Book Review #01: 11/22/63 (by Stephen King)
Sorry, this video set-up wasn't the best. I recorded it with my webcam and webcam mic. The video lags some at times, which I don't like. I'll probably try a different camera next time. If there is a next time. :p
11/22/63 - by Stephen King
Synopsis
11-22-63 centers on the character of Jake Epping, who is a high school English teacher in Maine.
One day he's grading essays by his GED students, and he reads a horrific piece written by a janitor at the school, telling about the murder of his entire family by his father when he was a child.
Around that time, he discovers a secret kept by his friend Al, who owns a local diner.
Al enlists Jake to take part in a mission: to stop the Kennedy assassination from ever happening.
Al thinks the world - or country - would be a much better place if Kennedy had lived.
But how is Jake supposed to do something like prevent the assassination of a president from decades past?
Well, somehow there's a portal in the diner’s storeroom that takes a person back in time, to a specific date - a date that would give someone time to formulate a plan for how to stop the assassination.
But time enough as well to start a new life.
And that's where the story takes us ... on Jake's journey through the past, his new life and the people he meets; people who change his life forever.
But in accordance with Jake's mission, his new life leads him to the troubled loner that is Lee Harvey Oswald.
And the course of history is about to be rewritten ...
Review
I'll preface this review by pointing out that I actually listened to the audiobook version, which was narrated by Craig Wasson, who did a wonderful job of bringing Jake and all the other characters to life in my mind.
So with that disclaimer, my rating system includes a score for the audiobook, and here’s the breakdown:
Story: 5/5 stars
Performance: 5/5 stars
Overall: 5/5 stars
The audiobook was very long - about 30 hours long. Even so, I loved every moment and didn’t want it to end. This probably gives an indication already about where my review is going.
In short, this book was absolutely amazing.
I initially rated it on Goodreads, where reviewers are limited by a 5 star rating system, but I wish I could give it 10 stars, it was that good. I actually listened to the book a few years ago, which was also when I wrote the review. But even then I knew that this was going to be one of those rare stories that would haunt me ... stay with me ... forever.
My favorite King novel until this moment was Salem's Lot, but this one - let me tell you, it is nothing short of brilliant. It pulled me right in from the beginning and never let me go.
It’s not an action-packed wild ride thriller at every turn, but - BUT - for me, there was never a dull moment. And that, my folks, takes supreme talent on the part of an author. King did a masterful job of really getting you to connect with the characters.
I think the narrator also played a part in too - narrators can really make or break a book). But it was all done so well that by the end of this epic (yes, it felt that significant to me) it's like the character are a part of you ... You care about them, your heart breaks for them (specifically the protagonist, Jake).
I was literally weeping during the final scenes of the book and that is not something that happens often.
I hate to cry - it does all sorts of things to my sinuses, and makes me look like I got punched in the face, where everything swells up and stuff – it’s not pretty and it basically makes me feel horrible. So I try to avoid things that I know are going to make me weepy - and also, it does take a lot for an author’s mere words to drive me to tears. But this story - especially at the end - was so touching, so bittersweet, so captivating, that there was no other outlet for such emotion for me except tears.
In my opinion, it’s pretty rare that an author can capture so much with mere words – in my experience there’s only one other novelist who can match the level of excellence demonstrated by King in 11/22/63, and that’s Robert McCammon.
Anyway, King managed to do it here ... and he did it very well; I am in awe of his art here.
Well done, Mr. King. Well done.
11/22/63 available here: https://amzn.to/2IgtPHz
Note: In the interest of full disclosure, there is an affiliate link in the description.
My video is at DLive