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Frank Cannon

(7,570 posts)
Sat Apr 6, 2013, 12:45 AM Apr 2013

Stephen King's 11/22/63



I just finished reading this book a few days ago, and I'm still thinking about it. I think this may very well be King's best book--easily up there with The Stand, and with a much more satisfying ending. It is NOT in his typical horror genre.

If you:

1) Have any interest in the JFK assassination...

2) Remember what it was like to live in the late '50s to early '60s, or would like to know what it was like...

3) Like time-travel themes, or at least don't mind them...

4) Like Stephen King's work, or at least his work before he lost his mind with the preteen gangbang scene at the end of It (Sorry to spoil that, but WTF was that all about?)...

Or any combination of the above, then you will not be disappointed. It is just freaking amazing.

It's long (about 850 pages), but I devoured it in 3 days and nights.
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Stephen King's 11/22/63 (Original Post) Frank Cannon Apr 2013 OP
I enjoyed it too Ron Obvious Apr 2013 #1
King DOES have a problem with endings. Frank Cannon Apr 2013 #2
Agreed on the atmosphere... Ron Obvious Apr 2013 #6
Under the Dome was the worst offender with this smackd Apr 2013 #7
Remember what happened to Marty McFly ... dmr Apr 2013 #10
Goodness... Ron Obvious Apr 2013 #11
The beginning is exceptionally boring a la izquierda Apr 2013 #3
I have always enjoyed reading Stephen King. In_The_Wind Apr 2013 #4
I also think pipi_k Apr 2013 #5
Hearts in Atlantis Roland99 Apr 2013 #8
Thanks! Just downloaded to my Kindle... Sekhmets Daughter Apr 2013 #9
I love Stephen King Demo_Chris Apr 2013 #12
I've been planning to read this TuxedoKat Apr 2013 #13
I think "11/22/63" and "The Dome" are two of King's best novels. Paladin Apr 2013 #14
 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
1. I enjoyed it too
Sat Apr 6, 2013, 01:22 AM
Apr 2013

But like many King books, it has a flabby middle and his endings rarely live up to the premise. I'm a sucker for a time travel story in any case and I do have some interest in the JFK assassination, but I could have done without all the high school stuff in Texas and would have preferred more investigative meat instead. King has a thing for folksy talk that can get annoying after a while, also.

And really, if you travelled back to a time just before your birth (I think.. I read it right after it came out), and you have a year or more to kill anyway... Wouldn't you look up the people who were to become your parents and your family? Why spend all that time in a high school in Texas?

All in all, a decent pageturner, like most King novels. I've read about 5 or 6 of them and IT is my favourite.

Frank Cannon

(7,570 posts)
2. King DOES have a problem with endings.
Sat Apr 6, 2013, 06:54 AM
Apr 2013

He's a great, atmospheric writer who really sucks you into the worlds he creates, but then it seems he writes himself into a corner and doesn't know how to get out of it. It's been a problem I've had with a lot of his books.

I didn't find that to be a problem this time, though. I thought the ending was pretty much perfect, and I didn't see it coming.

 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
6. Agreed on the atmosphere...
Sat Apr 6, 2013, 10:45 AM
Apr 2013

Last edited Sat Apr 6, 2013, 12:48 PM - Edit history (1)

I've always liked the sort of pacing that sucks you in.

Have you read Ken Grimwood's novel 'Replay'? I think you'd enjoy it. The basic premise is this: a man in his mid forties dies of a heart attack and finds himself transported back in time to his college days but his knowledge of the future is intact. Knowing what he knows, he makes different choices and his life turns out differently, but he dies again in his mid forties of that heart attack anyway. The cycle keeps repeating.

Fascinating stuff to read if you're middle -aged and you wonder how you might have done things differently.

On edit: I forgot to mention that one of the storylines is trying to prevent the JFK assassination. That's what reminded me of the book.

smackd

(216 posts)
7. Under the Dome was the worst offender with this
Sat Apr 6, 2013, 01:23 PM
Apr 2013

i really REALLY enjoyed 95% of that one. i had many moments of that heart-pounding anticipation so much of his early work provoked. really, the best thing he'd written in like two decades, i loved it.

except for the final 50 pages or so, where my reaction was just

luckily, for a book that was like 1,000 pages, it was still worth it

dmr

(28,321 posts)
10. Remember what happened to Marty McFly ...
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 10:05 PM
Apr 2013
Wouldn't you look up the people who were to become your parents and your family?


His mother had a crush on him!

Sorry ... it was the first thing that came to mind.

Anyway, I just ordered 11/22/63: A Novel from Amazon.
 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
11. Goodness...
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 11:30 PM
Apr 2013

That didn't even occur to me, and by an odd coincidence I just recommended that as an upbeat movie earlier today.

Still, admit it. You'd go over there and at least take a look at them. Especially when you had a whole year to think about it. How could anyone resist the temptation?

Enjoy the book! It captivated me from the first few pages and I read it just a day or two, I think.

pipi_k

(21,020 posts)
5. I also think
Sat Apr 6, 2013, 09:15 AM
Apr 2013

it's one of his best works and enjoyed it immensely, especially since I remember what life was like back then.

I didn't quite "get" the ticker-taker guy, but that's OK.

The ending, I thought, was bittersweet.

If you're into time travel stuff, another good one of his is "Hearts In Atlanta", which sort of brings together the present and the past with lots of little intertwining threads of his characters' lives. It has a rather boring beginning, and is a bit confusing at first, but eventually takes shape.

Roland99

(53,342 posts)
8. Hearts in Atlantis
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 09:29 PM
Apr 2013

Great film adaptation

and I like how it mixes in the "low men" along with Brautigan's character from the Dark Tower series.

Sekhmets Daughter

(7,515 posts)
9. Thanks! Just downloaded to my Kindle...
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 09:55 PM
Apr 2013

I haven't read King in years at least 10 years. Nor any other fiction in 6 or 7... Might be a good place to pick up again!

TuxedoKat

(3,818 posts)
13. I've been planning to read this
Mon Apr 8, 2013, 12:58 PM
Apr 2013

as I read Hearts in Atlantis a while back and was reminded how much I liked Stephen King. Thanks for the reminder and I will order it this week.

Paladin

(28,204 posts)
14. I think "11/22/63" and "The Dome" are two of King's best novels.
Mon Apr 8, 2013, 01:45 PM
Apr 2013

So glad he seems to have gotten his mojo back; I was to the point of writing him off for a while.
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