11/22/63 by Stephen King - Discussion Thread

[Eddie Dean]

Well, he did good with this one. It's been a long time coming, Steve. Thanks for an incredible read. Please do it more often than once a decade! I actually finished this a few weeks ago then got sentimental for old King and read through Cujo in a few days...

[lionelsnod]

I just picked up this book last night. I've heard great reviews(from other King lovers I trust) & am really looking forward to reading it. I keep everyone updated on my thoughts as I get through it.

[AlexGrama]

Same here. Put it on my "Reading now" collection just last night. Today I will give it a try.

[HoopyFrood]

Ah this has been good. I was wondering whether to give it a shot and I think I'll spend my time on something better. I loved "The Stand", thought "It" was very weak and needed some severe editing, also thought the same of "Under the Dome", which I didn't finish. That one really, really needed a good editor. I loved the Dark Tower series, "Salem's Lot" which I think is one of the best vampire books ever, and thought "Misery" was one of the worst things I've read.

But then he writes something like "Four Past Midnight" which is stunning, and you forgive him for his lapses into mediocrity. "The Library Police" still gives me chills.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I can't decide if I want to try reading this book. The Kennedy assassination fascinates me, but I gave up on Stephen King way back around Firestarter--the only books of his I like are Carrie and Salem's Lot.

I just got back from Dallas recently. The site is much smaller than it seems from the pictures; $13 was a bit steep to go up to the 6th Floor of the Book Depository building. On the back of the grassy knoll fence, there's orange paint to mark where the (alleged) shooter, seen by some witnesses, would have stood.

[jhempel24]

I gotta say this is in my top 5 for favorite books. And it really had nothing to do with the fact it was about the Kennedy Assassination.

I was drawn to the way he painted the picture of life in the late 50's and early 60's, and I was incredibly drawn to the love story between Jake and Sadie...and yeah...he got me, tears were almost shed. And this is coming from someone who really is not a fan of alot of romance in novels....King really has out-done himself with this one.

I actually found myself skimming through the Lee Harvey Oswald stuff, and getting back to the Sadie/Jake stuff lol.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by jhempel24

I gotta say this is in my top 5 for favorite books. And it really had nothing to do with the fact it was about the Kennedy Assassination.

I was drawn to the way he painted the picture of life in the late 50's and early 60's, and I was incredibly drawn to the love story between Jake and Sadie...and yeah...he got me, tears were almost shed. And this is coming from someone who really is not a fan of alot of romance in novels....King really has out-done himself with this one.

I agree completely. One funny note:
I listened to the book on audio, and while the narrator was very good,

(Spoiler coming.)


(Spoiler ahead (for those reading in email and don't have the benefit of spoiler tags....))

Spoiler:

when it came to the love scenes with Jake and Sadie, I could tell the WRITING was very good, but listening to this middle age guy delivering the 'dialog' of that young woman in the throes of passion, well, I suspect it just kind of lost it desired effect.

Uncomfortable laughter was probably not the effect King was going for there.

ApK

[MichelleR]

Originally Posted by jhempel24

I gotta say this is in my top 5 for favorite books. And it really had nothing to do with the fact it was about the Kennedy Assassination.

I was drawn to the way he painted the picture of life in the late 50's and early 60's, and I was incredibly drawn to the love story between Jake and Sadie...and yeah...he got me, tears were almost shed. And this is coming from someone who really is not a fan of alot of romance in novels....King really has out-done himself with this one.

I actually found myself skimming through the Lee Harvey Oswald stuff, and getting back to the Sadie/Jake stuff lol.

I liked that he could paint it with nostalgia -- the cheap cost of everything, the more flavorful food, etc. -- but also acknowledge the inequities of the time. It was a pretty good time to be a white guy.

I liked the entire book, but I really was more about the Sadie/Jake stuff, too.

As to tears almost being shed -- I went into a full on ugly cry.

[spindlegirl]

Putting this book on my "To Read" list.
My library has it in printed format, and maybe by the time it comes my way Transit will be back in action?

[lionelsnod]

100+pages into it & really enjoying it so far. I agree that most of his books lately haven't been that great, but this one is good.

[AlexGrama]

I love the way how he describes 1958. It's so vivid.

[MichelleR]

Originally Posted by AlexGrama

I love the way how he describes 1958. It's so vivid.

I will say that, as much as I enjoyed it, the POV sounded a whole lot like a man of Stephen King's age talking about a time he lived through, rather than a man of Jake's age discovering it for the first time. He set Jake up as not really knowing more than the bare-bones, but he didn't always operate in that world like he was new to it.

This is such a minor complaint, but I know of at least another person who knew what I meant.

[AlexGrama]

Originally Posted by MichelleR

I will say that, as much as I enjoyed it, the POV sounded a whole lot like a man of Stephen King's age talking about a time he lived through, rather than a man of Jake's age discovering it for the first time. He set Jake up as not really knowing more than the bare-bones, but he didn't always operate in that world like he was new to it.

This is such a minor complaint, but I know of at least another person who knew what I meant.

That's right but apart from that his describing techniques are up high.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by MichelleR

I will say that, as much as I enjoyed it, the POV sounded a whole lot like a man of Stephen King's age talking about a time he lived through, rather than a man of Jake's age discovering it for the first time. He set Jake up as not really knowing more than the bare-bones, but he didn't always operate in that world like he was new to it.

This is such a minor complaint, but I know of at least another person who knew what I meant.

Not having lived through it, I wouldn't know, but I'll point out that when Jake was writing, he HAD been living through it. :-)

[MichelleR]

Originally Posted by ApK

Not having lived through it, I wouldn't know, but I'll point out that when Jake was writing, he HAD been living through it. :-)

LOL, well, I hadn't lived through it either.

What I meant is that Jake wrote as if he'd been there the first time, and was now returning home to that time, as opposed to a guy in his thirties who'd only read about it, and was spotty on the history. King's sense of his own childhood, and nostalgia for it, seemed to inform Jake's experience.

King had written about that time on several occasions, as someone who was a legitimate child of that time. Jake is a different generation. I loved, and was on board with, Jake feeling at home there -- I think a lot of people would be happy transported to a different era -- but the 1950s and 1960s are "where" he moved, they're not his "home town."

And I still loved the book to an insane degree.