April 2015
Pages:860? (read the ebook version, so I'm not sure of the paper book length)
I've never read a book by Stephen King before -- I'm just not at all interested in horror. But I when I saw the reviews of this one a few years back I was a bit intrigued. As far as I could tell, it was a straight time-travel story that was focused around the Kennedy assassination. It got good reviews. But I was suspicious that it would end up being horror-themed in some way, so I relegated it to the "maybe try it sometime if I can get a copy from the library" category.
I can report that the reviewers didn't omit (much) horror. I suppose the sense of creeping dread and wrongness that the protagonist found endemic to two of the cities he visited might qualify as a horror element, as might the mutilation that another character endures. But King doesn't dwell on either unduly (as I've found in other SF or mysteries with "horror" elements). So the book didn't come across as having a pervasive horror theme.
I can also report that Stephen King is skilful at characterization and plotting. He writes an engaging book. This is not at all surprising -- generally popular authors are popular for a reason. (Although I do wonder about John Grisham).
But, as a time travel story....it's kind of dull. Time travel stories are difficult to do well. The ground is awfully well-trodden. And King doesn't add anything particularly new to the equation. History doesn't want to be changed. Yawn. The past is a different country -- interesting, but King's take on that perspective is banal. Using a white, well-educated middle class man as the viewpoint character made the 1950s/early 60s look awfully "Leave it to Beaver". The book would have been a lot more interesting if his main character had been black. Or even a white woman. Plot points: I had a much more interesting plot twist in mind re: the Yellow Card Man than what King came up with.
Anyway, I did finish the book, though I did do some skipping in the middle sections. It's a pretty good read if you're looking for something long but not too challenging and/or want to learn more about Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination.
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