From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

11/22/63

Stephen King

Start date: September 1, 2023

Finish date: February 29, 2024

Discussion: LONG READS

Why we're reading this: September 2023 - READ-A-LONG Selection
[close] September 2023 - READ-A-LONG Selection

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What Members Thought

Apr 30, 2022 Amber Lea rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, horror

I just want to start by saying that I liked this book. Even though it’s longer than what I typically like to read I think it was worth the commitment. I was ready to bail on this if it wasn’t holding my attention, and I can say I was never bored. That being said this review is going to focus on what I didn’t like.

So two things. 1) King sucks at writing women. I didn’t fully realize how much he sucked at it until I read this. And 2) I thought the ending was going to be way crazier than it was and I just want to start by saying that I liked this book. Even though it’s longer than what I typically like to read I think it was worth the commitment. I was ready to bail on this if it wasn’t holding my attention, and I can say I was never bored. That being said this review is going to focus on what I didn’t like.

So two things. 1) King sucks at writing women. I didn’t fully realize how much he sucked at it until I read this. And 2) I thought the ending was going to be way crazier than it was and I’m kind of bummed. I thought the foreshadowing was leading somewhere a lot more interesting.

So let’s start with my biggest and least spoilery gripe: the character of Sadie. Sadie never felt like a real person. She’s a male fantasy. My skepticism toward her started with (view spoiler)

Also, Sadie should have had some capital I issues that weren’t cute after everything she’d been through. I feel like it’s extra aggravating because the book spends so much time pontificating about how the 50’s weren’t a perfect Utopia, and then we get Sadie. It’s just like, “Oh yeah, men used to beat their wives. That’s what sucked about the 50’s for women, right?” What sucked was the expectation of being a Sadie. Women were expected to be virgins, waiting for the right man, and then overnight become unashamed and completely comfortable with sex. But you know, not too comfortable. It feels super gross that the protagonist got to have the fantasy of being with a 50’s woman who’s wholesome but not a prude. I feel like King thought it was progressive because Sadie was tall and strong willed, but that just made her more of a fantasy because she wasn’t needy or frail. She was just perfect. A woman anyone could love. But not the kind of character any real woman could identify with.

Alright, ending spoilers ahead in this paragraph: I had so many ideas for where I thought this was headed. I thought it was going to turn out that (view spoiler) I WAS READY FOR IT TO GET COMPLICATED. And I was already prepared for the idea this wouldn’t work and his mission would fail, I just thought it would be SPECTACULAR. I feel like King was setting you up to expect crazy things at the end, and I was like DAMN. It could have been so interesting! (view spoiler) I listened to the ending twice and I still don’t fully grasp the concept of the yellowcard man.

On a minor note, I feel like King wrote this book because he really likes the word “obdurate” and he set out to inject it into the public consciousness. ...more

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Nov 02, 2020 Kim Sasso rated it it was ok

Interesting premise and it's refreshing to read a book written by someone with a command of language and and appreciation for sentence structure. But still.....Too Damn Long. And ultimately not very satisfying.

I am a fast reader so I didn't spend a lot of time on this book but I can't say I'd recommend it to anyone else. ...more

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