Hearts in Atlantic by Stephen King

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
Reviewed by Donia A.

Currently, I'm reading Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King. I have to admit that I only picked up the book because I was curious to read Stephen King's infamous writing. Of course, this isn't his typical psychological thriller, but it's still an intense read. It delves into a time period, the 1960's, when everything was chaotic. It starts off , before the Vietnam War in 1960, in a very rough town with a rather dysfunctional family of main characters.

The first part is called the Yellow Men in Coats. It's about a young boy named Bobby who lives with his mother. His father died and his mother seems never to miss a day without explaining the horrible state their father left them in. At first, Bobby seems to have normal boy problems- bullying, a girl crushing on him, and discovering the world of reading. However, when a strange old man named Ted moves into the third floor of his building, he brings with him a world of fantasy and danger to Bobby. He befriends the old man quickly and falls in love with the novels the man has in his apartment. Bobby's mother immediately hates the old man, though, because of his appearance, even though the old man is very intelligent.

Through a series of adventures and mishaps, Bobby and his friends go live a difficult life that kills their innocence quicker than usual. Bobby eventually grows up to become an infamous trouble-maker whom even his two closest friends, Carol and Sully-John, don't want to have anything to do with.

I am not quite done with the second part titled Hearts in Atlantis, the title of the book, but honestly, the constant use of the game of hearts as a symbol is getting annoying. It's probably only me, but Stephen King emphasizes it so much that it quickly becomes redundant. However, I do love the characters and their different personalities. I'm also enjoying all the irony portrayed. This part takes place in 1966 and we're following a different narrator named Pete Riley. The two stories connect (so far) through Carol. She was Pete Riley's "temporary" girlfriend and had Sully-John as a boyfriend before. Although, the story is really interesting, as it described the political standpoint of those against the Vietnam War, I find myself waiting for Bobby to appear. So far, I liked the first part a lot better.

Maybe it's because I don't understand the game of hearts well and the majority of the text revolves around its irony and symbolism. Also, I think I enjoyed the first part more because it's more my genre: fantasy mixed with reality. The second part is simply historical fiction and I'm not really that excited to read about the Vietnam War protests.

One thing I'm sure of, though, is that by the time I finish this book, I will love it. I'm not saying it's not a good book now, for what it is, it's wonderful; it's just not an"I must stay up all night and read it until it's finished" kind of book.