22/11/63 in Λέσχη του Βιβλίου

Jul 30, 2015 Antonis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: in-possession

Όποιος/α απορρίπτει τον Κινγκ ως έναν απλό μπεστσελερά που ξέρει να γράφει μόνο καλές ιστορίες τρόμου, ας κάνει έναν κόπο να διαβάσει αυτό το βιβλίο. Του/Της υπόσχομαι ότι θα αναθεωρήσει. Οι υπόλοιποι σπεύστε, αν δεν το έχετε κάνει ηδη, να διαβάσετε ένα από τα καλύτερα βιβλία του.

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Jul 13, 2015 Michael Kotsarinis rated it liked it · review of another edition

It was enjoyable and had a very nice and appropriate ending.

Αρκετά διασκεδαστικό και ευτυχώς σε αυτό το βιβλίο το τέλος είναι αξιοπρεπέστατο. Φυσικά δεν πρόκειται για μια ακόμα θεωρία συνωμοσίας αλλά για φαντασία που έχει στο επίκεντρο τα γεγονότα της 22/11/'63. Η κεντρική ιδέα είναι καλή και η ιστορία έχει λίγο απ'όλα και αρκετή δράση. Εκείνο που αξίζει να σταθεί κανείς είναι η υποβόσκουσα κριτική σε μια σειρά θεμάτων της αμερικάνικης κοινωνίας μέσω της αντιδιαστολής του τότε με το τώρα. Αν και ...more

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Nov 29, 2014 Maria rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kindle, μεταφρασμένα, read-a-thon-2016, time-travel

I was putting off reading this after my month-long struggle to finish 'Under the Dome.' I was not ready to devote another thirty days for a book, which I wasn't even sure I would enjoy, since I am not too familiar with modern American History. It took nine days. I just don't know how long it will take me to get over it... ...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Konna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: the-reading-armchair, fantasy-scifi, crime-mystery

Read review at: http://thereadingarmchair.blogspot.gr...

Listen to what 11/22/63 sounds like, with this Play(list) by the Book, a literary playlist: http://thereadingarmchair.blogspot.co...

11/22/63 has been sitting on my TBR list almost since its publication. Think about it, it's written by Stephen King, it's a time travel novel and one that has to do with history, how can it disappoint? I finally got to read it and I'm glad that I've started the new reading year with this novel.

Jake Epping is an Read review at: http://thereadingarmchair.blogspot.gr...

Listen to what 11/22/63 sounds like, with this Play(list) by the Book, a literary playlist: http://thereadingarmchair.blogspot.co...

11/22/63 has been sitting on my TBR list almost since its publication. Think about it, it's written by Stephen King, it's a time travel novel and one that has to do with history, how can it disappoint? I finally got to read it and I'm glad that I've started the new reading year with this novel.

Jake Epping is an English teacher. He is invited by the owner of his favourite diner, Al, to go back in time in a portal that he had accidentally found. This portal always leads to a day in September 1958. But Al has a particular plan for Jake. He needs him to remain in the late fifties and save Kennedy in 1963. Of course, this doesn't come as a surprise since both the title and the cover of the novel are huge pointers of this fact.

But what we truly get in 11/22/63 is a portrayal of an era so different from this one. The research that Stephen King made for the construction of this world is mindblowing. Even the slightest detail is in order. You can only take a look at the Play(list) by the Book to figure out in what extent we emerge in life in the late fifties and early sixties. Indeed, like Jake, we have to adapt to the way the people talked back then, to the things they were listening to, to what was entertaining to them, to their morals. Jake is supposed to live almost five years there, so he has to create a new life. This includes things like getting an apartment, getting a job and most importantly to interact with people and maybe be friendly with some of them.

Being able to travel to the past enables Jake to change some things he doesn't like. First of all, he decides to change the fate of Harry Dunning, one of his adult students, and his family, before going to Dallas. In this way, he will find out how the past reacts to change. The answer is badly. The past will throw anything at him, in order to make him fail. This side story, along with another one, much shorter, could make a novel of their own.

After taking care of this, Jake is ready to move to Texas and wait for Lee Harvey Oswald to return to the USA. According to King's description, Dallas isn't the right place for Jake, so he moves to a smaller town nearby named Jodie. Before too long, he is accepted by this community and feels like home. On top of that, he meets Sadie and falls in love with her. This is where the biggest part of the novel takes place. Jake's life in Jodie is so important to the story that sometimes I forgot why he traveled through time, which might be my only complaint about the whole novel. At times, the assassination of Kennedy felt like a secondary subplot in Jake's adventures, but the climax leading to that fateful day was so intense that it was ultimately rewarding.

The main characters, Jake and Sadie, are both well-developed. Jake, on the one hand, is rational and manages not to lose his mind, although all of these things keep happening to him. He understands perfectly well that the past doesn't want to change, but he is persistent and driven. Ok, sometimes he loses his focus but in the end he remembers the reason for his visit in 1960's. Sadie, on the other hand, has a complicated character. Her past makes her afraid of giving in to Jake, plus she senses that he has secrets of his own. I admired her bravery towards the end of 11/22/63.

We also learn many things about the Oswald family. I like the fact that we get to know Lee as a human, able to love and be afraid. But once again I feel that I learnt more about his wife, Marina, rather than the man himself. Kennedy is only present in a couple of scenes and thus, I couldn't form an impression of him. The other secondary characters only appear here and there. Some are likeable enough, others not so much. But I missed Al towards the end of the novel. In fact, we never learn what happened to him after Jake returned to the present.

All in all, 11/22/63 is a great time travel novel. It has all the questions and paradoxes that a visit in the past can cause. Even the slightest change might be enough for unpredictable things to happen. It also has some intense and nail-biting moments and a very good ending. Although it's quite lengthy, if you are on the lookout for a thriller, then this is the novel for you. ...more

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Jun 14, 2024 Angeliki rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, american, history, addictive, thriller, would-make-a-good-movie, time-travel, assassins, alternate-history, 2024-summer-seasonal-challenge

Ήταν στη λίστα μου από το 2016, λόγω της ομώνυμης σειράς που είχα παρακολουθήσει τότε. Δεν θυμάμαι αν η σειρά ήταν τόσο καλή - μάλλον θα ήταν για να ψάξω το βιβλίο - αλλά το βιβλίο είναι πολύ δυνατό! Αν και σε μέγεθος οικοδομικού τούβλου διαβάζεται σχετικά γρήγορα, και η περιπέτεια σε κρατάει. Θα μπορούσε ίσως σε κάποια σημεία να ήταν πιο σύντομο.

I read this book as part of the Summer 2024 the Seasonal Reading Challenge, ...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Theologos rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

First pages and it's one of the most fascinating King books I've ever read: time travel, Kennedy assassination and more. Let's see.

Finished it. King's best novel IMHO. And what I didn't expect, was the wonderful, unique, touching love story. ...more

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