Tuesday, 17 September 2013

11/22/63

Stephen King
2011

I’m not really sure where to start with this review, so lets start by sharing more information about myself: I have really poor self-control. Honestly it’s a miracle I am not yet an alcoholic, drug addict or 800 pounds. This information is relevant to you because I just finished a 900 page book in three days while working full time.

11/22/63 did that to me.

I blame you Stephen King.

11/22/63 is about a man who goes back in time to stop the assassination of JFK. Instantly I was interested in this book, you already know how I love reimaging history and I needed a nice long read for a vacation I was planning to take. That vacation is still a week away but the books done, so . . .yeah.

I will try to navigate the plot without giving too much away, an ordinary man (middle aged, divorced, no kids, one cat) finds himself in extraordinary circumstances when he is introduced to a bubble in time that takes him back to the same place, same date and same time.

Here he sets out to stop some bad things from happening and if he can manage it even stop the assassination of JFK. This will hopefully prevent millions from dying during the Vietnam War and will result in a better “now.”

Things go wrong, he has to fix it, and time works against you when you try to change it, someone dies and someone falls in love. I hope some reader out there just guessed that JFK falls in love with our protagonist. I have never read a Stephen King novel until now; I knew of him and his work I just never got around to it. I now understand why he is famous.

During the entire book I was extremely tense, even during times when literally nothing of significance was happening, like when our protagonist was hanging out in his motel room I WAS ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT. This is partially why I read the book so fast, I just needed to know what happened next.

Another thing that I noticed which may have resulted in Stephen Kings fame as a king (pun) of horror is that he chooses words that offer a hint of the unpleasant. In a sentence when he could have used the word wet, for example, he will use moist which isn’t a pleasant word or he would choose words that would imply just with a hint the darkness in all of us. I don’t really know how to explain it.


I hope you try this book out for yourself and that you have more self-control than I do. And when you do read it, contact me because I would like to be a fan girl with you. 

Five out of five lightning bolts! Reviewed by: Lorenda!