Hearts in Atlantis discussion

I have neither read the full book nor seen the movie, so I hope someone can fill me in on which one is worthier of my time.

If you want my honest opinion, neither one. The book was horrible and movies are almost ALWAYS more boring than the book, so I can't even imagine how anyone would even sit all the way through a movie of it.

I haven't seen the movie, but I understand it to only cover the first story in this book, Low Men In Yellow Coats. If you're a Dark Tower fan, this is an important tie-in, and would fit best, in my opinion, between books 4 and 5. (Not sure with respect to the soon-to-be-released book 4.5.) I enjoyed this book. These are good stories with interesting characters. More generally, my default answer to questions of the form, "book or movie?" is "book". Movies are almost never better than the books they're based on, and tend to have the unwanted side-effect of coloring one's impression of the book. That said, I might watch the movie some day, because Anthony Hopkins is good.

Above poster is right. Hearts of Atlantis, the title story, has little to do with the movie itself. In fact, I would love to see a movie version of that...it isnt a supernatural story, but a remembrance of the Vietnam era with some very interesting scenes and statements.

It actually doesn´t have much of the Vietnam war. I was expecting ted to be a vet himself, but no. Book is way better.

the movie is OK but I really enjoyed the book. As always, a lot more detail and suspense. Great book.

Nic wrote: "I have neither read the full book nor seen the movie, so I hope someone can fill me in on which one is worthier of my time."
As usual, the book is much better (even though I love Hopkins), but better even than the book (very rare) may be the audiobook read by William Hurt. By far the best audiobook I've heard. Tremendous piece of acting.

The movie only covers about 25% of the total story in the book since the book is made up of more characters and more stories than just the first one. I much preferred the book, though I do like Anthony Hopkins.

If you're hoping for an adventure Stephen King Horror type set of stories, though, look elsewhere. These stories are mostly about growing up and growing old, looking back and looking inward. I absolutely loved it, but it's worth knowing what you're in for with these. Cujo this ain't.

In my experience, that's what people mean when they give it one star or call it "boring." They were looking for The Shining and picked up a book about reflecting on the turns and shifts in a life and the way things look in retrospect. Nostalgia and beautiful memories are not everyone's cup of tea in reading.

I liked both. I think SK is the best writer ever when it comes to describing that awkward age of twelve or so (this book and It, in particular.) if you are a real fan you should know Ted and the low men figure heavily in the later Dark Tower series.

I reread this in the hospital. The first point to make is that the Low Men in Yellow Coats novella is the best one. If you are a fan of Stephen King this is necessary to read, because of the tie-ins. As usual, he makes me believe things I would not normally believe.
I saw the movie a decade ago, and while it was ok, big parts were omitted or changed. It is odd that the movie is based on Low Men, but used the title of the other novella.

Marilyn wrote: "I liked both. I think SK is the best writer ever when it comes to describing that awkward age of twelve or so (this book and It, in particular.) if you are a real fan you should know Ted and the ..."

I couldn't agree more on the part of the best writer describing that awkward age, the struggles and joys of being kids and growing up...

I really liked the movie, and I got why they had to change the whole part about the low men, they obviously couldn't put in the movie all the DT references