This is the first novel by Stephen King that I have read. I enjoyed this one as a book on tape. I am not a fan of horror stories, monsters, or heavy science fiction. However, 11/22/63 was none of these. The only science fiction aspect of this novel is the time travel and even that is not treated in detail until the very end of the novel. King’s approach to time travel is thoughtful and interesting. The only (nonhuman) monster in the story is “the past” in that it violently does not want to be changed and will fight back when one attempts to change it. The novel focuses a lot on the ideas of “the past is obdurate”, “the past harmonizes”, and the butterfly effect.

While the story is billed as “what if JFK was not assassinated”, I felt it was more about the life of Jake/George. The assassination, and trying to prevent it, is the motivation for the main character and the impetus to the action, it is merely a sideline. There is only a brief, but intriguing and thought provoking, speculation about life if JFK had survived. The majority of the novel focuses on the life of Jake in present day Maine, the life of George in the 50s/60s, and how changes made in the past impact the future.

My husband also listened to this novel with me. He felt it was overly long and could have been edited down by half. However, I appreciated the length and understood it to be needed for the following reasons:
***All of the characters involved in the JKF assassination, as well as the circumstances of their lives and motivation are well-researched and developed in this novel. As I was not alive during this time, I appreciated that level of detail and scene setting. It was informative and interesting to me. I am not sure if that would be true of someone who had lived through the actual assassination and absorbed the details of it first hand. In fact, they might find it tedious.
***The length was used to help the reader “time travel” to the late 50s - early 60s. Although I was not alive during this time period, through his level of detail and storytelling, King transported me to this time period. He made me nostalgic for an older and simpler time. As a teacher, I particularly appreciated the portrayal of high school life in small town Texas in the early 1960s. I loved the juxtaposition between the time periods of “Ago” and “Ahead” that King was able to so thoroughly develop with his length.
***Through the length and meticulous details provided, I got to know Jake/George. He and other main characters in the novel became real and even friends. The characters were fully developed, three dimensional people. King delved into the minutia of every person, city, and situation. There were a lot of characters and sometimes it became a challenge to keep track of them all, but this level of detail provided a richness and fullness to the story that I liked.

Adjectives that I would use to describe this book include: romantic, suspenseful, adventurous, emotional depth, strong imagery, and intense. I highly recommend this book.