11.22.63 – Stephen King
(4.3 / 5)
This was yet another mammoth audio book. I’m not sure why I always choose the big ones to listen to… I guess I look at the book and not the 30+ hours its going to take to listen to it!
Jake Epping is an English teacher living out his life until one day his friend Al introduces him to a worm hole in time. Every time the wormhole is entered it takes the passenger back in time to 1958. Al was forced to come back before he was able to change the past, by preventing the Kennedy assassination. Now he want’s Jake to do it – To save thousands of lives that were lost in wars and past events by saving the president in 1963. However the past is the past for a reason. It resists change, as Jake soon discovers.
I really enjoyed this story. Stephen King is one of my favourite authors. Ever since I turned the pages of “Night Shift” all those years ago in my youth, and scared myself to death with “The boogeyman” I have loved everything he has written (even his crappier stuff) because it was him. 11.22.63 Is a fantastic story. Full of heart. And the audio version was just superb. Narrated by Craig Wasson, it is extremely entertaining. You can feel the tension in the exciting parts and Wasson does all the voices so well. Up the top of my list for best audio books!
I am not the biggest fan of historical fiction, not sure why. It just doesn’t appeal to me. And time travel novels can be so hit and miss. There are only a few that I have really enjoyed. But this story is so much more than a historical fiction time travel book. Its so much more than just the events associated with the assassination of the president (although obviously this is the central course of events of the story). It is a romance, an adventure, an action and just a plain old good yarn!
The characters are fabulous. I love the 50’s feel to the characters and places. King has put a LOT of research into this book and it shows. Jake is a great character. Even though some of the choices he made me scratched my head at times, I really liked him. Sadie was also a great character. But the star of the show was the obdurate past. It was a character in itself. Always trying to stop him, and “harmonising” in spooky ways. Gave me goosebumps in a few places (Jimla).
The main reason this story gets a 4.25 from me and not higher, is because a lot of the historical subject matter didn’t interest me that much and it dragged on at times, especially the parts where he was just observing Oswald. I don’t know much about American history so a lot of it went over my head. I just couldn’t give it a higher rating.
However 4.25 is still a great rating, I can’t say I will listen to it again any times soon, but It was an enjoyable ride.
Would I recommend 11.22.63?
Yes! A great read, you wont regret it!
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