11/22/63

I indulged in this latest Stephen King "what if" historical fiction novel for my Nook. There is a distinct line between King's horror novels and his speculative fiction, in my mind, and the latter to me are much more interesting reads. I don't find the gore all that interesting - although I have read some of them in the past.

In this book, King poses the question that many in our generation have undoubtedly wondered about - "what if JFk's assassination didn't happen?". As information has emerged in the last fiftysome years about Kennedy's personal life, I think many people have realized that a part of the charm and reverence with which we regarded President Kennedy had a lot to do with the fact that he left us too soon. I remember thinking just recently that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 might not have made it with Kennedy as President - as a Northeastern elitist, I am not sure he could have sold it in the south the way that Johnson, the Texan, did.

But of course the fun of King's writing is not about the high level overview, but in the life and experience of one ordinary guy who is faced with the opportunity and the challenge of living in the past, tracking Lee Harvey Oswald, spying with technology that is far more primitive than what he would have available in 2011. And Jake, a high school English teacher, is not prepared for much of what he has to do to survive while waiting for his moment.

One common return-to-the-past trope is the idea of funding your life by betting on things you know will happen - sports events, election results, and so forth. But even if the past is unchanged by your entry into it, King also pinpoints another problem - bookies don't like people who win these kind of bets. There isn't a safe yet anonymous way to do something like that in the 1960s.

Altogether, I think King posed some good questions and stayed true to the consequences of his premise. An enjoyable read.

Reading now, reviewing later: The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice; The Memoirs of John F. Kennedy by Donald James Lawn; Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.