Title: 11/22/63
Author: Stephen King
Series: N/A
Publisher: Scribner
Publish Date: 11/8/11
Genre: Adult Literary
Pages: 849
Source: Christmas Gift
Buy the Book: 11/22/63
Brian: What a way to go out on a fantastic year of reading, certainly my best ever. I read more books in 2012 than I have since I was probably in elementary school, and while not every book was a joy, I sure found some treasures, whether they be YA (Looking for Alaska), non-fiction (Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark), middle grade (Wonder), and adult literary (The Borrower). I saved one of my favorite genres for last: Stephen King. (The man’s pretty much a genre all his own, don’t you say?) My favorite author for nearly twenty years, Stephen King has entertained me more than any other author. I’ve read almost all of his novels, most of his short stories, his Bachman books, and On Writing at least a dozen times. I’ve heard some say he’s lost his touch over the years, that his books are poor imitations of his 70′s and 80′s work. I couldn’t disagree more. While he probably won’t ever reach the heights of The Shining and The Stand, his two milestones, I’ve loved his last two doorstoppers, Under the Dome, and this, his newest non-Dark Tower novel, 11/22/63. I started reading 11/22/63 on Monday, December 24, thinking I would need all 2 weeks of the Christmas break to read this nearly 1000-page whopper of a book, I plowed through it in half that time. While Under the Dome concentrated on over 100 characters, 11/22/63 focuses on just one: Jake Epping, a man who goes back in time from 2011 to 1958 with one goal… to stop the JFK assassination. This isn’t just one of the best books I read in all of 2012; it’s one of my favorite books of Stephen King’s entire canon. I LOVED this book!
Shaunta: It’s almost cliche for a writers of a certain age to say that Stephen King made them want to write. So, I’m cliche. That’s okay. I was given a copy of The Stand for my thirteenth birthday, and that was it. I was hooked not only on Stephen King, but on storytelling. I wanted to be a storyteller, like he is. More than a writer. My husband gave me 11/22/63 for Christmas last year, and I devoured it. I absolutely loved it. I’m a history junkie, and King did a magnificent job of bringing the early 60s to life here. He has a real way of making an unbelievable situation (a time portal inside a restaurant pantry?) believable. I think it’s just that he makes you want to believe, so that you can spend some time in his world. That’s the genius of his storytelling, and this book is no exception. It isn’t as purely incredible as some of his very early work, but it’s solid and super entertaining.
Brian: The joys of 11/22/63 are endless. As a writer and a teacher, I found Jake instantly relatable. The idea of telling an 850-page novel in the first person of one character is a daunting one, to say the least, but King pulls it off with Jake, who is flawed, passionate, charming, and brave. I would’ve happily spent another 500 pages with this guy. I’ve always been a fan of time travel stories (particularly when they’re done well), and King really nails it on giving us just enough information and imagination to make us buy the time travel scenario and paradoxes. The premise itself is a dynamite one, and what really makes the book exciting is that while we’re reading about Jake’s journey over the course of 1958 to 1963, the assassination attempt is always in the back of our minds, giving the book added suspense at almost every turn. But you know what really struck me? The spying on Lee Harvey Oswald, and the chunk of pages actually dedicated to the saving of JFK, is not the most interesting part of this behemoth: it’s the beautifully captured relationship between Jake, and a young teacher he meets named Sadie. Hundreds of pages are dedicated to the building of this relationship, and it’s totally absorbing.
Shaunta: It’s true. The relationship between Jake and Sadie is incredible. It was almost ruined for me by King’s attempt (for the first time that I’ve ever read) to write sex. Whoo boy. It was kind of like walking in on your parents. Wrong. Awkward. Some authors can do it. Some shouldn’t, ever. My own book is a time travel book, and I was totally inspired by this book (which I read as I was revising mine last year.) It’s harder than you might think, to keep two time lines in order. Plus, he managed to keep the pacing for almost 1000 pages, which is incredible by itself.
Brian: Of course I was intrigued at how King was going to end this book. There were probably twenty endings King could have come up with, probably seventeen or eighteen the wrong one. What Jake learns in the end, and what he ends up doing ultimately, is not what I expected, and it works beautifully. The whole time I thought I knew what was going to happen (and I had a good idea what I would do if I was writing it), but King subverted my expectations, gave me horrific twists I didn’t see coming, and a final scene that literally brought tears to my eyes. Even at his best, King doesn’t usually make me FEEL this much, bring forth these many emotions, and in that regard, 11/22/63 is a home run. Besides Under the Dome, I haven’t read much King in the last few years, but reading this made me want to return to his world more frequently. He was my favorite in 1994, and he’s still my favorite today. Stephen King is my hero.
