“She takes my hand like a woman in a dream. She is in a dream, and so am I. Like all sweet dreams, it will be brief…but brevity makes sweetness, doesn’t it? Yes, I think so. Because when time is gone, you can never get it back.”
I can’t remember how I stumbled upon Stephen King’s 11/22/63, it might have been the fact that I read and fell in love with King’s writing style while reading “On Writing” or it might have been because I watched Jackie and afterwards, wanted to learn everything about the Kennedy’s (through fiction, obviously), but whatever the reason I am so happy that I read the 849 page quasi-historical, science-fiction, love story.
Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine and recently divorced, finds himself in a predicament while facing a time-traveling portal that his friend Al Templeton found inside his Diner: Go back in time starting from September 9, 1958 and stop the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, or remain in the present (June 2011) and constantly face the “what if” question. The portal rules are complicated, but two things remain the same: Trips only last two minutes in present day and every visit is a complete reset. Everything that was accomplished on a previous visit will be instantly erased the next time he returns.
What does Jake do? Of course he travels back in time to place the world back on its proper trajectory, where JFK lives. In 1958 Jake Epping becomes George Amberson, and with the guidance of Al’s notes from his visits to the past, Jake/George is able to live in history. He settles down in a small Texas town, becomes a teacher, falls in love, and tracks the movements of Lee Harvey Oswald. But, as we are constantly reminded, “history is obdurate” and Jake/George is challenged many times as he tries to change history.
In 11/22/63, you will find memorable characters – who touch us viscerally and make us root for them – and a powerful sense of place and time, which is remarkably described in great detail about the stores, songs, clothes and cars found in 1958-’63 that make this fantasy seem plausible.
I don’t know if I can read anything else by Stephen King, this book was my first fictional read by him and it surpassed all of my reading expectations: made me laugh, made me nervous, and made me cry. I recognize that this type of book may not be for everyone, but if you are up for a “what if” historical tale, then this tome is for you. 
P.S. Have you seen the series on hulu? I think I may start binge-watching it this weekend.
ali-writes.com 