THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610070189
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY GREGORY N. KROLCZYK
LENGTH: 46 lines
THE GREEN MILE
Part 6: Coffey on the Mile
Signet. 138 pp. $3.99.
So, is John Coffey innocent of the rape-murders of the twin girls? And if so, can head guard Paul Edgecomb save him from walking the Green Mile? And what about sadistic guard Percy Wetmore? Can he be silenced? What will become of maniacal prisoner William ``Billy the Kid'' Wharton? Does Percy-clone Brad Dolan get his comeuppance? Do present-day Paul Edgecomb, telling this Death Row story in retrospect, and his nursing-home companion Elaine Connelly live happily ever after?
And just what did happen to that goofy little mouse?
Suffice it to say that in Part 5, ``Night Journey,'' there were a lot of strings left dangling, and now only 138 pages left in which to tie them together. So the question begs: Does he do it?
Yes. Yes, he does. And then some.
In ``Coffey on the Mile,'' the final part of this paperback novel-on-the-installment-plan adventure, Stephen King answers all. And he does so with aplomb. No cheap tricks (well, maybe one), no talking heads, no over-rationalizing. In fact, it's a shame that he doesn't handle all of his novels' conclusions as well.
This is not to say that everyone will be happy with the resolutions. Quite to the contrary, much of what happens is truly sad. Satisfying, but sad nevertheless.
And thus ends the grand experiment; King's first - and last, if he's to be believed - serial novel has come to a close. And I, for one, will miss it. Though it is not without its problems, The Green Mile has a lot of things going right with it, things that will hopefully be incorporated into future works. Until then, suffice it to say . . .
All's well that ends well. MEMO: Gregory N. Krolczyk is a writer who lives in Kill Devil Hills,
N.C. by CNB