11/22/63
Ratings765
Average rating4.3
Where do I start! This book was incredible. It for sure is now in my top 5 reads ever and is possibly my favourite King so far, when I have sat on it a bit I can decide if it replaces IT.
The premise of this book sounded interesting but I was not expecting to get so immersed and drawn in. The characters were brilliant, Jake was someone you could root for and pull your hair out because of but was always believable and don't even get me started on Sadie. Plus a great cast of supporting characters, Deke and Al were slightly above all the others.
The story itself was so good, the time travel was explained enough to kind of make sense but also left mystery, and a fascinating look at late 50's early 60's America that has left me with an urge to find out more! The real life events woven through were so interesting even for someone who knows almost nothing about JFK and that time in American history. What makes it special is the small every day interactions between normal people, this is always something that I enjoy with Kings work.
And the ending....beautiful, heartbreaking, head in hands, bitter sweet, eye leaking and so much more! Not often I don't want a 700ish page book to end but I could have kept reading this forever!
Hands down one of the best books I've ever read and one I will certainly revisit every few years from now on.
Side note, the audio was also brilliant, the narrator brought the characters even more to life for me, being from the UK I'm never sure on accents from places in the US but the audio gave all the characters clear voices so that when I was reading i knew exactly what they sounded like.
So usually I break a book down in my reviews and comment on the style, but this is Stephen King. I think anyone who came to literacy in the last 50 years knows what they're in for. He is a master, and this story is one of his masterpieces, that's all I need to say. If you like time travel stories, or you're interested in JFK, hell even if you don't like those topics, this book is still worth the read. I had a big Stephen King phase in high school. I totally overdid it. In fact, I read so much of him in such a short time that all the books sort of blended together and I managed to get turned off of his stuff. In my experience, Stephen King is a master at getting readers to binge the first half of a story like it's crack and then letting his stories slowly fizzle out. I pretty much swore off of King by the time this novel was published, and shortly thereafter I was firmly off of the reading wagon altogether. What's that got to do with 11/22/63? Well aside from having the most engaging premise mankind's ever seen fit to imagine, 11/22/63 also happens to have an ending that wasn't entirely composed by Stephen King. It is his son, Joe Hill, to whom we have to thank for a Stephen King book with a proper ending. I can't stress this point enough because it was this little tidbit that got me to read this book to begin with, can you imagine it? A Stephen King book without the drawback of a shitty pissy little half-assed ending!There are a few things about 11/22/63 that are special, these are small touches that elevate it beyond standard SK fare in my eyes:The first is that it takes place in the same universe as many of King's other popular works, most notably [b:It 830502 It Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334416842l/830502.SY75.jpg 150259] and the town of Derry features prominently. This is a book aimed squarely at the fans, there are more small nods than I could try to list, and as I worked my way through the book I was constantly finding them (to my delight). The second is that this book is not a reference for reference's sake kind of story. I think it would have been all too easy to get lost in the nostalgia sauce/exploration of the late 50s/early 60s; this book does have a ton of 60's material to get lost in but it's doled out with a measured hand. This could have easily read like a 60's Highlights/SK bibliography highlight reel, but everything that Stephen King has added to the pot is in there for a reason.The final touch is one that ties it all together; the theme and tone of the book are just perfect. This is a story of echoes, and the focus is on harmonics and repeating patterns. With every little detail, the story is meant to evoke a sense of Deja Vu, and there's plenty of that to be had between the nostalgic 60's callbacks (a decade which thanks to TV and film we are all nostalgic for, even if we never lived it) and in-universe references. Everything the main character sees and does is mirrored bizarrely in another section of the book, and the story itself reads more like a collection of stories set in the lead-up to, and aftermath of, the Kennedy assassination. There's a lot of interplay is the point, and the more you pick up on it, the more it amplifies the feelings that King wants you to feel as you read the story. I am a sucker for this kind of attention to detail, it's rare and hard to pull off but like I said before, we are in the hands of a master for this one.TL;DR: Finally an SK novel with a proper ending. For my money, this is the best thing he's ever written. It's definitely aimed at SK and JFK fans, but I wouldn't consider it necessary to care about either to enjoy this book.
So, this is the story of Jake/George who travels back in time (through an anomaly located in a storeroom at the back of a Burger joint) to prevent the assassination of JFK. Sounds like a pretty cool story? Thing is, it's so much more, in fact, the bits with Oswald in it are probably the least interesting thing about this book.
I don't really have the words to explain just how special this book is, there are plenty of reviews out there that do it better than I ever could, but for me it contains some real emotional punches the best characters and one of his best, if not the best ending to one of his books. Probably overtakes The Stand or Revival as my favourite King story.
Poucos livros me fazem ter vontade de começar a reler assim que fecho a última página. Que livro bom! Comecei a contragosto e depois de muito enrolar para fazer essa leitura. Claramente não me arrependo em nada. Já é um dos melhores do ano, cinco estrelas e favoritado com certeza absoluta.
9.0/10. A really incredible read. I love how this world is set up and rules it brings. The characters are very well done and even the secondary characters have great set ups and pay offs.
Stephen King once again proves that he is a master at writing characters people.
I really wish someone had sat me down about ten years ago and explained that Stephen King has the reputation as a great author because he's a really damn good author. I won't read all of his stuff, but a lot of it is just legitimately so good, spectacularly plotted and paced and engaging and enjoyable. This was a hell of a book and I am glad I got around to reading it.
Very Enjoyable and feels well researched (though I admit, my personal knowledge of the Kenedy assassination and Texas in the early 60's is very limited).
“The past is obdurate.”
^^^if this phrase and word had showed up far less, I think four stars would have been in order.
My first time reading Stephen King, and there is no denial the man has talent. For 800+ pages, I flew thru reading it (read the first half in January, the second half in April), and it was a fun ride. And the fact I was still engaged—even after seeing the television adaptation first and knowing what happens—are points to King's work.
I will also say reading the notes at the very end, where King explains he had this idea back in 1972 and the research he did, made me respect him more as a writer and this story.
(Fun fact: I had a similar idea to 11-22-63 in high school or college, but stopped all work when 11-22-63 was published. I'm probably not the only one, and I'm also not a career novelist like King. Far from it. :)
That all said—I opted for three stars because the pacing was uneven (chapters upon chapters on tumbles in the sheets with Sadie, less than a chapter on the alternative world of 2011?) and it's overall redundancy (I think the story would have been stronger had it been cut down). And—I'm not the biggest fan of how King writes women characters, at least in this work. I liked Sadie, and was thrilled when she gained more agency towards the end, but I wanted to see even more for her and from her. Less focus on her beauty, her clumsiness (a trope), her virginity-turned-quick-study-in-the-bedroom, her vulnerable innocence—and more time spent on her dreams and ambitions beyond Jake. My favorite moments of Sadie are the day-of the assassination, when she's pushing the action forward because Jake can't do it on his own. I wanted even more of that.
All that said: I love time travel, I love history (and period fiction), I love disassembling conspiracy stories and I love books that offer an escape from the present world. If you love all that in your literature, I recommend this title.
This book is different to everything I've read by Stephen King, and I really enjoyed it.
Are you tired of great books with terrible endings? Books that have great promise, crest the hill of the climax, and slam into a brick wall, plot lines and arcs splattered across the last few chapters. The author steps back, looks at the carnage and assures you someone finds the mess beautiful.
This is a beefy book, no doubt about it. But it's a beautiful book. With a satisfying ending. Not everything is perfect. You might not be happy with how it ends. But you'll be satisfied, which more than I can usually say.
I felt this book was way too overrated.
It tries to be a scifi+romance+historical novel, and fails at all the three. It seemed to be unnecessarily long and the scifi related concepts seemed half baked. It could have easily been a great, crisp 200-300 page book, but instead goes on to 700+ pages.
The story might appeal to people who are fascinated by American history, especially the early 60s.
This was so long. And it did not keep me entertained the whole time. It mostly dragged for about 5 years or so.
Yes! That's a 5! Long, intense, but never boring, this past week with this book was a great ride. I usually become impatient with long books, but this one had exactly the number of pages it needed to tell a great story. And I also got a little bit of American history lesson for free ;-) Anyway, definitely one of the best non-horror effort from SK, I rate it a little better than Under the Dome.
I like a lot of little ideas in this book, and like most Stephen King I have read it is well written and easy to consume, but it just felt like it wanted to go in so many directions at once.
The setup is interesting, but the mid section of the book is a bit meandering and drags. I think I understand what King was going for here, though ultimately for me the ending didn't land enough to justify all of it. It was a nice little idea that just missed the mark for me.
I listened to this via audiobook from the library, and while it as pretty long at ~31 hours, Craig Wasson's narration was really good.
I always tell my husband about books that I read. I literally could not speak when I was trying to tell him about the ending of this one because I got so choked up. It is so beautiful. I loved this book and especially love the way that King chose to end it.
Messing with time travel is always hairy. So if you can not try and point out the obvious issues with changing the past, then the book is pretty entertaining. King does attempt to carry the “butterfly effect” them through the book to show that tiny changes in the past will change the future. However I wouldn't look too deeply into all that. Instead, just enjoy the plot and story line. Rich in detail, similar to all of King's books. You find yourself easily imagining that you are there. It is also a fairly easy read - to be enjoyed for what it is and not overly complex. There were certainly twists and unexpected developments.
Overall I really liked the book. One of the best I have ever read? No, but that's not what it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be your standard King thriller. And that's exactly what it is.
This book left me both satisfied, wanting more and on the brink of tears. It's beautifully written and beautifully crafted. One of the best books I've ever read. Hands down. 1080 pages of absolute craftsmanship.
It took a really long time to read this book, more so than it normally would have. And that is not due to any factor of this story, it's just down to the fact that I've had so much going on in the last 3 months that I have struggled to be able to sit down and just enjoy reading. But in a way, I'm glad I did take so long to read this one.
Stephen King is one of my all time favourite authors. I love his stories, his writing but mostly his imagination. Where does he come up with all of these brilliant ideas??
11.22.63 has become one of my favourite novels by King. The sheer volume of research that went into writing this book is insane. His accuracy for actual historical events was amazing.
I loved how he was able to create and mould fictional characters into interacting with real life people.
Jake/George was a very likeable character and I was rooting for him and Sadie the whole way.
I won't write a long review just now, maybe later once I've had time to think about it more, but this book was great. It's amazingly written, thr characters were great. And although it's quite lengthy, that is one of the best things about it. The detail was great and the history was amazing.
Well done Mr King, on another masterpiece.