11/22/63 (Stephen King) review, minor spoilers
I’m rather excited to talk about this book, I cant go into detail about much of it without spoiling much of anything.
11/22/63 is a novel by Stephen King revolving around the Kennedy Assassination. A schoolteacher named Jake Epping is shown a portal into the past. The thing about this portal is that it always takes you to the same day, time and place , most importantly the year 1958. He gets talked into a plan wherein he goes through it and lives in the past until 1963 when he would then try to stop the Kennedy assassination. And that’s about it… The book is as much about his story as it is about the assassination, in truth I prefer the goings on in his life than the “main” plot line. I put main in quotations because I eventually stopped caring about it. There’s a lot that happens in the book, much more than what I have mentioned here and while it isn’t exactly spoiler territory it is something I would prefer someone learn about and experience by reading it rather than by me telling you about it. What is most unfortunate for me is that I can’t tell you about the ending, it again would negate the whole don’t disperse details thing I was saying before. Prepare yourself for a little bit of cheesiness and a little cliche because I’m about to lay it thick. The ending is perfect for a book having to do with time travel, here’s why… It is a great ending to the story while at the same time (at least in my opinion) is wholly unsatisfying. Its a duality that somehow works, like to paths in a timestream… It made me feel emotion for characters in a way that not many books have. I do get emotional and or attached to characters but not on a level like this. In a way I felt what they felt and that more than makes up for the way it ends.
One thing I do feel I need to mention is that this story felt, for lack of better words, like a grown up Steven King book. Anyone who has read more than one of his books knows that he has a way of describing and writing certain things that can come across as a bit harsh or disturbing or downright vulgar to some people. While this books certainly has some of those essences (it wouldn’t be a King book if it didn't) it seems toned down. As he is getting older Ive noticed that his writing is becoming a little more reserved and it really is a noticeable difference. When it comes down to it, it lends a smoother reading experience that just flows and you can really lose yourself in the pages.
This book quickly became one of my favorites and I’m pretty comfortable saying my favorite King book. It’s the first one I have ever read that I reread in less than 6 months. I remember finishing it and moving on to the next book in my list and halfway through I found myself missing this story. By the next book I was itching to go through it again and so I found myself less than 2 months after turning the final page ripping through it again and finding myself as satisfied as the first time. I dont think I have to give much more of a recommendation than that so I’ll close off here.
Thank you for spending some time with this blog and have a good day. I hope you’ll stop in again.
Nautilus,
Suravye ninto manshima taishite
P.S. I forgot while writing this to mention the show that was put out a year or so ago. I didnt have the opportunity to watch it so I cant really relate it to anything here, I just know of some of the minor changes that they made for it. If you enjoyed it and didnt read the book I suggest checking it out because I heard it does take its time a little more with the story. Farewell!
