11/22/63

by Stephen King

Jake Epping is a high school English teacher who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night fifty years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination.
(back cover)

• ISBN10: 1410440478
• ISBN13: 9781410440471
• Publish Date: 8 November 2011
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 20 April 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Thorndike Press
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 1033
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I was first introduced to 11/22/63 in its mini-series format a few years ago. I remember being intrigued, and not at all realizing it was a book. I liked the show – watched it over the course of about a week – and only vaguely recalled seeing it was written by Stephen King. I figured it was probably a short story. Foolish me.

11/22/63 is a whopper of a book. It comes in at about 31 hours of listening time. The book really needs that time to become established. King has to get you attached to Jake Epping / George Amberson. You have to learn to care about the past, illustrate the way the world was, and learn a bit about the theories around JFK’s assassination. There’s a lot going on and it needs time to unfold naturally. Most of all, it needs time to introduce the reader to the consequences of meddlesome time travel.

King does fantasy and sci-fi so well. I know he’s known for his horror, but his world-building is really fantastic. He’s also amazing at suspense, which is why all his books are so successful. Stephen King always leaves the reader thirsty for more. It’s how he gets away with having such long, unpolished books. They seem to have infinite page counts, but it’s so easy together sucked in. 11/22/63 is no exception. To some point, I knew what was going to happen at the end, but like every good book, it differed from its screen adaptation and I was absolutely engrossed. I kept waiting for something terrible to happen… because the past fights back.

Honestly, I wish more time travel had consequences as dire as 11/22/63. A lot of sci-fi, particularly in the time travel sub-genre, talks about the butterfly effect. Some even talk about the different strings or branches each consequence creates. But I’ve never seen it done quite so well as King. When you read time travel like this, you worry about every conversation, especially when you start putting together all the different causes and effects. It’s just brilliant. The suspense aspects keep this book alive, in a format that feels very different from his other novels, but is nonetheless well-researched and engaging.

Even though I see Jake Epping in my head as James Franco, I felt his character was well rounded enough to be interesting, but no more emotional and in-depth than any of King’s other creations. There’s a distance to Jake that makes him less relatable, but no less interesting. Sadie was my favorite, with a but of a twisted history. Oh yes, and for King fans you know there’s going to be an easter egg somewhere from his collected multiverse, and sure enough, there are a few characters near the beginning you may recognize in Derry, Maine.

All in all, 11/22/63 intrigued me for its time travel, alternate universe, and historic aspects, but I stayed for the suspense. I had to know how the book played out, if he completed his task, and what happened afterward. Your heart breaks for the love and loss in the story, but you drive forward because you have to know. For myself, I think it’s my favorite read of his after the Dark Tower series. I don’t care for horror, but this man knows suspense.

[brokentune]

DNF @ 17%
This just isn't for me.

King's meandering writing style (at least in this one) is not something I can get much out of (Like, I didn't need the hammer story, I really didn't and so far it has not added anything to the time travel mission...), so I'll move on.

[adamfortuna]

I've always been a sucker for time travel. When the author highlights very specific rules for how it works in that universe and sticks to them it makes for even more interesting stories in my eyes. King does an amazing job in this one of setting up the structure needed to explore his main objective -- what would happen if someone stopped Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating JFK?

[annieb123]

Straight up classic King. Meanders a bit as King's oeuvre does, with enough subplots and twists to keep anyone guessing.

Others have given more cogent synopses than I could or will, so I'll leave it at that.

Enjoyed this book a lot. It languished over a year in my TBR pile and I've just pulled it out and finished it since I have the flu. ;) Incidentally, despite being a HUGE whopper of a book with a gazillion subplots and story lines, I managed to hop right back into it after a LONG hiatus without a hiccup. That's quality.

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

One of the best stand-alone books I've ever read. Definitely King's best work.

My first Stephen King book and I'm so glad I read it. It's a huge book but it took me on such a wonderful journey. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The basic premise is that a high school teacher gets an opportunity to go through a portal back in time to try to stop the assassination of JFK. He has to wait years to do it because the portal takes him to the the exact same year and place, but it's a few years before 1963 and there are a few things on a personal level that he needs to correct before the final mission.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Jake is a recently divorced high school teacher who finds himself time traveling to 1958. Fascinated by the chance to live his life in what feels like a much simpler time without mobile phones and the internet, Jake decides to live a life that transgresses all the normal rules. He makes his home in 1958, gets a job he enjoys, falls in love with the beautiful librarian and tries to live the ultimate American dream. But he is also obsessed with making the world right, most importantly trying to stop a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald. But does Jake know just how much the world would change if he stops the Kennedy assassination?

I’ll be honest with you, I’ve not read much by Stephen King before, two books in fact (one of those was On Writing). I went into this book expecting a novel about time travel and the effects of changing the past would have. I also expected some weird plot with supernatural or horror elements but that’s just what I expect from King. What I got was something a lot different; this was more of a “what if?” novel. King explores his own thoughts of alternate history and time travel but he doesn’t really stop with that.

Possibly the most unexpected part of this novel was the character building and living life in the late fifties and sixties. King does an interesting job at telling a story of living in the era but in his own unique way by making the protagonist feel out of his element. The whole idea of living life in a time you are not from and finding someone in that time that could possibly be your soul mate. That was not what I thought King would write about but he did a great job building a memorable story around what he wanted to talk about.

Sure, some people are going to want him to skip all the normal life stuff and get to the time travel and alternate history aspects but I found it enjoyable leading up to it. It’s no Mad Men with the characters and life in the sixties but I did enjoy reading it. It’s a huge book and it could have been trimmed but if I was the one to take out elements I probably would have taken out the time travel. Then the book wouldn’t have worked as well.

I’m very interested in that time period, but I would have either preferred a more Mad Men style novel or more noir style with the war on organised crime and those dodgy back door deals made by the FBI. It did end out being a very interesting novel; it definitely surpassed my expectations and turned into a good read. Stephen King is a good story teller but there was not much to love about the prose and style but overall it was worth the read.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2012/11/21/book-review-112263/

[ibeforem]

Stephen King’s books were among the very first “adult” books I read (I devoured The Stand when I was in 7th grade), but as an adult I’m wishy-washy about him. Some of his books appeal to me, and others (like Lisey’s Story) don’t appeal to me at all. In fact, this will be only the second fiction book of his that I’ve reviewed on this blog in the last 7 years. I’ve always been more a fan of his straightforward horror stories, so I was pleasantly surprised by this, which I would consider part historical fiction and part science fiction.

Jake Epping is just a run-of-the-mill English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine when the local diner owner, Al, comes to him and tells Jake he wants to show him something. That “something” turns out to be some sort of hole in time and space, which transports Jake (or Al, or anyone) from present-day Lisbon Falls to the Lisbon Falls of 1958. Unknown to anyone, Al has spent the last 4 years in the past, trying to right one of the biggest wrongs in American history – the assassination of JFK. But cancer is claiming him, and his dying wish is that Jake carries on his work.

If there’s one thing that Jake learns on his mission, it’s that history doesn’t want to change, and Murphy’s Law is in full effect. Jake has 5 years to live before he can try to stop Lee Harvey Oswald, and those years give us the most interesting parts of the book. Jake not only struggles with the forces of the universe, but also with himself. With the power to change history, how far should he go? Who is worthy of his benefaction? How could anyone not be worthy? And if he doesn’t act, can he continue to live with his choices? If he screws up, does he have time to try it again?

I really enjoyed this book. King has a tendency to be long-winded, but I never felt bogged down in the story. Things move right along, so much so that from time to time, you forget that Jake has a larger mission to complete. And the ending is not what you would expect. Not completely happy, but not completely sad either.

There are a lot of easter eggs in the book for devoted King readers. And even a personal easter egg for me. On page 10 (or thereabouts) of the paperback:

“He also took a picture of us, which he later hung on what he called the Town Wall of Celebrity. Other ‘celebrities’ represented included the late Albert Dunton, founder of Dunton Jewelry; Earl Higgins, a former LHS principal; John Crafts, founder of John Crafts Auto Sales; and, of course, Father Bandy of St. Cyril’s.”

Albert Dunton was my great-uncle! I think it’s that level of attention to detail that really illustrates King’s love for Maine. I also enjoyed the brief focus on Moxie, that strange little soda that I still hold fondly in my heart. I actually found it in a local store here in Virginia, and every once in a while I have to go get one as a treat. My husband thinks it smells like motor oil.

This book made me excited about Stephen King again. I plan to tackle Under the Dome in the not-so-distant future, and I’m also looking forward to Joyland, set to come out next summer. If you’ve ever been scared of Stephen King, for whatever reason, this is a great novel to start with.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

A love story when you right down to it. Well told with a hint of suspense. Drags a bit in Part 4, but quickly picks back up again in the minutes leading up to the assassination. Well round ending, even if it seemed a bit cheesy.

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

If given the opportunity to travel back in time would you risk changing history and its potential future, or would you let sleeping dogs lie? This is the question Jake Epping is faced with. After finding a portal into the past Jake is transported into September 1958, with a mission-- prevent the JFK assassination. Easier said than done. Jake spends the next five years as George Amberson as he tracks Lee Harvery Oswald's every move with each step changing the course of history.

Jake tests the waters by saving the family of the high school's janitor, and after his success feels he is given the go-ahead to bigger and better dealings. I was surprised that the time portal (which felt a lot like Alice's rabbit hole) did not emerge in 1963 but the five year gap was thrilling. The majority of the first half was taken up with the Dunning family who if Jake didn't save would be beaten to death by Mr. Dunning with a hammer. I could not read fast enough to find the ending to this fate and let a sigh of relieve after learning their outcome. After his job is done he moves to a small town in Texas and begins to teach (his profession in 2011) and while killing time for Oswald to return from the Soviet Union he falls for the school librarian. Personally, I thought that Sadie added nothing to the story and was really just a distraction from Jake's tailing Lee Oswald.

The main event, 11/22/63 was thrilling and to use the cliche, I was on the edge of my seat. Jake/George and Sadie racing to the Book Depository Building was like an episode of The Amazing Race, literary a race against time. When Jake and Sadie raced up the stairs to the sixth floor my heart was pounding, meeting Lee Harvey Oswald was chilling, it was a compelling read.

After all is seemingly right in the world Jake Epping returns to 2011 only to find the world as we knew it not to exist, turning Bedford Falls into Pottersville.

Unfortunately, I found the ending to be lack luster, although I think it would have been a difficult feet to "tie up lose ends" considering the subject matter but does an acceptable job. Instead of a happy ending leaves us thinking the past is obdurate.