11/22/63 in Reading with Style

Jun 11, 2013 Connie G rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, science-fiction, romance, time-travel, maine, texas

The terminally ill owner of Al's Diner told school teacher Jake Epping that the back of his diner contains a portal for time travel. It can take him from the present year of 2011 to the past year of 1958. He can stay as long as he wants time-traveling in the past, and only two minutes will have passed in the present year of 2011 when he returns through the rabbit hole to the diner in Maine. Al begs Jake to go back and prevent the assassination of President Kennedy on 11/22/63. Perhaps the war in The terminally ill owner of Al's Diner told school teacher Jake Epping that the back of his diner contains a portal for time travel. It can take him from the present year of 2011 to the past year of 1958. He can stay as long as he wants time-traveling in the past, and only two minutes will have passed in the present year of 2011 when he returns through the rabbit hole to the diner in Maine. Al begs Jake to go back and prevent the assassination of President Kennedy on 11/22/63. Perhaps the war in Vietnam could have been prevented, saving thousands of lives, if Kennedy had lived.

When Jake goes back to 1958, he assumes the identity of George Amberson who is checking out real estate in Maine. He tries to right a few small events, and finds some "feathering." When one thing changes, many other changes must follow. If he changes history, will the world be a better or worse place?

Stephen King does a great job of transporting the reader back to the 1950s with cars with big tailfins, slicked back hair, milk with cream on the top, factory pollution, racism, and pervasive cigarette smoke. King was a young child during the 1950s, and he captured the decade well.

When Jake/George moves to Texas, he is not willing to knock off Lee Harvey Oswald unless he knows Oswald is the true killer of Kennedy. He has heard so many conspiracy theories that he feels he must investigate Oswald thoroughly first. George also meets a pretty school librarian, and falls in love. Can she trust a man that doesn't seem to have a past? What will happen if he rewrites her life? History does not want to be changed so it sets up multiple obstacles in George's way as he gets close to the 11/22/63 date.

Stephen King is a good storyteller, weaving science fiction, history, and a love story together. Jake/George is a good, likable person trying to do the right thing. But lots of things in the past are hidden, and no one knows what scary outcomes are possible if important events in history are changed. This is a big doorstopper of a book at 849 pages, but it seems shorter since it's such an engaging story.

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Sep 23, 2017 Rosemary rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

When the owner of his local diner asks teacher Jake Epping to go back in time and prevent the assassination of President Kennedy, Jake is reluctant even after Al shows him how it’s possible. When he goes, it’s because he realises he can also avert a violent family tragedy in the childhood of one of his adult students. But the past doesn’t want to be changed, so Jake’s mission is not as simple as he expects.

I had no plans to read this book, but because I’ve seen so many good reviews (and because ...more

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Mar 21, 2014 GONZA rated it really liked it

Parte lenta questa meraviglia, ma poi decolla e non ti molla ;)
Il King che apprezzo di più, quello capace di descrivere gli anni tra il 1958 e il 1963 in modo tale che sembra di ricordarseli anche se uno non solo non c'era ma nemmeno abitava negli Stati Uniti.
La guerra fredda, la baia dei porci e l'attentato a Kennedy, quelli sì che erano problemi, altro che il nostrano bunga bunga!
A parte questo, i viaggi nel tempo non sono proprio la mia passione, ma se evitiamo di perderci nei meandri dei ...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Tanya Patrice rated it really liked it

I barreled through this 849 page book in just a matter of days - so you know I was having a good time reading it. Just wow - King is simply the master of suspense. There was plenty of plot, action and intrigue happening, and I just ate it up. There was some lag throughout the middle though. Jake had a few months to kill, and not much to do. I felt like I was going through the doldrums of his life with him ... but it didn't last long, and overall, I would say that King has created a masterful pie ...more

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