11/22/63 by Stephen King (#104 in 2019)
The book begins with Jake Epping, a high school English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, who is ruminating over a powerful essay from one of his GED students. His student recounted the traumatic experience of surviving his own father's brutal murder of the entire family. When Al, Jake's friend and local business owner, tells him another secret, things begin to seen unbelievable. Al tells Jake that there is a time portal in the back of his diner that transports people back in time. Al asks Jake to help stop the Kennedy assassination, but Jake seeks to do a test run first in order to help out a present-day friend. Once Jake realizes his ability to jump into the past and change the future, he commits to Al’s mission to save the United States.
This is certainly not what most people would consider "typical Stephen King" in that it doesn't include gruesome horror, but I feel that it is STILL "typical Stephen King" in that he weaves a tale of realistic fiction with fantasy elements. [FYI: I just found out that there's a genre called "Magic Realism" (**the more you know**) and I've read two book from this genre in the past week... so maybe I'm hooked on something new.] Jake Epping was an easy character to love. He's a humble teacher whose disbelief leaves the reader wondering if he's strong enough to carry out the task of saving President Kennedy from assassination. After he leaves 2011 and moves into the past, Jake makes a new life for himself. He assumed a new name and identity and makes friends. I love that Jake's mission becomes complicated as a result of the new relationships he makes in the past and how he recognizes that he'll have to give it all up to return to the present. I loved King’s focus on the butterfly effect and how one small change could impact a big future. I kept wondering how Jake’s actions in the past would affect the future, and I found myself thinking about the plot even when I wasn’t reading. This might be my favorite King book to date! 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I know I said I was dedicating November to nonfiction reads, but I feel like this is kind of a hybrid between nonfiction and fantasy. You can tell that Stephen King did a lot of research as he was able to include so many details about Lee Harvey Oswald and the events leading up to Kennedy‘s assassination. So even though this book is not technically nonfiction, I’m going to consider it a non-fiction hybrid! Between this book, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, and Recursion by Blake Crouch, my head is spinning! If you’re looking for a book that will really get you thinking, this might be the one.
Thank you to @suspensethrill for hosting the buddy read that finally pushed me to read this book. Another thank you goes to @bookpop_ for gifting me this copy from a giveaway.
Comments