This is the first Stephen King novel I have had the pleasure of reading. I know his previous works were science fiction or horror. But this book must stand in a league of its own.
The book follows Jake Epping as he travels back in time to prevent the assassination of John F Kennedy. The assassination of JFK has been endlessly discussed and dissected in the literary media; but amid the plethora of literature on the subject, no one realized what we actually needed written was someone travelling back in time to prevent the assassination from taking place.
To my surprise, the time travel device and concept presented here is fresh and unique. Stephen King keeps just enough of the time travel mechanics to himself during the first section of the book to keep the reader fully absorbed on what’s about to come. The concepts of time presented here such as the obdurate past and harmonics of time are brilliant. Another satisfying aspect of this novel is how King ties everything together at the end, leaving the reader fully satisfied.
The US of 1960s is sketched out in such vivid detail that one finds himself right along with Jake Epping as he tries to navigate through the Land of Ago. The characters and the streets are etched in my mind and I still find myself visualising the house on 2703 Mercedes Street.
As I was nearing the end of book, I realized that even though I had been waiting endlessly for the climax, I still wanted the book to continue. Having fully engrossed myself in the 1960s, I didn’t want to leave just yet. Now, I am waiting for myself to forget enough of this book to go for a re-read.
After rereading it and then reading Revival the stuff about the ‘obdurate past and harmonic of time’ to me is King’s occasional pulling back of the curtain and getting a glimpse of the Lovecraftian cthulhu whatevers that are pulling the levers and strings of what we perceive as reality.
It was interesting that one couldn’t just pull up stakes and run away to another part of the country and reinvent oneself with a new identity, that people did indeed do background checks.