstly John's conviction of raping and murdering two young girls is brutal, it's the gruesome fate that awaits Eduarad Delacroix that's almost as shocking too.

The events of this novel certainly had more of an emotional impact this time around, especially during the sixth and final part.
It's a powerful gut punch of an ending for characters you've grown to love.
This is the highest rated King novel on Goodreads and it's completely justified and will now be my recommendation for anyone who wants to read King for the first time.

[Tamoghna Biswas · Rating 4 out of 5]

So it begins. The goosebumps.

I’ve read people say that the best thing about this part is the end of the discussion regarding Paul’s urine infection. Well, I mean of course it is sidetracking but I felt the inclusion was necessary. If not anything, it still brings out the human side of the character, and as we know, it will play an important part in his recollections at the very end. And then there’s the ending, again. As heartbreaking as it’s outrageous.

Don’t you feel to this point that the characters of Percy and Wharton are a bit one-dimensional? I know it will change, but I’m strictly talking about this part only. Apart from that, Stephen King has solidified his place as one of my favourite writers of magic realism, through only one book from the genre.

[Chantal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again a great book in this series. Loved every word of it. Easy to read and I can see everything happening in front of my eyes. Great way of telling this story. Can't wait to start with part 4.

[Jo Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading these as they were originally published... one at a time. I'm reading one each month. I have to say, I was at the end of this one and my mouth was left hanging open for several minutes! I have never seen the movie, so this is truly all a new story for me. I couldn't believe the end, even though the action itself made perfect sense. It was just so abrupt, cold, and heartbreaking! This has been my favorite one so far, but I know it is gonna destroy me when I am to the end of #6... I highly recommend this!! :-)

[Karla Acuña · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personajes detestables y Percy

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coffey's Hands was the third of six installments of The Green Mile, King's serial novel which appeared in consecutive months in 1996. It was, of course, published in a single volume in 1997 and was adapted into one of the very best films based on his work; it returned to the best-seller lists in 1999 as a result, and is now known almost exclusively in its collected form, but I think it loses some of its magic. I picked up The Two Dead Girls soon after it hit the stands, and then made a point of popping into B. Dalton's monthly on release day of the next five months. The serial format, as King points out in his introduction, forces the reader to wait and ponder what might happen next, and spreading the reading experience over a half-year with all of that pondering and speculation really makes it a much more memorable experience. It's a really fascinating story, with some of his best characterization, from Coffey to Delacroix to Elaine and on and on, and never forget Mr. Jingles, the coolest mouse in literature since the iconic Algernon and Brown's Mitkey. It's not a "typical" King story but is definitely one of his best.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always in awe of King's ability to write characters. Even though you know they are criminals, you can't help but like them. Delacroix is a monster that killed several people, but you still feel for him, and his relationship with Mr.Jingles just makes him seem so harmless. Percy is a guard, he's supposed to be a good guy, but he's such a hateful character.
Meanwhile, a guy nicknamed Brutal, is a gentle giant. Someone who quite possibly was a saint. I loved that line in the book. I am not looking forward to the next installment because it's Del's execution. I've seen the movie so I know what happens, and I reaaally don't want to read about it. 5/5

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por qué tiene que llamarse Percy el sorete este? pobre Cascabel :( y lo que le espera a Delacroix...

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I gasped out loud at the very end of this section!!

[CadmanReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really hate Percy

[Lumalcav · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What did you do, big boy?" I asked in a low voice. "What did you do to me?"
"Helped," he said. "I helped it, didn´t I?"
"Yeah, I guess, but how? How did you help it?"
He shook his head -right, left, back to dead center.

Here we go!!!

[Kerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another great addition to the Green Mile series. I love how the beginning starts off with Paul in his old days discussing what made him think of certain occurances on the Mile, and how it made him remember that he needed to write about it and to not forget to include it in this story he is writting. Also I can't believe what part this section of the book leaves off at! It completely leaves you hanging in a most desparate part, where if this was when the books first came out and I was reading this, it would have made me want to pull my hair out! Lol, it would have killed me until the next section came out. However, I am glad that I have the next section so close at hand. I believe I will be reading that right after this :)

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Coffey's unique gift is revealed and Paul's urinary infection is finally healed so we don't have to keep hearing about it. All's well that ends well, right? Nope, the ending of this installment rips your heart out with the death of a certain adorable someone just when things start to feel like they're going nicely. Percy is a real scumbag and I hope he gets what's coming for him.

[Saranya ⋆☕︎ ˖ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides an undeniable proof of John Coffey's unique and profound gift. His ability to absorb and remove pain and illness. The grotesque description of the black motes and the almost violent act of absorbing pain makes the supernatural feel viscerally real.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read when it was first published

[Jesus Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aquí es la llegada del "Salvaje Bill" que es la continuación del caos del final del anterior.
Y un poco del jefe Paul investigando lo de Coffey, con una historia triste del reportero de un tema diferente.
Y para el final otro cliffhanger

Pasas por muchas emociones a pesar de ser cotitito

4 stars

[Laura Jelenkovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il miracolo di Coffey finisce quasi in secondo piano rispetto al l'umanità dei carcerieri, al loro rapporto con Del. E Percy? Quanto vorrei spaccargli la faccia col suo manganello. Quanto sei grande Stephen?

[Ｋａｔｅ · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time I read this book it felt like I’d experienced most every emotion known to man. From palpable loathing to impotent frustration to heart hurt with free-falling tears.

Well...second time ‘round...nothing has changed.

[itchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

20october2019

a fellow trainee lent me a copy of this series back in 2002.
then reread most probably in 2008, after 19september, when i was able to acquire the collected volume.

[Sarah Charleson · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars purely based on the fact this book made me - someone who has a SEVERE rodent phobia - bawl my eyes out and mourn the death of a mouse. Stephen King is magic in his writing and his ability to evoke an emotional response even with his relatively dry writing. I’m obsessed.

[Eline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik lees deze reeks in stukken, net zoals ze origineel werden uitgegeven. Het einde laat je met grote verbazing achter, ook al heb ik de film al meermaals gezien.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking back through what I've written, I see that I called Georgia Pines, where I now live, a nursing home. The folks who run the place wouldn't be very happy with that! According to the brochures they keep in the lobby and send out to prospective clients, it's a "state-of-the-art retirement complex for the elderly." It even has a Resource Center - the brochure says so. The folks who live here (the brochure doesn't call us "inmates," but sometimes I do) just call it the TV room.
Folks think I'm stand-offy because I don't go down to the TV room much in the day, but it's the programs I can't stand, not the folks. Oprah, Rikki Lake, Carnie Wilson, Rolanda - the world is falling down around our ears, and all these people care for is talking about fucking to women in short skirts and men with their shirts hanging open. Well, hell - judge not, lest ye be judged, the Bible says, so I'll get down off my soapbox. It's just that if I wanted to spend time with trailer trash, I'd move two miles down to the Happy Wheels Motor Court, where the police cars...

I've been reading a lot of academic and quasi-academic texts lately. So when I got to the first page of Coffey's Hands, I could only smile. This is what I've been missing. Man, King is King. I can't believe I put off reading this for so long.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This third installment continues to build the tension in the storyline introduced within the first two installments, even providing the reader with a mini-climactic ending. Still, I would have been very impatient while waiting a whole month to continue Paul Edgecombe's account of the harrowing events that took place during the fall of 1932 at Cold Mountain Penitentiary.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read this straight after the previous one to find out what happened. Great action in this one. The ending is horrible - but what a cliffhanger. Even better than the last one. A brilliant read.

[Dallass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aaaarrgghhh, Mr. Jingles 😭

Part Three did not go well. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it. But that ending. King just reached into my chest and ripped out my heart (although kudos to him on a great cliff hanging moment).

Now I have to wait another week to find out what happens.

I am loving this!

[Sara Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, King's writing is epic, creepy and thrilling.

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sad

[bookishdoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Percy is a monster !!! Oh my lord. I can't wait to start the next part.