Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Book Review: 11/22/63



 
11/22/63 by Stephen King

When Al finds a portal to 1958 in his diner, he talks Jake Epping, a local English teacher,  into going on a mission back in time to stop the assassination of JFK from happening. But they find you really can't change the past without drastically changing the future.

I'm not usually a reader of Stephen King novels, mostly because he creeps me out. But I actually really enjoyed this book. I loved how King made references throughout to some of his other books (IT, Shawshank Redemption, The Body, etc.) and how I really didn't know what was going to happen next. It was also interesting to know that King spent over a decade researching the JFK assassination for this book. 11/22/63 is a little long, but well worth the 700 pages or so.

I give it a B+.

4 comments:

  1. I listened to 11/22/63 on my own audiobook a few years ago, before I discovered the book club. The narrator was great, but I remember being about halfway thru and marveling at how truly long (and historically detailed) it was! The audiobook surprised me at the end by actually playing 'In the Mood'. I was at work. I cried like a baby.

    Earlier this week, I read an interesting interview that Neil Gaiman did with Stephen King a few years back -- he has some interesting things to say about people who call him a horror writer. Not sure if you are interested, but it kind of touches on what you said regarding horror: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/04/popular-writers-stephen-king-interview.html

    I actually laughed out loud at this part: "I was down here in the supermarket, and this old woman comes around the corner this old woman – obviously one of the kind of women who says whatever is on her brain. She said, 'I know who you are, you are the horror writer. I don’t read anything that you do, but I respect your right to do it. I just like things more genuine, like that Shawshank Redemption.'"

    I came to a really slow acceptance that Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. I mean, I love genre fiction and indie authors and more brainy stuff and hate horror movies, so how can I like an author that is so darn popular and popular for his horror at that?!? But I realized that I love how he can capture emotions and snippets of modern life. He is popular for a reason. And now I am hoping to read all his stuff. Someday. Because the man writes 700 page novels twice a year like it is No Big Deal. :)

    If you ever have 9 + months of your life to devote to it, I totally recommend King's Dark Tower series. It is King's epic fantasy series.

    Sorry for the super long comment! I've been following your reviews and really enjoying them!

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    1. Stephanie! I LOVE your comments! :D

      I agree. I usually avoided Stephen King's stuff, both because of his mass popularity and his horror stories, but the few I have read have all been so, so good, and make me want more! His storytelling abilities are truly unparralelled.

      And I LOVE that article. Especailly (wierdly...) the part about Amy Tan channeling a dominatrix while singing "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'". King sounds like a fantastic, humble guy, even though he's a huge presence in the literary world.

      This makes me want to go read some more of his stuff now! Thank you for that! :D

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    2. :) Got to share my newly minted King love!

      Did you see that Hulu announced a TV show based on this book?

      http://blog.hulu.com/2014/09/22/stephen-kings-best-seller-112263-finds-its-place-in-history-with-direct-to-series-order-from-hulu/

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    3. Oooh!!! That makes me so excited!! And JJ Abrams. I usually love his stuff! Really looking forward to this!

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