Kadomi reviewed 11/22/63 by Stephen King
Review of '11/22/63' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Absolutely marvelous. I have mentioned it before, but I am a Stephen King fan. I love his writing, I enjoy most of his books, and IT and The Last Stand are some of my all-time favorite books. 11/22/63 joins my top 3 of King books now. It's not your usual Stephen King, as it's not really horror at all, but I think he's long moved past the restrictions of the horror genre anyway.
The story is told first person view, by Jake Eppings. A highschool teacher in a small town in Maine, he likes to frequent a place that serves Fatburgers, which ultimately changes his life. The owner of the diner, Al, is about to die from cancer, and shares his secret with Jake: there's a gateway to the past in the pantry, and when you walk through it you end up in the same place in September 1958. Al …
Absolutely marvelous. I have mentioned it before, but I am a Stephen King fan. I love his writing, I enjoy most of his books, and IT and The Last Stand are some of my all-time favorite books. 11/22/63 joins my top 3 of King books now. It's not your usual Stephen King, as it's not really horror at all, but I think he's long moved past the restrictions of the horror genre anyway.
The story is told first person view, by Jake Eppings. A highschool teacher in a small town in Maine, he likes to frequent a place that serves Fatburgers, which ultimately changes his life. The owner of the diner, Al, is about to die from cancer, and shares his secret with Jake: there's a gateway to the past in the pantry, and when you walk through it you end up in the same place in September 1958. Al asks Jake for one favor for a dying man, to make the world a better place: go back to the past and stop the assassination of JFK, in order to prevent the American involvement in Vietnam and to save thousands of lives. Jake does indeed go to the past but he starts with changing time much closer to home, in Derry, Maine. From there, he lives his life from 1958 up to the culmination of his mission, 11/22/63, the day JFK got shot in his time.
My only complaint is maybe that Jake is a bit Mary Sue. He's kinda perfect. But he's also incredibly likeable and well-written, so I didn't mind. Following Jake's life through the early 60s is an absolute page-turner. It's a long book, but it just flies past you, and is full of interesting characters and turns.
The first part was maybe my favorite, because I love going back to Derry. IT was my first King book when I was 16, and experiencing the menacing town just after the kids banished IT in 1958 was very enjoyable to me.
TLDR: best King book I have read in recent years.
