Seeing the Future

Two weeks later and I'm still reading 11/22/63. I guess I was being optimistic, thinking I could finish it so quickly. Hah!  I'm nearing the end, however.  The day of reckoning has finally arrived when the protagonist, Jake, must try to stop Oswald from killing the president.  He's had to surmount all kinds of obstacles in his quest, but he is still alive and still persevering.  Unlike with many of King's novels, there isn't much of the supernatural operating here, but it seems to be lurking in the background.  Every once in a while there's a suggestion of an evil presence that mostly appears in Jake's dreams, but sometimes it can be seen by a more supernaturally sensitive character. 

King frequently has supernaturally sensitive people in his novels.  If you saw or read The Shining, you'll know what I'm talking about.  In fact, the title of that book is a term that means the ability to see things that others can't see.  Often in King's stories the people with that ability are children, old people, or people of color.  It's an interesting concept, one I'm sure King got from his own reading, but I must say I've never read anything that reveals where he gets his ideas about the paranormal.  There is a body of lore or experience that is more or less consistent, it seems, with King and other writers of occult fiction.  For instance, vampires can only enter the homes of those who want them to, a concept he used in Salem's Lot.

The protagonists in King's novels often suffer as a result of their connection to the supernatural world.  That is highly evident in The Dead Zone, where the protagonist has knowledge of the future, but it doesn't exactly endear him to his friends and neighbors, especially when he learns that a favored local politician will eventually destroy the world. (By the way, I highly recommend the 1983 movie by the same title that was made from that book; it stars Christopher Walken.)

In a way, King is repeating the element of clairvoyance in 11/22/63.  His protagonist can see the future, but only the future that has already happened. Going back in time, he takes on the role of seer for the people he meets, but the plot seems closer to science fiction than occult fiction, and once he convinces people he really is from the future, their connection to him is strengthened, rather than strained.

The only feature of the story that doesn't fit with science fiction is the mystery of where the portal to the past came from.  It's not something scientifically explainable, as a worm hole would be; instead it seems somehow sinister, evil, something he shouldn't be messing with.  He thinks the phenomenon is neutral, but I'm afraid he may find out that it's not.  And since I can't see the future, I'll just have to read on.  Maybe I'll be fooled and find that what I dread will not occur this time.  You never know with Stephen King.

Once I'm finished with this, it's on to something a little less weighty (literally and figuratively).  I haven't decided yet what I'll dip into, but it will probably be non-fiction. Meet me back here next week to find out!

Still Spending Time in King's Invented World

Well, I'm still reading Stephen King's time travel novel.  It's meandering along, but the sub plots are interesting.  We're getting closer to the time when Oswald is in Dallas and the main character will try to stop him.  I'm enjoying the slow progress more than I thought I would.  There's just enough suspense to keep me reading.  I'm glad to see King is developing his characters well, something he had neglected for quite a few years (maybe during his cocaine phase). 

He's actually pretty good at character development, when he puts time into it.  And it does take time to get to know people, even fictional ones. I'm also glad to see he's still writing, still coming up with new ideas after all these years and all the books he's written. Reading his autobiography last year helped me to understand him and appreciate his writing a little more, I think.  And I even like him a little better than I used to because of it.

So, next week perhaps I'll be back to non-fiction.  We'll see . . .

A Novel Detour

Well, I ended up taking a break from sports stories this week so that I could read a novel, this time one of Jeffery Deaver's thrillers, The Bodies Left Behind. (I must confess I got it from the library instead of my book collection.)  The book is one long chase scene, and since Deaver is a master of suspense, it was a gripping story.  I kept waiting for the twist he always provides, but it didn't arrive until nearly the end, which was great, because it was totally unexpected!  I recommend it highly.

Following that book, I launched into Stephen King's recently published tome (aren't they all?), 11/22/63. It's a time travel story in which the protagonist goes back in time to try to stop JFK's assassination.  That's all I know so far, but it looks like the story will unfold slowly, since it's 849 pages long!

After this, I will probably go back to non-fiction for a while.  In fact, if the King novel gets slow, I may take a break from it and declare magazine week next week.  We'll see what happens.  I'm feeling whimsical!