11/22/63, by Stephen King
With 11/22/63 King takes us back to one of the watershed moments of U.S. History - the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In many ways, this novel is a companion piece to Under the Dome. Both are politically charged, dealing with issues important to King. But while Under the Dome is more bombastic, casting its evil in the light of fundamentalist Christianity and Tea Party politics, 11/22/63 is more subdued, and instead it couches its evil in the era that right-wing America wants to take "take our country back" to.
The book is basically divided into three sections. The first and third sections are fantastic - some of King's very best. I was not expecting the shotgun start, and the ending, a place where King sometimes stumbles, is one of his very best; I'd say it's pitch perfect. The final third also contains one of King's very best written paragraphs, and the events that transpire on that fateful day in Texas are as thrilling as they come - I simply couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
Unfortunately the middle portion goes on for a little too long. It's not bad, it's just kind of a disappointment after the amazing beginning. The plot stalls and we are given a pretty good little love story. Again, it's not bad, and it did hold my attention, but I did start to wonder when things were going to get exciting again.
Another problem has to do with character motivation. I've heard this mentioned in a couple of other reviews, and I'm of two minds about it. On one hand, the motivations of Jake/George, the main character, are hard to believe. He is basically just a catalyst for the plot. He does some crazy things - like volunteering to back in time to save JFK, for one! - and King never really presents any kind of grounding motivation.
On the other hand, however, I appreciate that King didn't make Jake/George simply a man-with-nothing-to-lose type character. He didn't go back in time to escape his POS modern life. He is not running away from something, he was actually running towards something. And by the end of the book I saw this more as a positive, especially given the politics of the book.
In these crazy socioeconomic and politically troubled times we live in, the desire to DO SOMETHING is stronger than ever. This can be seen in the misguided attempts behind the Tea Party movement, and even more so now in the desire to overthrow the corporate coup of America beating away in the heart of the Occupy movement. I think people now, more than ever, want to do something, no matter how drastic, to make things better. And this is exactly what Jake/George sets out to do. He is a modern day hero, and ultimately he is one that makes sense in these times even if his literary motivations are flimsy.
