11/22/63
By Stephen King
Thorndike Press Large Print, 2011
ISBN: 978-1410440471
Genre: Historical Fiction, Science Fiction
Reviewed by Herbert White - November 14, 2011
If you could go back in time and prevent the assassination in Dallas, Texas of President John F. Kennedy, would you? Should you? And if you succeeded, what would be the consequence of your actions? This is the premiss of Stephen King's new novel, 11/22/63 in which these questions and more are asked in this time-travel novel that follows a school teacher who travels back in time to try to prevent Oswald from shooting JFK.
The hero of this novel is Jake Epping, a thirty-five-year-old school teacher from Maine. He discovers that there is a time portal in a friend's store that leads to one specific moment in time - 1958. The nice thing about this portal is that you can walk through it any time you want and end up back on the same day in 1958, and just as easily step through it again to regain your on time. When you return to the present, you find that only two minutes have passed, no matter how long you stayed in the past. Best of all, you can do this over, and over again. Epping assumes the identity of George Amberson and travels back in time for the sole purpose of trying to prevent the assassination of JFK.
In this book, King ably captures the feel of the late 1950's and early 60's, providing the reader with a snapshot of this pivotal period in world history. Along the way he delves into the many theories and controversies that have swirled around Lee Harvey Oswald and the question of whether or not he acted alone. He also looks at the moral issues involved in trying to change history. Throughout, King manages to keep the story plausible, and makes you really care about what happens to Epping.
This is not your typical adrenalin rush Stephen King novel. Rather it is more of a laid back, literary journey, to a by-gone age that on the one hand stood on the brink of nuclear war and on the other was an era of drive-in theaters, family dinners, and unimaginable hope for a better future. Rich in historic details, this massive book (more than 1,000 pages in the large print edition) is well-plotted and filled with memorable characters, a real sense of place, and a plethora of questions that will make you ask what would you do if you had the opportunity to prevent the assassination of JFK. In short, this book will hold your interest from beginning to end, especially as you consider the old adage that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Everything that Epping does in the past has an impact on the future (our present) and some of the consequences of his actions will have you on the edge of your seat.....
Related Reviews:
Black House, by By Stephen King and Peter Straub.
Murder is not the only thing amiss in a small Wisconsin town where everything just seems slightly out of wack. Is something from the Territories, a parallel universe, seeping into our world?
Fatherland, By Robert Harris
The year is 1964, Germany won WWII, Hitler is still in power and a Kennedy is in the White House.
