11/22/63 by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you had the chance to change the course of history, would you?
As usual, Stephen King has rocked my world. His ability to weave a tale and get into the minds and lives of his characters is second to none. When I first opened this book (or as it was, turned on my iPod), I was expecting a story about traveling back to stop an assassination. While that did happen, it turns out it was not the main story. True to King fashion, he took us on an incredible journey to get to the heart of the matter. There were many side stories, which turned out to all tie into the big story. It was an incredibly complex journey, but as a reader it was easy to follow along and enjoy the ride.
Jake, the main character and narrator of the story, is an easily likable English teacher with a simple life who is drawn by chance into this crazy world of time travel. Back in "the land of ago," he becomes George, another likable character but by circumstance has to be more hardhearted and indifferent to goings on than Jake.
I really love how King intertwines his stories. If you have not read some of his other books you would not get the references, but you would not be feeling like you were missing anything; you would just think it another side story. But, they are there for us who know King. It is like being on the right side of an inside joke.
I listened to the audio of 11/22/63. The narrator, Craig Wasson, did an excellent job of creating his characters and fleshing each of them out. Though not a terribly emotion-ridden book, he was able to add it in through his voice where needed. I would love to listen to more of his work.
If you had the chance to change the course of history, would you?
As usual, Stephen King has rocked my world. His ability to weave a tale and get into the minds and lives of his characters is second to none. When I first opened this book (or as it was, turned on my iPod), I was expecting a story about traveling back to stop an assassination. While that did happen, it turns out it was not the main story. True to King fashion, he took us on an incredible journey to get to the heart of the matter. There were many side stories, which turned out to all tie into the big story. It was an incredibly complex journey, but as a reader it was easy to follow along and enjoy the ride.
Jake, the main character and narrator of the story, is an easily likable English teacher with a simple life who is drawn by chance into this crazy world of time travel. Back in "the land of ago," he becomes George, another likable character but by circumstance has to be more hardhearted and indifferent to goings on than Jake.
I really love how King intertwines his stories. If you have not read some of his other books you would not get the references, but you would not be feeling like you were missing anything; you would just think it another side story. But, they are there for us who know King. It is like being on the right side of an inside joke.
I listened to the audio of 11/22/63. The narrator, Craig Wasson, did an excellent job of creating his characters and fleshing each of them out. Though not a terribly emotion-ridden book, he was able to add it in through his voice where needed. I would love to listen to more of his work.
I just read my first Stephen King book, The Stand, last year. I was surprised at how much I liked it and have been planning to read more. Thanks for your great review.
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