Rarely does it happen to me that I read a book which actually causes me to tear up to some extent and which I can't stop thinking about even months after turning the last page. You might should have heard about the movie adaption starring Tom Hanks and the late Michael Clarke Duncan (may he rest in peace), and if you haven't considered watching it yet, then please don't hesitate to do so for even one moment. The Green Mile is easily one of my favorite movies of all time, and to be completely honest, I had certain doubts about whether the Stephen King novel it was actually adapted from would be capable of causing the same range of emotions in me as the movie did. 
 And oh, how it succeeded with doing that. 
 First off, allow me to mention something about my love-hate-relationship with Stephen King. During the 80's, he built up for himself a reputation as being one of the major horror writers of his time, but few people actually know about the few touching, emotionally affecting stories he can be called responsible for - let me just mention Stand By Me and Shawshank Redemption, both of which are beautiful movies actually based on a less famous work by Stephen King. I am the first one to admit that King has a capability to write novels you will have a lot of troubles with if you expect to find stories with literary worth. But books like The Green Mile are what I love this author for. 
 For those who are unfamiliar with the story, The Green Mile is the nickname for the death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary, a prison in Louisiana. During the 1930s, our protagonist Paul Edgecomb receives John Coffey into his custody as supervisor of the death row. Coffey turns out to be physically intimidating, but mentally challenged. How could a man like him, a man who is afraid if the lights are not kept on during the night, have been capable of murdering two innocent girls? Trust me, this is not a story about Coffey's guilt or innocence, however. What King confronts us with is a character-driven story about the daily events on the death row, raising moral and ethic questions along the way, allowing us to care about the small amount of characters he presented to us. Untypically for King's novels, we only meet a few characters, but even those of minor importance to the story are drawn out in such a fascinating way that it becomes difficult to resist caring for all of them. 
 Originally, King published this book in six different installments before releasing the six parts altogether in this novel. Each of those six parts focuses on different elements to the story, with all these parts interfering with each other along the way and finally weaving together a convincing picture of a prison in the 30's. Is this book only about life in prison, however? No, it isn't - by far it isn't. In a frame story, King introduces us to the older Paul Edgecomb who revisits the events on the Green Mile in an attempt to write down his story before his memory can begin to fade away. King starts off each of the six installments of the story by including more insight on the story of Paul's older self, until he finally manages to masterfully create the illusion of two deeply connected plots. 
 Supernatural elements are a minor part of the story, though - as skeptical as I usually am about stories involving magical realism - its inclusion mainly just allowed to emphasize the beauty of the story. 
 "Coffey like the drink, only not spelled the same way." Coffey is introduced as a simple-minded man who is not capable of even understanding what he is accused of, and Paul Edgecomb realizes this - just like he realizes that there is more to the character of John Coffey than just the accusation of having raped and murdered two girls. The cast of characters in this novel is truly convincing - we meet Brutus "Brutal" Howell, Eduard Delacroix with his beloved pet mouse Mr. Jingles, and of course Percy Wetmore. If you haven't met Percy yet, you just have to know that there are actually polls circling around the internet asking whether Hannibal Lecter or Percy Wetmore is the most evil antagonist ever to be introduced in a novel/movie. And Percy actually has more than just a few votes. 
 Talking about Mr. Jingles, I will miss him. Oh, how I will miss him. 
 In the end, this story manages more than just to raise questions. It turned me into a pile of emotions, ranging from nostalgia over grief up to relief - but mostly nostalgia. The last pages included some of the best writing I have ever encountered and yes, I will gladly admit that both the movie and the book made me cry, and I don't find it difficult to believe that they will continue to make me do so in future. Because out of all the movies I have seen and the books I have read, The Green Mile in both its book and its movie version is a story I am going to revisit over and over. 
 If you have only seen the movie, then please don't fear reading the book because even though it is a completely different experience due to a few minor changes and, obviously, a huge distinction in its narrative, the book doesn't fail to convince even after having watched the movie. And if you have only read the book - then what are you waiting for? The Green Mile is, in my opinion, one of the best book-to-movie adaptions which have ever entered the big screen. 
 A beautiful, touching book which I am never going to forget. 
 Buddy Read with Anne who I have to truly thank for continuously encouraging me to keep up reading!