# 11/22/63 novel by Stephen King, your opinions?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** books-writing-myths
**Created:** [March 6, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565 "2022-03-06T15:26:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/1 "2022-03-06T15:26:36Z")
I know of this book, but not really anything about it. What’s your opinion of it? I generally like Stephen King, The Stand and Christine are excellent. I can’t stand anything to do with Dark Tower. I also don’t care for It or Doctor Sleep.
It’s available at the free library in my apartment building. If I grabbed it today, I won’t be able to get to it until summer and I’ve have to donate an equivalent book today.
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### Author:  [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/2 "2022-03-06T15:31:52Z")
I really liked it- I feel there was a time when his quality lagged (Dreamcatcher, Cell, etc) then he wrote 11/22/63 and the Mr. Mercedes series and I really started enjoying him again even though they weren’t straight horror. I may have not have that publication timing right but 11/22/63 was very good and the tv series did it justice as well.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/3 "2022-03-06T15:34:43Z")
My only real complaint with **11/22/63** was the extended chase sequence in the latter third of the novel; SK uses too many chase sequences in his novels. Other than that, the usual inventive bits and a cast of sympathetic and fleshed-out characters.
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/4 "2022-03-06T15:36:31Z")
I enjoyed it, read it a couple of times. The ending is undeniably sentimental but I see no problem with that.
At his best he is a very entertaining writer, subject to a lot of sniffy snobbishness and his work varies in quality but what writer of 60+ books could completely escape a similar criticism?
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/5 "2022-03-06T15:58:03Z")
I liked it (certainly much more than some of King’s other late-period books), but to me it really felt like it was written by a baby boomer; the main character didn’t feel like a Gen-Xer to me.
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### Author:  [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/6 "2022-03-06T16:19:30Z")
It’s been a while since I read it, but I thought that it was a simple story which went off on too many “filler” tangents. It was one novel that would have benefited by being issued as a Reader’s Digest condensation.
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### Author:  [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/7 "2022-03-06T16:21:23Z")
There have been one or two recent SK books that have pissed me off mightily, but **11/22/63** was a very good read.
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### Author:  [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/8 "2022-03-06T16:22:02Z")
I liked it, and I’d probably rate it as a very solid “second-tier” SK book. For context, he’s not one of my “I’ve read all his books” favorites, but I do like to dip into his work every now and then.
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/9 "2022-03-06T16:32:02Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#):
>
> 11/22/63 was very good and the tv series did it justice as well.
Agreed on both counts. From what I remember I enjoyed the book a lot, and thought the ending was much better than a lot of his late-period book endings. And the mini series of it, which is on Hulu, was a very well done adaptation.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/10 "2022-03-06T17:04:09Z")
I read it when it first came out. Due for a reread.
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### Author:  [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/11 "2022-03-06T17:41:59Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#):
>
> 11/22/63 was very good and the tv series did it justice as well.
Huh. I had no idea that there was a TV series. Anyone know if it’s still streaming anywhere?
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### Author:  [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/12 "2022-03-06T18:12:20Z")
It’s streaming on Hulu; it was a Hulu original series. James Franco was the star, if that matters to you at all.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/13 "2022-03-06T18:27:32Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> I generally like Stephen King, The Stand and Christine are excellent. I can’t stand anything to do with Dark Tower. I also don’t care for It or Doctor Sleep.
I’ve been trying to come up with a common factor for the King books you didn’t like, or the ones you did, but I’m stumped.
I quite liked _11/22/63_, but then, I also liked the ones you didn’t.
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### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/14 "2022-03-06T18:36:26Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> I generally like Stephen King, The Stand and Christine are excellent. I can’t stand anything to do with Dark Tower. I also don’t care for It or Doctor Sleep.
About the only one I agree with you on is distaste for the Dark Tower series. Couldn’t force myself past the second one, and the first two were an effort. I liked the others you mentioned (although I hated the movie version of “Christine”). I thought “Dreamcatcher” and “Cell” were at least not tedious to read. 11/22/63 was IMO interesting, as was the mini-series adaptation.
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### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/15 "2022-03-06T18:43:14Z")
I enjoyed it. Found it an interesting counterpoint to “The Dead Zone” as both had English teachers as the main character and concerned an assassination.
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### Author:  [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/16 "2022-03-06T19:09:55Z")
I enjoyed the novel and the miniseries. My only real complaints are that the book is a little bloated and that King has long had a problem with distances and measurements. No, the city does not stink of petroleum because of oil fields almost 400 miles away.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/17 "2022-03-06T19:30:22Z")
> [@Seanette](#):
>
> About the only one I agree with you on is distaste for the Dark Tower series.
Yeah, I’ve never gotten into that series. If I outlive King maybe I’ll read it.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/18 "2022-03-06T21:43:33Z")
I agree with most of the posters here that it was an enjoyable read. BTW, I agree that King has had his ups and downs, and I also agree that I found nothing interesting about the _Dark Tower_ series. _11/22/63_ may not have hit the pinnacle of some his best writing (like _The Shining_, which was also a terrific Stanley Kubrick movie) but it was among the best of his more recent efforts.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/19 "2022-03-07T00:21:48Z")
> [@Seanette](#):
>
> About the only one I agree with you on is distaste for the Dark Tower series. Couldn’t force myself past the second one, and the first two were an effort.
They get much better. I disliked the first book so much, it kept me from reading further for a long time, but I eventually got around to trying the next volume. I thought book two was okay, but it took until book three or so for the series to really get good.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-22-63-novel-by-stephen-king-your-opinions/960565/20 "2022-03-07T14:32:09Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#):
>
> King has long had a problem with distances and measurements.
And history, and reading maps, sometimes.
Dissenting opinion: I never read the book because I decided not to waste time reading a book that bloated that was surely going to piss me off with such inaccuracies. That, and I just don’t care that much about JFK. Even though I met the man\*, JFK’s life, or assassination, isn’t one of those “defining moments” for me.
\* I was one. I don’t remember, but my mom said it happened. And I believe her. 🙂
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