Book Review: “11/22/63″
At one time, I was a huge Stephen King fan. I’ve always been a student of history. Alternate realities and the question of “what if?” appeal to the mystery author in me.
Therefore, 11/22/63 is the kind of book that could have been written just for me.
For those who aren’t the students of history, or haven’t heard the buzz around this novel, ask any American baby boomer about November 22, 1963, and he or she can no doubt tell you exactly what happened that day. No matter where that person lived or what else they had going on in their lives, at one point all attention was focused on Dallas, Texas.
The President of the United States had been shot.
History books tell us that Lee Harvey Oswald was the loan shooter and he did so from the book depository in Dallas. However, the people enjoy a good conspiracy theory, don’t they?
11/22/63 is a true exercise in “what if?” What if Oswald was solely responsible for the death of JFK? What if Kennedy had lived? What if the United States had skipped that mess in Viet Nam altogether? Wouldn’t the world of today be a much better place?
That is the premise behind 11/22/63. This is a story of a diner owner (Al) who finds that his storage room has the ability to transport him to the same day & time in 1958. And when he returns through the “rabbit hole,” no matter if he stayed in the past for an hour, a day or even years, the 2011 time is always only two minutes later. The diner owner returned to 1958 over and over just to buy cheep hamburger to keep his business cost low. Next time the “rabbit hole” is accessed it’s a “complete reset” and
Time, however, has a way of catching up to all of us and Al is no different. He’s dying.
Al believes the world of today would be a much better place if Oswald hadn’t pulled the trigger in 1963. He convinces Jake Epping, English teacher and loyal customer of the diner, to travel back in time, live there for awhile, stop the assassination of JFK, and make the world a better place.
Jake takes on the challenge. He takes care of Oswald, returns to the year 2011 — five years older just two minutes later — and everyone lives happily ever after.
Yeah, right.
Al briefly explains the butterfly effect before Jake accepts the mission. Whatever the two men change in the past, will have some impact on the future. But, if they don’t like what they’ve done, they can always just return to 1958 and it will be like it never happened.
I’m not sure how I feel about the book. While I was reading the 800+ page tome, I enjoyed it. My personal “unforgettable moments in history” start with the assassination attempt President Ronald Reagan. Because of my age, perhaps, I was enthralled with the descriptions of the late 1950s and early 1960s. King, always the master of description, didn’t let me down.
King pointed out the good (prices) and the not so good (air pollution and constant smoking) that were a part of the time. Let’s be honest. It was the way that it was and it’s no use trying to make the past seem either better or worse.
I also enjoyed the resistance Jake encountered. The past did not want to be changed and did what it could to stop him.
However, the five years Jake spends between arriving on the other end of the “rabbit hole” and the fateful day in Dallas sometimes drag on without adding to the overall plot. Yes, it’s a lot of time to fill. Yes, there were more than 800 pages to the book, giving King plenty of space to fill that time. However, I felt that we didn’t need to know a play-by-play of Jake’s every move. I’m also not sure we needed to know his every adventure in the “Land of Ago” since King really did a great job of setting some of the adventures through Al. I also disliked the way the characters seemed to ignore whatever they disagreed with or didn’t understand. Yes, that’s human nature to dismiss what doesn’t fit, however, I thought the characters did it a little too often.
Having said all that, I enjoyed the book. It was a little long and there were scenes that could have been cut or shortened, but the story was interesting and the descriptions great.
The book wasn’t the Stephen King I remember from my youth, either. And that’s not a bad thing! This novel didn’t have the horror aspects I remember from years ago. Frankly, I don’t think horror would have worked for this story.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. Have you read it? What did you think?
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