11/22/63

What a storyteller!

I could do without the language and the occasional allusion to illicit practices--which probably explains why I hadn't read any Stephen King in probably ten years--but the man truly knows how to suck a person into a story.

A couple of friends recommended 11/22/63 (the date of JFK's assassination if your history knowledge doesn't include memorized dates) written by Stephen King.  It kept me up until around 1 am for four nights in a row, but it was worth it.  I can't imagine how much research he had to do to write this book with such accuracy, and his imagination is truly incredible.  I didn't love the ending, but I suppose it is hard to come up with an ending for the effects of time travel.

I'm also glad he captured my reason for keeping this blog, even as I'm finding it more and more difficult to set aside time for it:

"I'm one of those people who doesn't really know what he thinks until he writes it down" (170)

King also seems to be quite literary as he references many, many books--some I've never heard of, others I've read but he made me want to read again.  Of Mice and Men is one I haven't read since high school that I think I need to read again, and I also read The Catcher in the Rye about that time but couldn't tell you about it.  After reading his succinct commentary, I think I'm going to have to revisit it.

"I think it says a lot about how lousy the fifties were, and a lot about how good the sixties can be.  If the Holden Caulfields of America don't lose their outrage, that is.  And their courage" (308).