“Yeah, but what if you went back and killed your own grandfather?"
He stared at me, baffled. "Why the fuck would you do that?”
There are times when I want to write about a book before I'm done. I thought it only appropriate to include a lot of dates for "journal" entries in a blog about a book whose title it itself a date.
10/24/12: I had seen several positive reviews of this book and was curious, but it was finishing the first book of "The Gunslinger" series that reminded me of how much I enjoyed King's story telling. I also remember where I was on 11/22/63 (at my grandmother's house because Mom was home with a new baby, my sister). I was only 5 years and 7 days old when Kennedy was shot so I didn't really understand what was going on, but when it came on television, I knew it was something important by how my grandmother and brothers were intently watching.
Of course, the idea of time travel to go back to save Kennedy by eliminating Oswald certainly isn't a new idea. How many books are written about going back to change the past for the better. Most recently I read one of Connie Willis's books on controlling events and time ("To Say Nothing of the Dog"). I still enjoy this plot device, and I am particularly interested in knowing how King will tell it.
So, a download from audible.com and off we go.
10/26/12: I've listened to the first part and a couple of chapters into the second part. So far, I am not disappointed. I actually folded and put away four loads of clean laundry last night (instead of leaving socks and underwear in a basket for us to pick out as needed) just so I could listen to the book. The magical aspect of the book, which at this point just involves the time travel but there is foreshadowing of more to come, brings to mind hazy memories of "It" and "The Tommyknockers." I'm so glad that I had read "Dandelion Wine" recently to remind me of Bradbury's Green Town, Illinois, not just because King has referred to it, but because Part 2 is clearly an homage to the town and the story of the Ravine and the Lonely One.
There is the typical aspect of time travel that Jake Epping has to face: how is life in the U.S. in 1958 different than 2011. This is part of what draws us to books like this, because it gives a chance to focus on what life was like in times past. I'm reminded of the TV show Life on Mars each time Jake realizes he can't say certain things or that his 2011 dime doesn't work in public phones because the weight is all wrong.
Tomorrow I spend 10 hours on the road, so I'll check in with how I'm fairing with the book then.
11/23/12: I awoke last night at 4 am from a nightmare that I am sure was partly due to the end of this book. I listened to much of the book on my way to and from Indianapolis a month ago, and then listened to 30 minutes at a time on trips back and forth to Des Moines. On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I came down with a stomach virus and wanted to do nothing but lie on the couch in the sun. I finished off the book then.
I continued to enjoy the story through Part 5. Jake Epping is living in the "ago" time working on surviving, because the past is obdurate and continuing to learn about Lee Harvey Oswald and making plans. In his spare time, he is living in Jody, TX, and subbing at the local high school. Of course, he should keep a low profile, but it is difficult to live in a town for several years and not make personal connections with people. His penchant for using his knowledge about the future to help him make money doesn't help either, but he has to finance his operation somehow.
As I said, up through the end of Part 5, I was happy as a lark eager to hear each episode of Jake's life in the past. The approach of the assassination of Kennedy is one of the most intense sections of reading I've ever experienced, and what I assumed would be the ultimate climax of the book.
Of course, in Part 6 King had to deal with the aftermath of the event and the affect it had on the future. We also get to learn some about the magic of the time travel. I admit that I snoozed through some of this part, in part because I was ill, but also because it wasn't as interesting to me as the story that had come before. There were some loose ends that needed to be tied up both about the assassination and Jake's life from the past, but to tell more than that would be to give it away. I'll write off my disappointment in the ending to how difficult it is to write a conclusion, no matter how good a story teller you are.
Worth it? Absolutely! King can write 'em.
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