You guys know that I love Stephen King, so you won’t be surprised when I tell you that I started reading his newest novel, 11/22/63. Yes, it’s daunting at 848 pages, but so far, I adore it.
The pacing is lovely; I’m on page 168 and I still really have no idea what’s going to happen, but I can see a framework being built. The characterization is fantastic. The main character, Jake, is an English teacher from Maine (as are many of King’s characters over the years; write what you know). Jake is still getting over a divorce, but he doesn’t seem bitter or mean. He’s more refined than many of King’s characters, and I don’t see any skeletons in his closet (yet? At all?). That’s sort of nice. While Jake’s character is a big part of the plot, because he has to make a lot of difficult decisions, the plot itself is absolutely fascinating.
It’s that age-old question: what if you could go back in time and prevent something terrible from happening? In this case, it’s the assassination of JFK. Imagine all the implications of JFK finishing that tour of Dallas unscathed. There are probably things in your own life that would be different. Maybe you would have been born 15 years earlier, maybe you would have never been born at all. It’s the butterfly effect with a gigantic butterfly. It’s especially powerful because these are events that really happened; we’ve all seen the Zapruder film.
Since this novel takes place in Maine (at least partly), expect some major integration of familiar names, places, and even plot from King’s previous novels. I love that he does that. Everything feels richer and more real.
I’ll tell you my final impressions of the book when I finish it! Happy reading!
Do Nothing But Read Day 
November 17th, 2011 at 9:08 am
I’m just starting this one myself – Hubby and I are reading it together. Hope it turns out to be as good as Under the Dome, but then it’s Stephen King so it can’t be bad. 🙂 Happy reading.