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.
9/10ths of the book is great, it kind of lost we in the last few chapters after he got back after his extended trip. I will say that I think the leadup to the Oswald showdown from Derry to Dallas is some of the best storytelling that King has written, I could barely put it down.
Stephen King is notorious for brilliant beginnings and batshit endings.
IT starts with the brilliant line: “The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years - if it ever did end - began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.”
And then toward the end there’s a child orgy.
Cocaine is a hell of a drug.
I didn’t mind the ending in 11/22/63. It seemed satisfactory to me. It wasn’t really batshit. IIRC it just went on a bit long. Certainly very far from a “throw the book across the room” kind of ending.
I’ve literally just grown accustomed to reading 80% of Stephen King novels and then shelving them. His endings are complete shit. There is never a payoff and in a lot of cases the ending are just “it was something supernatural.” Yeah, thanks dude.
I like the ending to this one.