Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King (Audiobook Review)

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Title: Hearts in Atlantis

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Recorded Books

Narrator: William Hurt and Stephen King

Duration: 21 hours, 20 minutes

Copyright: 1999

Genres: supernatural, suspense, period

Filed in: Audiobook reviews

Review copy provided by Carrollton Public Library.



THE GIST: We all have things in our past that we are not proud of, and we all have different ways of reconciling those things with our present. This is the underlying theme of King’s “Hearts in Atlantis”. The five parts of this novel follow a group of kids, from their childhood in Harwich, Connecticut, through their adulthood.



In 1960, Bobby, Carol, and Sully-John are inseperable friends. They are looking forward to the summer vacation that lies before them. But an unusual old man has moved into Bobby’s building and things begin to change. Will they ever be the same? Dark Tower fans will enjoy the tie-in in this segment of the book.



Fast forward to 1966. Carol is off to college. She and the other students at the University of Maine are trying desperately to understand a world that has suddenly turned upside-down. They want to know why so many people are dying in Vietnam. Atlantis is sinking, and all they seem capable of doing is playing cards.



Jump to 1983. Willie Shearman is one of three boys that beat up Carol back in their elementary school days in Connecticut. Twenty-three years later, the memory of that act has driven “Blind Willie” to some unusual acts of atonement. But can you ever truly escape your past?



Now it’s 1999. Sully-John spent his time in the green and is still haunted by the things he saw there. He truly believes that his generation had the power to make a difference, but somewhere along the way they failed. He finally meets his destiny in a traffic jam on Interstate 95.



In the epilogue, Bobby Garfield has finally come back home to Harwich. So much of the old neighborhood has changed, but some things are forever; like old friendships.



MY THOUGHTS: Stephen King really outdid himself on “Hearts In Atlantis.” He has captured perfectly the confusion and rage on the streets of America, and the terror in the jungles of Vietnam in the 1960’s. I wasn’t around during this period of history, but King’s descriptions make me feel like I was really there.



On the technical side, what can I say about Stephen King that hasn’t already been said? The only problem I have with his audio books is that the characters swear and have sex too much. But I feel the same way about real people. I guess that’s the attraction, his characters are so life-like, I can’t help but care about them.



NARRATOR: “Hearts in Atlantis” was split almost half and half by William Hurt and Stephen King. William Hurt’s narration seemed very odd at first; he takes unusual pauses and puts accents in places where you normally would not accent. After listening to him for a while, however, Hurt’s style really began to grow on me. Before “Hearts In Atlantis” was over, I felt that I just couldn't get enough of his reading. William Hurt took a beautifully written story and made it something special.



This is not Stephen King’s only audio book that he narrated himself. I respect King’s writing ability a great deal, but I wish he would leave the narration to the professionals. I will say, however, that among the authors I have heard narrating their own audio books, Stephen King puts a little more feeling into it than most.



FINAL WORD: “Hearts In Atlantis” is for those of us who try hard to reconcile our past with our present. You can’t escape the past, but you can move on.



FILM ADAPTATION: “Hearts In Atlantis" was adapted to film in 2001. It starred Anthony Hopkins and David Morse who seems to show up in a lot of Stephen King’s movies. The film, which only covered one of the five parts in King’s audio book, was a moderate success at the box office.



CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:

Bag of Bones by Stephen King (Audiobook Review)

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King (Audiobook Review)

The Green Mile by Stephen King (Audiobook Review)





If you liked this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:

Get Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King (Unabridged Audiobook) from Amazon.com.)



Interested in the movie?

Get Hearts in Atlantis : Widescreen Edition from Amazon.com.



This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.

Audiobook review by Steven Brandt

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