Stephen King – 11.22.63

Jake Epping is a normal thirty-five year old teacher going about his business until the day a dying friend lets him into a secret and asks him a huge favour. Al discovered a time portal back to 1958 in the store room of his diner and had been using it to buy cheap meat for the diner and to try and change history by stopping the assignation of JFK. However, Al develops cancer and is not fit enough to continue with the task so he passes the information on to Jake and asks him to carry out his final wish. Jake is not entirely convinced but decides to take up the challenge and begins a journey to change the course of history.

I’ll be completely honest here, when I heard that Stephen King’s new book was about someone going back in time to stop the JFK assassination I was disappointed. Being English I have little knowledge or interest in American history (we studied the Native Americans / the gold rush in history at school, which was actually quite interesting, but that’s about it) and I have no interest or knowledge whatsoever about American politics (I have very little interest in UK politics so anywhere outside the UK stands no chance!) But it’s Stephen King, he’s my favourite author and he knows how to tell a good story so I was still keen to get my hands on a copy. The second problem I had with the book is the title. It has taken me AGES to actually remember it. At first I was referring to it as “umm, it’s the date that JFK was shot.” Eventually I did actually manage to remember the date but in the UK format so I am still having to make a conscious effort not to call it 22.11.63 and to be honest, in a year’s time I’ll probably have forgotten the date again and reverted back to “umm, it’s the date that JFK was shot.”

But anyway, despite all of that I bought my copy and jumped it straight to the top of my (huge) to read pile. I was immediately drawn into the story and the characters (characterisation being one of King’s strongest talents). Most of the story is not about the assassination at all but about Jake’s journey through the past, the problems he encounters and the people he meets along the way.

One of the things I loved about this book was the references to King’s other works. He often does include little references but there seemed to be a lot this time. As part of the story takes place in Derry I suppose that helps as there is a big IT reference which is great. There are also several smaller references to other works dotted throughout the book.

I really enjoyed the book for the most part. There was a section towards the middle that I was less keen on as it was mostly Jake carrying out surveillance of Lee Harvey Oswald which was not very interesting and could probably have done with being a little shorter. Apart from that the book was brilliant with lots of things going on.

I’m now considering doing some King re-reads again (although I always feel guilty re-reading books when I have at least 150 books that I haven’t read yet sitting on my shelf awaiting my attention).

Stephen King – The Gunslinger (Dark Tower 1)

The first in the Dark Tower series, we meet Roland, the last Gunslinger, as he makes his way across the desert in pursuit of the Man in Black and begin to learn about his quest to reach the Dark Tower.

This is the second time that I have read The Gunslinger. I’ll be honest, the first time I read it I hated it, but that was about 12 years ago. I picked it up again because Amanda over at Floor to Ceiling Books had decided to host a readalong of the series. I love the rest of the books in the series so decided to join in.

This time around I enjoyed the book. It took effort to only read the pages being discussed for the weeks readalong post and not just carry on and finish the whole book. In fact, I’m not even sure why I didn’t like the book before (although I wasn’t alone in not liking it). I found the imagery fantastic. I could really picture the bleak landscapes that Roland and Jake were crossing and Roland’s flashbacks really felt alive.

Perhaps I enjoyed it this time around because I know where the story is going (and how it ends) so I wasn’t constantly waiting for answers that weren’t coming. Perhaps it’s because I have read a lot more King since then (at the time of my first read of The Gunslinger I had read quite a lot of King but now I have read almost everything he has published, with the exception of two full length novels and probably a handful of short stories), or perhaps it’s simply because I’m 12 years older than I was back then. Whatever the reason I’m glad I re-read the book. It was nice to be back In Roland’s world and I shall re-read the rest of the series before too long as well as I now have the taste for it.

Stephen King – Full Dark, No Stars

I had been looking forward to this as Stephen King is my favourite author. Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of four novellas.

1922
This is the confession of Wilfred James, a farmer who murdered his wife in 1922.

I really liked this insight into the increasingly damaged mind of Wilfred James. Wilfred is not a likeable man, he planned his wife’s murder in a cold and calculating way and corrupted his son in the process. As the story unfolded I had some sympathy with the son but not with Wilfred. The story is dark and engaging and I really liked the ending.

Big Driver
This is the story of Tess, a writer who is brutally raped and left for dead on her way home from a talk and book signing event.

I also really enjoyed this story. Tess is an interesting character. How she deals with the attack and it’s aftermarth is quite intriguing. There is a fair amount of mystery and the story is very chilling in places. It was my second favourite from this collection.

Fair Extension
Streeter is suffering from cancer. He meets a mysterious man at the side of a road who claims that he can prolong his life, but it comes at a price.

This is the shortest story in the collection and in my opinion it is also the weakest. It was still an enjoyable read but it was a lot lighter than the other three stories in many ways.

A Good Marriage
After having been married for 27 years Darcy Anderson thinks she knows her husband well. That is until one evening when she makes a worrying discovery in the garage. She is suddenly faced with the realisation that her husband is not the man she had believed him to be and that he is harbouring a dark secret. She has to work out how to deal with the situation and live with the consequences.

This was my favourite of the four stories. It’s creepy and suspenseful and Darcy is a character that you can easily sympathise with.

I really enjoyed this collection and will get the paperback when it comes out so that I can read it again (I don’t really like reading hardbacks, I find them cumbersome). It’s not my favourite collection of King novellas; Different Seasons still holds that title; but is very good and I like it better than Four Past Midnight.

(I’m not including this as part the Stephen King reading challenge as I actually read it back in November but have been really slow posting the review!)

Stephen King Reading Challenge

Book Chick City are hosting a 2011 Stephen King Reading Challenge. When I saw this I just knew I had to join in as Stephen King is my favourite author and I have been looking for an excuse to re-read some Stephen King so this is perfect.
I am also following Floor to Ceiling Books' Dark Tower read along so that fits in quite nicely as well.



In fact I'd quite like to take part in all three reading challenges on Book Chick City as they all look fun but I think that this one and the Speculative Fiction one is enough for the time being!