I love Stephen King. He is one my favorite writers and I haven't yet come across any of his books that I didn't like. And this is definitely one of his better books.
11.22.63 is about one of those milestone events that had an immense impact on the lives of Americans. JFK was assassinated. A (dubiously) well-placed bullet struck the President's head while he was on a motorcade with his wife in Dallas, Texas. The guy they arrested for this was Lee H Oswald. An American marine who defected to USSR and then defected back to the US. He was famously a wife-beating whackjob, and was also famously quoted saying, "I'm just a patsy!"
This event seems to have just enough fodder to make just about any author water in his mouth. And in the hands of the King. It is nothing short of a masterclass in prose.
Stephen King is not always known for being a stickler for straightforward classical form of story telling. He usually does it in his own nonchalant way that resonates with the reader and actually feels like we are all sitting around a bonfire with Mr King and when is going on about the day a rabid dog got a woman trapped in her own car. But in this book he seems to have toned down his macabre side and taken the persona of the small town teacher that he himself once was. Only difference, the protagonist in the book is a teacher who quite possibly can change the world as we know it.
The book explores the idea whether given the chance to go back in time and put and end to vicious evil, would you?
Time travel.
Most of us would probably just use it to travel back in time and become the most excellent historians ever, I know there are dozens of other books fiction and non-fiction on this topic. But seriously, this book makes more sense of it than a lot of those.
As always, the story itself is brilliant. Very sensitive and grounded. There is no over-the-top, unrealistic heroics. No too-evident effort to make the character extra-hated or extra-loved. Everything is just right. Everything is just proper. And understanding the sort of book Mr King is out to write, this strategy actually makes sense. I loved the scenes were Jake Epping became the good angel. The really violent heart-wrenching ones ones. As also the sweet cribbage-playing sweet-wife ones.
Most of all I liked Sadie. The sweet, clumsy, naive school librarian who makes the protagonist fall in love so hard that he would've been willing to change the course of all mankind just to hold her one more time.
Mr King rarely is known to be a sensitive writer. In pop culture, he is nearly always known for his horror and thrillers. But read this book, and you'll probably start to better appreciate the writer's range.
Plus, it really is a GREAT story!
11.22.63 is about one of those milestone events that had an immense impact on the lives of Americans. JFK was assassinated. A (dubiously) well-placed bullet struck the President's head while he was on a motorcade with his wife in Dallas, Texas. The guy they arrested for this was Lee H Oswald. An American marine who defected to USSR and then defected back to the US. He was famously a wife-beating whackjob, and was also famously quoted saying, "I'm just a patsy!"
This event seems to have just enough fodder to make just about any author water in his mouth. And in the hands of the King. It is nothing short of a masterclass in prose.
Stephen King is not always known for being a stickler for straightforward classical form of story telling. He usually does it in his own nonchalant way that resonates with the reader and actually feels like we are all sitting around a bonfire with Mr King and when is going on about the day a rabid dog got a woman trapped in her own car. But in this book he seems to have toned down his macabre side and taken the persona of the small town teacher that he himself once was. Only difference, the protagonist in the book is a teacher who quite possibly can change the world as we know it.
The book explores the idea whether given the chance to go back in time and put and end to vicious evil, would you?
Time travel.
Most of us would probably just use it to travel back in time and become the most excellent historians ever, I know there are dozens of other books fiction and non-fiction on this topic. But seriously, this book makes more sense of it than a lot of those.
As always, the story itself is brilliant. Very sensitive and grounded. There is no over-the-top, unrealistic heroics. No too-evident effort to make the character extra-hated or extra-loved. Everything is just right. Everything is just proper. And understanding the sort of book Mr King is out to write, this strategy actually makes sense. I loved the scenes were Jake Epping became the good angel. The really violent heart-wrenching ones ones. As also the sweet cribbage-playing sweet-wife ones.
Most of all I liked Sadie. The sweet, clumsy, naive school librarian who makes the protagonist fall in love so hard that he would've been willing to change the course of all mankind just to hold her one more time.
Mr King rarely is known to be a sensitive writer. In pop culture, he is nearly always known for his horror and thrillers. But read this book, and you'll probably start to better appreciate the writer's range.
Plus, it really is a GREAT story!
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