Need a refresher on Low Men in Yellow Coats please :)

[unclelouie]

So last summer, I bought Hearts in Atlantis, after finishing DTVII, basically just to read "The Low Men In Yellow Coats" section, as I was on a "I must read everything directly related to the Dark Tower kick". So I read the "Low Men", and then never finished the rest of the novel. So, I plan to begin reading again tonight, and hopefully finish the book this time. But... it's been 6 months or more since I read Low Men, so I kinda need a refresher...

I remember the basic premise of the book, but forgot a few things...

1) Did Ted give Bobby his psychic powers by touching his shoulders? Were Bobby's powers permamnent, or did they eventually fade after Ted was taken by the Low Men?

2) What happened with Bobby and his friends, Carol and Sully? From what I remember, Bobby took revenge against the guy who broke Carol's arm, and Carol sort of became scared of Bobby after that? Is that right? And Sully and Bobby grew apart when Sully went to camp that summer? The end part is kind of fuzzy now. I know Bobby kinda became a juveline deliqient after he moved to MA with his mom. Right?

[Sepia and Dust]

What happened with Bobby and his friends, Carol and Sully? From what I remember, Bobby took revenge against the guy who broke Carol's arm, and Carol sort of became scared of Bobby after that? Is that right? And Sully and Bobby grew apart when Sully went to camp that summer? The end part is kind of fuzzy now. I know Bobby kinda became a juveline deliqient after he moved to MA with his mom. Right?

Can't answer that without spoiling the rest of the book for you.

[Walter Oobleck]

I like how many of the ideas or themes present in the stories are echoed in more recent works from King. Great story. This story is the reason I looked for a way to thank the man who has brought me so much reading pleasure. King wrote in an afterword to Bag of Bones

Hearts in Atlantis might explain a little bit about just what we were and why we turned out the way we did. I hope you'll read it and tell me what you think. In the meantime...peace, dude.

So I did...but I was so caught up w/Bag of Bones that part of my message was lost in the right or left column, I forget which, where I went on and on about something...maybe the Eastern Island monoliths. (Bones has that business about go down nineteen...a kind of bool hunt, that I enjoyed, too.) My wife thinks it is amusing when she catches a teardrop in my eye...so when I reread I know when to find sanctuary in the other room.

[mustangclaire]

I absolutely LOVE this book, how each tale within is tied together. I think it's one of his saddest too. Enjoy.

[GNTLGNT]

[unclelouie]

Thank you, GNTLGNT, that is a lovely portrait there. You gotta love the description of the Low Men in Bobby's mind... their faces moving under their faces... yuck.... The Low Men are some of SK's raunchiest characters (almost as nasty as the Children of Rod.. especially the one who eats boogers out of the trashcan).

Anyhow, I skimmed the end of Low Men, and began reading Hearts in Atlantis (the novella) last night. Love it so far. Peter, Nate, Skip, etc. all remind me of people I knew in college. Thats why I love SK... he always seems to be able to write things we all can relate to.