A review by stephen_coulon
11/22/63 by Stephen King

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Here, King addresses the details of time travel though thematically though tangentially, and largely leaves the hows and whys to speculation. His focus is twofold, characterization through conflict and nostalgia for the 1960s. Both of these leave me less than fully satisfied. King focuses on a single character here who narrates in first person, unlike most of his better works which host an ensemble of tightly developed characters. An 800+ page deep dive into a single character’s psyche is not King’s dextrous milieu. I love his archetype-fashioned characters as parts of his intricate plots, but both plot and character here are as straight and flat as the Texas landscape the story is set in. Likewise, I’m not a boomer, and I’m beyond tried of boomer nostalgia for the 1960s in books in film. Nevertheless it’s King, and King is a great storyteller. There’s lots to like about the way he explores the setting, and it feels very authentic (I grew up in central Texas), and the narrative’s love story is very touching in a sweet and sentimental way.