11/22/63 in The Perks Of Being A Book Addict

Dec 27, 2016 Trisha rated it it was amazing

"The Past is obdurate. It doesn't want to be changed."

What an amazing story. The ultimate question - what would have happened if JFK had not been assassinated. It's mind bending to even wonder all the differences. But even more fascinating is the time in which it was and how it was so different to now.

The book was all consuming, one that I enjoyed both via audio book (which I recommend, although 30 discs is a bit daunting) and also through the hard copy. It's a long story but one well worth ever ...more

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Jan 21, 2014 Debra Harrison rated it it was amazing

I read this book several years ago and still find myself thinking about it - Now that is the sign of a really good book! The Kennedy assassination was a watershed moment in my life. I had just seen President Kennedy when he came to our small Southern town to dedicate our new dam. My Dad was running for mayor at that point so we had excellent and got to shake the President's hand. The characters are very interesting in the storyline that circles around the assassination. Excellent! ...more

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Nov 19, 2018 Angelicalkiwi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: intense, conspiracy-theories, beautiful, life-and-death, 2018, time-travel

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. So as I mentioned in my status update, I seeked out this book because of a positive review on Reddit. Maybe not SOLELY because of the review, but because I finally have some free time to dive into books, because historical fiction has always been a genre of interest to me, and because so is time travelling. But I was not prepared for the length of this book when I grabbed it off of the hold shelves at the library. How many pages could it possibly take to prevent one simple presidential assassina So as I mentioned in my status update, I seeked out this book because of a positive review on Reddit. Maybe not SOLELY because of the review, but because I finally have some free time to dive into books, because historical fiction has always been a genre of interest to me, and because so is time travelling. But I was not prepared for the length of this book when I grabbed it off of the hold shelves at the library. How many pages could it possibly take to prevent one simple presidential assassination? A few pages shy of 850 apparently. I'd also forgotten that this was one of Stephen King's books, and his books are generally not of the few hundred pages type. I started a few days ago and really dug my teeth into it today.

First off, I was not expecting a horror story. There is nothing from the reviews I glanced through online that would intimate this is of the horror type. But there's still eerie undertones in the narrative and the unraveling of the plot. Mainly the Yellow Card Man, who soon became the Orange Card Man, the Black Card Man, and later the Green Card Man. There's something about the deja vu and the "coincidences" that make me shiver. Also something about fighting the past - "The past is obdurate." It's like a living force that he is physically fighting, and embodies the spirit of the Final Destination movies - no matter how you struggle, you are destined to live out the same fate. So it was with Harry Dunning, who started off with a hobble and ended up in a wheelchair. Or Sadie Dunhill, who still had to live through her ex-husband's attempted murder. The way that the story could have gone so terribly wrong in so many different ways along the journey - from Jake falling in love with Sadie to Jake getting beat up and amnesia to the two of them almost dying on the way to Lee Oswald in the final hours. Fate is something greater than all of us to be reckoned with.

Second, I was expecting this book to have romance, because that was what the inside of the jacket cover advertised. And the romance was lovely. And sadly all too short lived. I feel like I should have seen it coming - that Sadie would not follow Jake through the portal to the future of 2011. That Sadie would not make it alive to the end of this parallel universe. Because that would just make it all too perfect, wouldn't it? But it does make sense that the future would not pan out the way that Al and Jake had envisioned it would with the saving of JFK. That much I could envision from the start. And even more suspect, given how Jake's attempt at rescuing Harry Dunning's family had turned out (Harry ended up dead!). But the fun is all in the journey, I suppose. And I found it beautiful that Jake was still able to reunite with Sadie at the end of the book, a perfectly imperfect ending.

Third, I am vastly impressed with Stephen King's prose, at its elegance and the effect of the push and pull it had on me. Startling imagery and hypnotizing narration. I was drawn in IMMEDIATELY. I literally was glued to my seat for probably nearly 12 hours today absorbing this book. Incredible attention to detail (although maybe that's the way it is with adult books, I wouldn't know, I haven't read too many). The main character takes bathroom breaks! I can see how it adds up to 500+ pages easily, but it's all interwoven into the story somehow, or at least adds more to the character and/or plot building. The way that he drops hints or symbolism. Not to mention creation of the scene. I felt the descriptions were so realistic, to the point where I felt he must have been there himself. And for a lot of it, he was, according to his afterword. But just stunning scene creation. Made me wish I was more familiar with the history or the timeline, but my memory's never been that good with it comes to history class. This make makes me more inclined to learn though.

Finally, this book has a lot of raw emotions. I talked to my Mom and she said that Stephen King reveals a lot about the dark side of human nature. This much is true - John Clayton, Lee Oswald, and the thugs of the world. But there's also so much beauty - the dance shared between Sadie and Jake, the simplicity of a refreshing root beer in the simpler times of the late 50's, and the joy of seeing the impact you can have on high school students as a simple English/drama teacher. It's probably the juxtaposition of the two that creates so much beauty and tragedy all in one book, and all very artfully done. Despite all the ugliness you see in the book, King yet instills hope in your heart for light to shine around the corner. Or maybe that's just me! ...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Leisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, favorites

In my humble opinion this is the best book Stephen King has ever written. At the end of the book all I could say was WOW! I was sorry when it was finished. It caught me on the second page and never let go. This may be THE BOOK Stephen King was born to write.

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