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11/22/63: A Novel Hardcover – Illustrated, November 8, 2011

by Stephen King (Author)

3,622 ratings

in Alternate History Science Fiction

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On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.

Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

A tribute to a simpler era and a devastating exercise in escalating suspense, 11/22/63 is Stephen King at his epic best.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fascinating... Captivating. It is not typical Stephen King. It is extraordinary Stephen King." —USA Today

"Among living American novelists, Stephen King is the heavyweight champion... This may be his most haunted, and haunting, work." —San Diego Union Tribune

About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Never Flinch, the short story collection You Like It Darker (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

8

On Monday, March 25, Lee came walking up Neely Street carrying a long package wrapped in brown paper. Peering through a tiny crack in the curtains, I could see the words REGISTERED and INSURED stamped on it in big red letters. For the first time I thought he seemed furtive and nervous, actually looking around at his exterior surroundings instead of at the spooky furniture deep in his head. I knew what was in the package: a 6.5mm Carcano rifle—also known as a Mannlicher-Carcano—complete with scope, purchased from Klein’s Sporting Goods in Chicago. Five minutes after he climbed the outside stairs to the second floor, the gun Lee would use to change history was in a closet above my head. Marina took the famous pictures of him holding it just outside my living room window six days later, but I didn’t see it. That was a Sunday, and I was in Jodie. As the tenth grew closer, those weekends with Sadie had become the most important, the dearest, things in my life.

9

I came awake with a jerk, hearing someone mutter “Still not too late” under his breath. I realized it was me and shut up.

Sadie murmured some thick protest and turned over in bed. The familiar squeak of the springs locked me in place and time: the Candlewood Bungalows, April 5, 1963. I fumbled my watch from the nightstand and peered at the luminous numbers. It was quarter past two in the morning, which meant it was actually the sixth of April.

Still not too late.

Not too late for what? To back off, to let well enough alone? Or bad enough, come to that? The idea of backing off was attractive, God knew. If I went ahead and things went wrong, this could be my last night with Sadie. Ever.

Even if you do have to kill him, you don’t have to do it right away.

True enough. Oswald was going to relocate to New Orleans for awhile after the attempt on the general’s life—another shitty apartment, one I’d already visited—but not for two weeks. That would give me plenty of time to stop his clock. But I sensed it would be a mistake to wait very long. I might find reasons to keep on waiting. The best one was beside me in this bed: long, lovely, and smoothly naked. Maybe she was just another trap laid by the obdurate past, but that didn’t matter, because I loved her. And I could envision a scenario—all too clearly—where I’d have to run after killing Oswald. Run where? Back to Maine, of course. Hoping I could stay ahead of the cops just long enough to get to the rabbit-hole and escape into a future where Sadie Dunhill would be . . . well . . . about eighty years old. If she were alive at all. Given her cigarette habit, that would be like rolling six the hard way.

I got up and went to the window. Only a few of the bungalows were occupied on this early-spring weekend. There was a mud- or manure-splattered pickup truck with a trailer full of what looked like farm implements behind it. An Indian motorcycle with a sidecar. A couple of station wagons. And a two-tone Plymouth Fury. The moon was sliding in and out of thin clouds and it wasn’t possible to make out the color of the car’s lower half by that stuttery light, but I was pretty sure I knew what it was, anyway.

I pulled on my pants, undershirt, and shoes. Then I slipped out of the cabin and walked across the courtyard. The chilly air bit at my bed-warm skin, but I barely felt it. Yes, the car was a Fury, and yes, it was white over red, but this one wasn’t from Maine or Arkansas; the plate was Oklahoma, and the decal in the rear window read GO, SOONERS. I peeked in and saw a scatter of textbooks. Some student, maybe headed south to visit his folks on spring break. Or a couple of horny teachers taking advantage of the Candlewood’s liberal guest policy.

Just another not-quite-on-key chime as the past harmonized with itself. I touched the trunk, as I had back in Lisbon Falls, then returned to the bungalow. Sadie had pushed the sheet down to her waist, and when I came in, the draft of cool air woke her up. She sat, holding the sheet over her breasts, then let it drop when she saw it was me.

“Can’t sleep, honey?”

“I had a bad dream and went out for some air.”

“What was it?”

I unbuttoned my jeans, kicked off my loafers. “Can’t remember.”

“Try. My mother always used to say if you tell your dreams, they won’t come true.”

I got into bed with her wearing nothing but my undershirt. “My mother used to say if you kiss your honey, they won’t come true.”

“Did she actually say that?”

“No.”

“Well,” she said thoughtfully, “it sounds possible. Let’s try it.”

We tried it.

One thing led to another.

10

Afterward, she lit a cigarette. I lay watching the smoke drift up and turn blue in the occasional moonlight coming through the half-drawn curtains. I’d never leave the curtains that way at Neely Street, I thought. At Neely Street, in my other life, I’m always alone but still careful to close them all the way. Except when I’m peeking, that is. Lurking.

Just then I didn’t like myself very much.

“George?”

I sighed. “That’s not my name.”

“I know.”

I looked at her. She inhaled deeply, enjoying her cigarette guiltlessly, as people do in the Land of Ago. “I don’t have any inside information, if that’s what you’re thinking. But it stands to reason. The rest of your past is made up, after all. And I’m glad. I don’t like George all that much. It’s kind of . . . what’s that word you use sometimes? . . . kind of dorky.”

“How does Jake suit you?”

“As in Jacob?”

“Yes.”

“I like it.” She turned to me. “In the Bible, Jacob wrestled an angel. And you’re wrestling, too. Aren’t you?”

“I suppose I am, but not with an angel.” Although Lee Oswald didn’t make much of a devil, either. I liked George de Mohren--schildt better for the devil role. In the Bible, Satan’s a tempter who makes the offer and then stands aside. I hoped de Mohrenschildt was like that.

Sadie snubbed her cigarette. Her voice was calm, but her eyes were dark. “Are you going to be hurt?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you going away? Because if you have to go away, I’m not sure I can stand it. I would have died before I said it when I was there, but Reno was a nightmare. Losing you for good . . .” She shook her head slowly. “No, I’m not sure I could stand that.”

“I want to marry you,” I said.

“My God,” she said softly. “Just when I’m ready to say it’ll never happen, Jake-alias-George says right now.”

“Not right now, but if the next week goes the way I hope it does . . . will you?”

“Of course. But I do have to ask one teensy question.”

“Am I single? Legally single? Is that what you want to know?”

She nodded.

“I am,” I said.

She let out a comic sigh and grinned like a kid. Then she sobered. “Can I help you? Let me help you.”

The thought turned me cold, and she must have seen it. Her lower lip crept into her mouth. She bit down on it with her teeth. “That bad, then,” she said musingly.

“Let’s put it this way: I’m currently close to a big machine full of sharp teeth, and it’s running full speed. I won’t allow you next to me while I’m monkeying with it.”

“When is it?” she asked. “Your . . . I don’t know . . . your date with destiny?”

“Still to be determined.” I had a feeling that I’d said too much already, but since I’d come this far, I decided to go a little farther. “Something’s going to happen this Wednesday night. Something I have to witness. Then I’ll decide.”

“Is there no way I can help you?”

“I don’t think so, honey.”

“If it turns out I can—”

“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate that. And you really will marry me?”

“Now that I know your name is Jake? Of course.”

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 8, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 849 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1451627289
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1451627282
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.9 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.3 x 6.3 x 2.7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #7,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books)
- #75 in American Literature (Books)
- #141 in Suspense Thrillers

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Stephen King

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Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes NEVER FLINCH, YOU LIKE IT DARKER (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), HOLLY (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), FAIRY TALE, BILLY SUMMERS, IF IT BLEEDS, THE INSTITUTE, ELEVATION, THE OUTSIDER, SLEEPING BEAUTIES (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: END OF WATCH, FINDERS KEEPERS, and MR. MERCEDES (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works THE DARK TOWER, IT, PET SEMATARY, DOCTOR SLEEP, and FIRESTARTER are the basis for major motion pictures, with IT now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

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Customers find this novel captivating, praising its love story with historical context and unexpected plot twists that are sometimes wrenching. Moreover, the book features brilliant writing and a well-developed cast of full and interesting characters, with one customer noting how the characters discuss the time portal. Additionally, customers appreciate the time travel elements, with one review highlighting how it develops a sense of time and place. However, the pacing receives mixed reactions, with some finding it fast-paced while others note a slow start that never quite catches up. The length is also a point of contention, with several customers finding it too long.

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Readability Plot Time travel Writing quality Character development Suspense level Length Pacing

806 customers mention "Readability"764 positive42 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a captivating and well-told story.

"...Their love story is the centerpiece of the novel and is told with great depth, sensitivity and believability...." Read more

"...This is a beautiful, evocative story, told with the early sixties and the JFK assassination as a backdrop...." Read more

"...an edge-of-your-seat thriller with just the right amount of mystery, mystique, adventure, romance, and humor thrown in for good measure. Yes, humor...." Read more

"...do provide greater historical perspective and thus give a greater appreciation for this book...." Read more

347 customers mention "Plot"293 positive54 negative

Customers enjoy the plot of the book, describing it as a love story with unusual context that is both suspenseful and satisfying, with one customer noting its wrenching twists.

"...here, at least none that aren't human, and little or no horror in the supernatural sense that King's constant readers have come to know, love and..." Read more

"...They're an integral part of the story and it wouldn't ring true without them - and the darker details are, in fact, not numerous...." Read more

"...of time-travel stories, King takes what seems to me to be a unique approach: each time you go through the portal, everything is reset back to the..." Read more

"...travel mechanism in this story is quite original, and lends itself to different scenarios than say 'Back to the Future' or other stories where the..." Read more

175 customers mention "Time travel"171 positive4 negative

Customers enjoy the time travel elements in the book, finding it a must-read for fans of the genre and appreciating how it puts readers back in historical settings.

"...Yes, it is built around a well-used SF trope, time travel, but really, the portal to the past that Jake Epping is shown in the back of an aluminum..." Read more

"...Here, the plot device is time travel; but the real story is the characters' lives who inhabit those times...." Read more

"...long-time Stephen King readers: some familiar settings, some familiar background stories, and even some familiar faces during the time Jake Epping..." Read more

"...The time travel mechanism in this story is quite original, and lends itself to different scenarios than say 'Back to the Future' or other stories..." Read more

172 customers mention "Writing quality"165 positive7 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, describing it as wonderful and the best King has written in years, with one customer noting its lively prose.

"...The world of 1958-1963 is described in wonderful detail, through the eyes of Jake as he gradually sheds his early 21st century armored shell and..." Read more

"...I believe that the best writing touches and teaches us with the use of certain important tools: first, through the creation of interesting, complex..." Read more

"...is a wonderful surprise for long-time Stephen King readers: some familiar settings, some familiar background stories, and even some familiar faces..." Read more

"...Steven King novel that I've read, I must say that this is an excellent author...." Read more

144 customers mention "Character development"141 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book, noting that the characters are full and interesting, with one customer highlighting their three-dimensional nature and another mentioning how they discuss the time portal.

"...important tools: first, through the creation of interesting, complex characters about whom we come to care a great deal; and secondly, with a plot..." Read more

"...Jake Epping's character is well-developed, like all Stephen King characters and the story is told from his point of view and in his voice, which..." Read more

"...Rather, the strength lies in the characters and their relationships with one another...." Read more

"...King also develops several other characters that you will really come to know and enjoy. This is one my favorite aspects of the book...." Read more

116 customers mention "Suspense level"116 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the suspense level of the book, describing it as an amazing adventure with good twists and turns.

"...There were others too; exciting, romantic, bittersweet and, as with all SK's stuff, well-written...." Read more

"...story is woven in, around and about the facts, figures and minutiae of that awful day - and events leading up to it - without losing a single beat...." Read more

"...-your-seat thriller with just the right amount of mystery, mystique, adventure, romance, and humor thrown in for good measure. Yes, humor...." Read more

"...myself to reading only a chapter or so per session, because it was so amazing that I didn't want it to end. When it did, I wept... literally...." Read more

118 customers mention "Length"38 positive80 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's length, with some appreciating its 850 pages while others find it too long.

"...Why the four stars? I have to admit the novel is too long...." Read more

"...makes you nervous, as it did for me, I will say that the print is fairly large...." Read more

"...This was lazy writing, but then S K has always been known as the type of writer who would throw everything in and leave it, and he's even admitting..." Read more

"First, this is a very long book, not long by Stephen King's standards, but it felt long...." Read more

93 customers mention "Pacing"64 positive29 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with some finding it fast and quick to read, while others note a slow start that never quite catches up and parts that feel rushed.

"...minutiae of that awful day - and events leading up to it - without losing a single beat. It all rings clear, true and infinitely readable." Read more

"...This book is 850+ pages, but it is one of the fastest reads I've had in a long time, especially considering the length of the book...." Read more

"...are three dimensional and memorable, but still, the book moved too slow for me...." Read more

"...This novel is several genres all intertwined into one, a historical novel, a science-fiction tale of time travel, a work of fiction, with just a..." Read more

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James Tepper
Through the past darkly - a no spoilers review
Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2011
Verified Purchase

"11/22/63", Stephen King's latest, might just be his greatest. Seriously. At least as far as "mainstream" fiction or "literature" goes. Yes, it is built around a well-used SF trope, time travel, but really, the portal to the past that Jake Epping is shown in the back of an aluminum diner is only the launch mechanism for this fantastic journey. There are no monsters here, at least none that aren't human, and little or no horror in the supernatural sense that King's constant readers have come to know, love and expect. Even SK's other "straight" fiction, "Misery", "Dolores Claiborne" and "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" come to mind, had elements of the supernatural and/or flat-out horror. Not this time.

But that doesn't mean that 11/22/63 is boring. Quite the contrary. Although it might seem that it would be tough to build suspense around a conclusion that seems to be inevitable, this turns out not to be the case. Big time. I just finished playing hooky from work for a day when I read the last 400 pages non-stop (except for a couple of bathroom breaks), because I just couldn't stop. I just kept pressing the advance button on my Kindle.

The adjective that first comes to mind in describing 11/22/63 among SK's oeuvre is, oddly enough, "mature". I have read every novel and anthology that King has published, plus a large number of single short stories, starting with "Carrie" in a borrowed paperback back in the late 1970s. I have never before thought of describing his work in any of them, many good, some great and a few clunkers (some of which I have reviewed as such), as mature. But that is the first, best word that comes to mind in describing 11/22/63. There were others too; exciting, romantic, bittersweet and, as with all SK's stuff, well-written.

Lee Harvey Oswald and the Kennedy assassination were obviously very well-researched, clear from the details in the text even before one gets to the afterword that describes some of the sources and methods used. The lead-up to the day of the assassination is described in great detail, along with Oswald's relationship to his family and associates, all matters of historical record (at least according to the sources cited by SK, with which most of the readers who did not like the novel disagreed emphatically). But I should point out that the facts concerning the Kennedy assassination are actually not the main focus of the novel.

The world of 1958-1963 is described in wonderful detail, through the eyes of Jake as he gradually sheds his early 21st century armored shell and falls in love with a small Texas town and Sadie, its new young librarian. Their love story is the centerpiece of the novel and is told with great depth, sensitivity and believability. I'm old enough to have experienced lots of the stuff that Jake encounters in 1958 (albeit as a child) and it jives with and jogs my recollections and induces a feeling of longing for older, simpler times. For King''s "Constant Readers", there are easter egg cameos from "It" and "The Langoliers" that I recognized. Knowing SK, there may well be others.

The ending is not predictable (if you say you saw it all coming you are either lying or should be a best-selling novelist) and is surprisingly satisfying. To those who say King doesn't know how to end his novels, I say, read this one.

Very Highly Recommended for all (even those who think they know but don't "like" Stephen King).

J.M. Tepper

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K. Grace
The harmonics of Stephen King
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2012
Verified Purchase
I just finished reading Stephen King's latest, 11/22/63. I gave it a 5-star rating, which in my view is more than richly deserved. Had there been more stars in the rating system, I'd have given more.

I've long been a Stephen King fan, even early on when sometimes his work had a little too much gore and frightening evil for my taste. But his ability to pull me in, compulsively turning pages, is nevertheless unparalleled. And as any devoted reader of his work will tell you, with passing years his skill has become even more finely honed. The better angels of his writing nature (in my humble opinion, at least) have gradually taken control and nurtured the real heart of his talent. In truth, I believe there is no better wordsmith in American literature. He himself puts it best: "I tell a good tale."

That modest description is a pale implement for describing 11/22/63. This is a beautiful, evocative story, told with the early sixties and the JFK assassination as a backdrop. It is perfectly seamless, flowing like quicksilver from one haunting, bittersweet scene to the next. Like many of King's books, it begins rather quietly - and if you're not acquainted with his work you might think, what's the big deal?

Keep reading. I promise: within a very few pages, you will be hooked - and then some. If you share my passion for science fiction and fantasy - well, this story will blow you away. If you're a tad squeamish about murder and mayhem, again...keep reading. Although some violent scenarios are included where they enter into the story, they aren't overused or utilized for pure shock value. They're an integral part of the story and it wouldn't ring true without them - and the darker details are, in fact, not numerous.

I believe that the best writing touches and teaches us with the use of certain important tools: first, through the creation of interesting, complex characters about whom we come to care a great deal; and secondly, with a plot device that becomes like another character. (That's not what they usually tell you in writing seminars and classes. The more commonly accepted view is that plot and character development are more or less separate, created along different tracks and whipped into line by the writer's skill at making them blend into acceptable credibility.) 11/22/63 is a book that sets a new paradigm for those diehard professors and creative writing gurus who insist on such arcane rules.

Here, the plot device is time travel; but the real story is the characters' lives who inhabit those times. It is a deeply touching love story as well as one of friendship and personal journey. The people you meet come to feel like old friends, neighbors, colleagues. It's the kind of book that leaves you sad when you read the final page.

For this work, Stephen King did years of research about the JFK assassination, Dallas and Texas in general. The result for a reader is that there isn't one false note in the 850 pages. Somehow the story is woven in, around and about the facts, figures and minutiae of that awful day - and events leading up to it - without losing a single beat. It all rings clear, true and infinitely readable.

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Caliban
Eines der besten King-Bücher der neueren Zeit
Reviewed in Germany on November 24, 2011
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Stephen King spricht mit seinen Werken ein sehr großes Publikum an. Dabei ist es praktisch unmöglich, sämtliche Geschmäcker zu treffen. Die Arena hat bei vielen Lesern auf diesen Seiten Begeisterungsstürme hervorgerufen. Eine Minderheit, zu der ich selbst zähle, ließ dieses Buch wegen seiner klischeehaftigkeit vergleichsweise kalt. Hier könnte es möglicherweise gerade andersherum sein: Das Buch ist trotz zahlreicher spannender Momente überhaupt nicht actionlastig, sondern lebt von gekonnter Menschenzeichnung und der Vermittlung der ganz eigenen Stimmung der 50er Jahre. Dies könnten viele Leser als schlicht langweilig empfinden. Auf dieser Seite setzte allerdings bereits nach wenigen Tagen großes, wenngleich verdächtig pauschales Lob für das Tausendseitenwerk ein. Dieses ist jedoch verdient. Denn das Buch zeigt seit langem ungetrübt die ganze Stärke des Erzählers King. Dies will ich kurz begründen:

1. Das Buch lebt zunächst von der präzisen und zugleich liebevollen Menschenbeobachtung Kings, die von Anfang an eine ganz besondere, nur von ihm gestaltbare Stimmungsdichte hervorbringt. Bereits der Beginn zeigt einen leicht desillusionierten Englischlehrer, dessen Freunde er wohl sehr bewusst nicht im Kollegenkreis, sondern beim Hausmeister und in einem Fastfoodrestaurant sucht: ein idealer Kandidat für eine Flucht aus der Wirklichkeit in die Traumlandschaft der Vergangenheit. Die Protagonisten der weiteren Handlung aber sind Personen, die dem Leser wie in den großen Kingwerken wirklich unvergesslich bleiben. Ich erwähne hier nur die scharfsinnige Mimi oder erinnere an die burlesk-liebevolle aber so aussagekräftige erste Begegnungsszene des Helden mit Sadie auf einer Gartenparty. Mich hat dieser Roman - jetzt wird es gleich Prügel geben - an Jonathan Franzens "Freiheit" erinnert; ich finde, er steht hier gar nicht zurück. Es handelt sich - trotz der spektakulären Grundidee - vor allem um eine vergleichsweise handlungsarme Geschichte die von sehr prägnanten Protagonisten handelt.

2. Die Stimmung der 50er Jahre, die ich selbst nicht erlebt habe, wird dennoch für den Leser so dicht eingefangen, wie in einem der besten King-Bücher "It".

****Achtung Spoilergefahr'****
Ein Teilabschnitt der Handlung - der Probelauf in die Vergangenheit spielt daher nicht ohne Grund im Derry des Jahres 1958(!), wo Bev und Richie einen kurzen Auftritt haben. Was für ein liebevolles Wiedersehen!

*** Spoilergefahr beendet ***

Dabei übertreibt es King nicht und zeigt auch durch kurzen Hinweis auf die Toilette für Farbige an einer Tankstelle (es handelt sich um den nahegelegenen Bach), wie problematisch diese Zeit war. Es ist trotz allem ein idyllisches Amerika ohne paranoide Terroristenangst und voll von liebenswerter Naivität und Vertrauensseligkeit, in das man sich als Leser mit dem Helden verliebt. Man versteht, wie es ihn packt und wie er sich immer schwerer vorstellen kann, in die Gegenwart zurückzukehren.

3. Die mit Zeitreisethematik verbundenen logischen Fragen, unter denen viele Bücher und Filme ersticken (wer kennt außer dem Werk von Wells und der Humoreske "Zurück in die Zukunft I" noch eine wirklich gut funktionierende Zeitreisegeschichte) ist wunderbar stimmungsvoll gelöst. Die Regeln, die King sich ausdenkt, befriedigen das Bedürfnis des Lesers nach Plausibilität, sorgen zugleich für stimmungsvolle Spannung, drängen sich aber nicht in den Vordergrund. Bspw. dachte ich mir gleich nach der Ankündigung des Titels, dass kein Zeitreisender so einfältig sein würde, Oswald gerade am Tag des Attentats abzufangen, sondern dieses Risiko gerade nicht eingehen und ihn früher ausschalten würde. Diese und ähnliche Fragen beschäftigt auch King. Überaus stimmungsvoll baut er Oswald, von dem man ganz am Anfang des Werkes etwas durch einen anderen Zeitreisenden erfährt und dessen Parallelleben in der Sowjetunion sich der Held lange Zeit nur abstrakt vergegenwärtigt, den Charakter einer geheimnisvollen Nemesis. Allein wie King diese Person schließlich einführt, ist eine einsame Spitzenleistung. Die Auseinandersetzung mit diesem komplexen, keineswegs nur verrückten oder bösen Charakter und die Dilemmata des Helden, der hin- und hergerissen ist von Liebe, Verantwortung und Skrupeln, machen das Buch absolut lesenswert.

Ich würde das Buch also nicht demjenigen Leser empfehlen, der einen guten Krimi, einen unheimlichen Roman oder ein Actionfeuerwerk sucht, wohl aber allen, die Dolores Clairborne mochten oder etwa die Kurzgeschichte "The Reach". Für diesen Leserkreis kann ich hier eine absolute Empfehlung aussprechen!

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Ian
¿Nuestra historia está escrita o puede cambiarse?
Reviewed in Mexico on February 16, 2024
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11/22/63, por Stephen King es, a mi criterio, lo mejor que ha escrito en los últimos años, además de que logra tocar un tema que muchos creían imposible que él pudiera escribir, estoy hablando del romance.
Esta historia no solo es un análisis del asesinato del ex presidente JFK, es una historia que habla sobre el amor, hasta cierto punto la ética y meras especulaciones (algunas muy interesantes respecto a la manera en la que fueron planteadas) acerca de las posibles consecuencias de evitar un evento que dio paso a sucesos de magnitud global. También se describe de manera magnífica la época de los 50s y 60s, su forma de narrar y describir las localizaciones, objetos y personajes te hace sentir no solo dentro de la novela, si no en esa época, viendo cada suceso.

Por parte de la edición, la editorial Scribner logra darle una estética bastante minimalista esta edición de pasta dura, pues cuenta con una portada roja con lomo negro, la cual tiene marcada con letras doradas el título y el apellido de King; también incluye una sobrecubierta de textura plástica con superficie brillante en el apartado rojo y relieves de color negro en el título. Las hojas son de una calidad media, pues son bastante delgadas, pero aún así las consideraría lo suficientemente resistentes. No hallé ningún error de impresión. Por cierto, la impresión de este libro es de 2011 y me llegó sin plástico protector pero afortunadamente sin daños.

Una obra fantástica, emocionante, atrapante y hasta melancólica, sin duda alguna completamente recomendada.

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Linus Ansarfwe
Helt enligt beskrivning!
Reviewed in Sweden on March 10, 2025
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Hel enligt beskrivning!

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Amazing
Reviewed in Canada on April 18, 2025
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Amazing book and came in perfect condition

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Arturo Gámez Hervert
Una edición para disfrutarse
Reviewed in Mexico on May 27, 2022
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Sin lugar a dudas esta edición es muy bonita, la encuadernación excelente. Hace que disfrutes sostenerla en tus manos. Y del texto un gran libro del maestro Stephen King. El único inconveniente es que creo que no llego lo suficientemente protegido. Ningún daño pero solo fue enviado en la bolsa de Amazon, creo debería de haber tenido al menos una envoltura de plástico, fuera de eso excelente compra a un precio muy bueno.

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Arturo Gámez Hervert

Una edición para disfrutarse

Reviewed in Mexico on May 27, 2022
Sin lugar a dudas esta edición es muy bonita, la encuadernación excelente. Hace que disfrutes sostenerla en tus manos. Y del texto un gran libro del maestro Stephen King. El único inconveniente es que creo que no llego lo suficientemente protegido. Ningún daño pero solo fue enviado en la bolsa de Amazon, creo debería de haber tenido al menos una envoltura de plástico, fuera de eso excelente compra a un precio muy bueno.

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11/22/63: A Novel Hardcover – Illustrated, November 8, 2011

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