A short peek at Stephen King's 11/22/63

I started reading King's newest, mamothed-sized novel, 11/22/63, yesterday morning at work. I'm now on page 99 after just two days.

The premise of this novel centers around a Maine high school teacher who has the opportunity to go back in time to 1958, wait a few years, and then hopefully to keep President John F. Kennedy from being assassinated.

I'm not going into a lot of details here. I'll save that for the book review when I finish the novel. Let me just say this is maybe the first actual novel by King in the last decade or two that I find myself jumping up and down about, anxious to get back to it and to find out what's happening next. Jesus, I don't think I've honestly felt this way since opening up the cover of The Stand back in 1978 and knowing I was getting ready to go on one hell of a journey. This novel is like that. In fact, the book is so good that you don't even question the time portal in the pantry of the diner. You just go along with it because by then you're hooked line and sinker, just the way the author wants you to be.

Maybe this has something to do with JFK's death in 63. I was in the Eight Grade then (thirteen years old) and standing out on a field during P.E. class when someone told our coach about Kennedy's assassination. He then told us about it and suggested we head on home. It was near the end of the day on a Friday, so no big deal. The thing is the murder of John F. Kennedy affected me and millions of other Americans because we believed in him and secretly felt he was going to lead our country to greatness. This was man who read James Bond novels before it was the "in thing" to do. He believed in space travel and knew it was important that we strive to gain a foothold into this unknown frontier. He believed in equal rights and that everyman, regardless of color, deserved a fair shot at living the American dream. He wasn't one to take shit off of Russia or Cuba and felt the strong need to establish special combat troops to inflitrate and fight a new type of war, stamping his approval on the U.S. Army's Green Berets. Kennedy believed in higher education and that it be available to all because a country greatness can be measured by how intelligent the average person is.

I think most Americans would have gladly given up their life to save the President that Friday afternoon in November, had it been possible. I know my step father would have, and it was probably the only time I ever saw him cry. Needless to say, I stayed glued to the television set that weekend, knowing in a way I couldn't explain that the United States was about to shift paths for better or worse. I remember seeing the the actual murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, along with Kennedy's burial in Washington, D.C.

Over the years, I've often wondered what would have happened to our country had Kennedy not been killed that eventful day. I think in many ways it would have turned out better than it has with such a dire economy, so many people still out of work, the constant threat of violence from overseas, and a government that few Americans seem to trust or believe in any more.

Stephen King's novel is a chance to go back and to see what might have been. If the damn book wasn't so heavy, I would've brought it home with me from work. I thought about it. But, I'll get back to the story tomorrow morning. For me, this is Stephen King at his absolute best, telling a story that might have been...offering American one more chance to be great.

P.S.

Just got to page 130 when Jake, the school teacher, arrives in Derry, Maine in 1958. This was just a few months after all the children were killed in Stephen King's It!