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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2014 20:31:01 GMT
Another Stephen King book that I'm reading. I'm a fair ways into it, and it seems pretty good. Though, it also seems like something that begs to be made into a TV Show, and given how similar it feels to Under the Dome, there's a good chance that it will be, and that it will have all the same mistakes(focusing on the supernatural whereas the books focus on the characters).
The story is that Jake Epping, an English Teacher who also teaches GED classes, has a "watershed moment" when a janitor, Harry Dunning, in his GED class writes about when his father killed his mother, two brothers, sister, and crippled him for life, as well as leaving him mentally challenged due to a hit to the head with a hammer.
Shortly after, Jake's friend Al calls him, and it seems that Al has aged four years. On top of that, he has terminal stage lung cancer, when the day before, he was fine. Al reveals to Jake that several years ago, he found a portal to 1958 in the pantry of the diner he owns, and had been using it for various things, for example, buying beef in the past so he can sell it incredibly cheap in the future at his diner. Every trip to the past resets whatever he previously did, and one day, Al decides he wants to change the past. He saves a girl from being crippled, and sees that in the future, she can walk. He also discovers something else; the past doesn't want to be changed. It will throw obstacles in the way of whoever wants to change the past, and the more things will change, the harder it is to change it.
Al decided that the one thing he could do to change the world for the better is to stop the Kennedy assassination, however, he is diagnosed with lung cancer before he can finish the job. Jake is mostly convinced, but decides to do his own experiment. Going back to the past as George Amberson, Jake sets out to first stop Harry Dunning's father from slaughtering his family, and then to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from killing John Kennedy on 11/22/63.
The concept of Time Travel is done very well, better than in any other story I've seen. All of the characters are interesting and unique. There are some supernatural elements, the book mostly follows Jake/George as he lives in 1958 and tries to change the past, and seeing what will happen in the future. So far, it's a fantastic book.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2014 20:22:28 GMT
This is definetly one of the best books I've ever read. Not quite as good as The Stand or Doctor Sleep, but it is definetly up there. Unlike a lot of King books, it focuses a lot more on characters and emotions, rather than the supernatural or fantastical. It's a welcome break, and reminds me a lot of Hearts in Atlantis, expect with a lot more experience behind it(30-40 years about), and even though Hearts in Atlantis had an interesting concept, it didn't really stick with me.
I'm fairly confident that there will never be another story within the next few decades that will even come close to doing time-travel as well as this book does.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2014 23:15:52 GMT
11/22/63... Now the first book to have ever made me cry.
I'm almost finished with the book, and I'll post a review thing or whatever when I do finish it.
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Post by Autobot Sonic on Sept 18, 2014 23:19:49 GMT
Hmm...The only piece of fiction to make me cry was TWD S2. I must look into this fabled book...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2014 23:25:36 GMT
Hmm...The only piece of fiction to make me cry was TWD S2. I must look into this fabled book... I'm not someone who cries all that often(Once when a pet died, TWD S1 & S2, Valiant Hearts), so, I suppose that should mean something about this book. One of the first lines in the book is, "I'm not what you would call a crying man." In fact, that may be the first line in the book, I don't remember. Aside from the one part that made me cry, this is one of the most remarkable books I've ever read. I'd recommend it to... Well, everyone.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2014 22:22:00 GMT
Well.... I'm a little disappointed by the ending. Overall, even though Doctor Sleep didn't manage to get such a strong emotional reaction out of me, that was a better book. Not by a whole lot, but at least I felt like something mattered by the end of book. I am impressed of course by how much it made me care about the characters, and how it foreshadowed things far earlier, that I later disregarded because of how long it had been since it was first mentioned. Of course, everything comes into play eventually. Then it's all made invalid by the ending. The first 5 parts of the story are all about the characters, there's not a whole lot supernatural, despite the original context of the story. It's all about the characters, their experiences, and all leading up to that one moment, that one day, 11/22/63. If not for the ending, I might say it was better than Doctor Sleep, but Doctor sleep had a fantastic ending. Everything in the last part of the book felt... separate, and I didn't quite like it. It felt wrong. That's really where all of my complaints lay, in the ending. Everything else about this book is fantastic, and the ending wasn't bad, just... it didn't fit. It felt the need to explain all the little bits about time travel. Let's take a comparison anyone here would understand. The Stranger from TWD S1, or The Crooked Man in Wolf Among Us. By the end, there purpose was just one thing, to make us look back on our choices and feel guilty. TWAU was better because at least The Crooked Man had some more importance beyond that, but while The Stranger was a good character, that was in main purpose in the final scene. To judge us, and make us look back on our choices. Another game that does this badly is Always Sometimes Monsters. A character reads your journal and confronts you on everything you did, at which point you can say whether you regret it or not, and then decide as the player if your character is still a good person. As in... You have to choose within the game, not that the game just makes you think about it. In 11/22/63, Jake is confronted in the final part by a man named Jack Lang. One of the "Card Men". They are in some way tied to this "rabbit hole", and the last 50 or so pages just consists of Jack forcing all this information down Jake(and the readers') throat. After that, we get I suppose a half-way decent note to be left off on, and that's it. Basically, changing the past is bad for the future. The reason it's hard to change the past(the universe throws obstacles in Jake's way) is because it's protecting itself, and reality. No matter what the intentions, changing the past hurts reality. Maybe things would have been good if Oswald hadn't shot Kennedy, but Jake stopping Oswald is bad, and no matter what should happen, bad things will always happen instead. To take a look at another book by Mr. King, Under the Dome. The book doesn't really focus on the Dome to much, it's about the people trapped under it, and not what it is. Near the end, we learn a little, but there are still questions. In this way, Under the Dome did a better job than 11/22/63, although, overall, I'd say 11/22/63 is the better book. The fault with the show for Under the Dome, aside from awful character, terrible acting and dialogue, low budget, ridiculous writing, and just so many, many awful things, is that it's about the Dome, and it shouldn't be. Just like 11/22/63 shouldn't be about time-travel, but in the last part, it is. The best part of the book is the relationship between Jake Epping a.k.a George Amberson and Sadie Dunhill. Before Oswald makes it to the United States from Russia, George/Jake decides to stay in the town of Jodie, Texas. He becomes a teacher, and that's where he meets Sadie Dunhill. This is where the book is best, when it's about a stranger stuck between two places, with a choice that constantly presents itself before him: Stop Oswald, or stay with the woman he comes to love. Before we find out that really, none of it matters, this is a choice that the reader, or at least I, couldn't help but become invested in. All of the other characters that become important in George's life also have meaning, they feel real, and are important. When it's not trying to be this epic story about time and how fragile reality is or whatever, it's truly remarkable. I wouldn't want to go any further without spoiling the book, but overall, I'd recommend it. Now, onto the Dark Tower Series, and hoping it lives up to it's hype....
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2014 22:22:35 GMT
Huh, Hulu is doing a TV Series for 11/22/63, with J.J. Abrams producing it, along with King himself, and someone I've never heard of(Bridget Carpenter). Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to watch it, I don't have Hulu. If it turns out it won't be another Under the Dome, I might try to find some way to watch it. But seeing how Dome went...... I'm not too excited. insidetv.ew.com/2014/09/22/stephen-king-jfk-assassination-hulu/
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Post by Tormundo on May 7, 2015 1:50:44 GMT
I started reading this yesterday, and it's very interesting so far! I'll just write here what I wrote in the other topic lol: I started reading Stephen King's 11/22/63. Really fucking awesome! And also it involves time traveling which is very interesting
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 19:20:22 GMT
I started reading this yesterday, and it's very interesting so far! I'll just write here what I wrote in the other topic lol: I started reading Stephen King's 11/22/63. Really fucking awesome! And also it involves time traveling which is very interesting Like I said, it's probably best to just use the general book discussion thread.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 19:47:15 GMT
Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to watch it, I don't have Hulu. If it turns out it won't be another Under the Dome, I might try to find some way to watch it. But seeing how Dome went...... I'm not too excited. Go down the path of the yar har fiddley dee, you know you want to.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 19:59:03 GMT
Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to watch it, I don't have Hulu. If it turns out it won't be another Under the Dome, I might try to find some way to watch it. But seeing how Dome went...... I'm not too excited. Go down the path of the yar har fiddley dee, you know you want to. ...What?
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 20:04:49 GMT
Go down the path of the yar har fiddley dee, you know you want to. ...What? You know, a slightly less legal way of obtaining it.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 20:07:47 GMT
You know, a slightly less legal way of obtaining it. Not necessary. My Uncle is going to get Hulu Plus and just share the password with my family. He's going to cancel his HBO, and just use our cable password to watch it on HBO Go.
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