Episode 32 – Rhymes With Nerdy Book Club – 11/22/63!
Skinner, Robin and Beth discuss Stephen King’s time-traveling tome, the inadequacy of today’s root beer, the Magical DJ trope, and Hollywood’s failure to produce more than two King adaptations.
Skinner, Robin and Beth discuss Stephen King’s time-traveling tome, the inadequacy of today’s root beer, the Magical DJ trope, and Hollywood’s failure to produce more than two King adaptations.
Crystal
I’m still listening to the podcast but I’m going to jot down notes on what I’ve listened to so far (and I’ll be back with more when I finish.)
I think my favorite moment in the whole book was when Jake told off the school board member who was being a busybody. It was like, “Oh, the 2011 is coming out in him.” and it was fun.
My favorite parts were the Derry parts. It just had such an otherworldly creepy quality to it that I was completely intrigued. I loved Harry and the entire telling of his story as tragic as it was. Jake’s efforts to his crazy father was gripping. I was so glad to see him again in the end (and it nicely bookended the story).
I found the early Jodie parts boring – before Sadie came along. I didn’t really care about the kids in the school or the plays, etc… Once Sadie came into the picture it was more enjoyable. I really only cared about Sadie & Deke. Why did Miz Mimi exist at all only to die and be “replaced” by Miz Ellie?
The stalking Oswald parts were boring boring boring.
But in regards to all these boring parts (including Jodie, as Skinner mentioned: perhaps it could’ve been shorter), I wonder how that would have impacted the story? Would it have felt like a journey, an evolution if it had been condensed? I think by the end you need to feel like Jake just doesn’t belong in 2011 anymore and cutting out so much risked making the story feel rushed, as if he had not been there 5 years.
Yes, I Googled all of the people.
I learned a lot from this book (I’m one of those stupid people who didn’t know the exact date of the assassination). I basically only knew that Oswald had shot him from the book depository and run to a theater, that Jack Ruby killed him and that there were conspiracy theories. So everything else was new to me. This was a massive undertaking by Mr. King, I must say. That said, I skimmed three chapters of Oswald stalking.
In regards to Robin’s comments about why was it necessary that Jake get beaten so badly, other than “the past doesn’t like to be changed”, I think it was important to see Sadie’s reaction. We had seen Jake take care of her, we’re hearing him talk about how much he loves her but Sadie had broken up with him once and had had such reservations. Once Jake was hurt, we were allowed to see just how much Sadie loved Jake – how much he meant to her and how much she’d do for him. It made so much more sense when she joined him on his quest to stop the assassination. (And she had to be there because she had to die.) And it made it that much more of a loss – to know that they were a pair. They almost felt like superheroes on 11/22 to me – the way they worked together, the way they played off each other.
And as horrible as Jake’s beating was, for me that’s when the story picked back up.
I wanted to slap Sadie’s mom. Funny, you can almost write off horrible people like Oswald’s mom because they are so uncultured and crude but people like Sadie’s mom who are more deceitful in their hurtfulness really grind my gears.
I agree the humanization of Oswald was great. Nothing is ever black and white – every human has shades in their hearts. The mention of how he remembered the way Oswald looked at his daughter and Marina when he wasn’t mad at her was a nice touch.
Re: Skinner’s comment that Jake was sometimes TOO resourceful – I agree. I found myself saying a couple times “Man, he sure thinks on his feet for a high-school teacher.” You would have thought he was a history major, not English.
By far, the most interesting part was the Yellow Card man. So they’re like Observers in Fringe. Since he makes a point to say they are human men, I’m curious – from WHEN are they? When did humans learn to harness mental time traveling and why the hell would anyone sign up for it if it makes you go crazy? The government or private entity behind that must have one helluva propaganda recruitment process.
Perhaps you guys get to this later in the podcast but, I’m interested in hearing if anyone had correctly guessed the twist to the time traveling & ending.
I knew Sadie was going to die. It was just too happy if she didn’t but some of the possible scenarios in my mind were – they would pass back through the rabbit hole to go to 2011 but Sadie wouldn’t be physically able to and would die in the transition. I also thought that perhaps they would go through the rabbit hole and Sadie would age rapidly and die in the future. That was more sci-fi-y that the book was, however.
I was completely unsure if Jake was going to stay back in the past (when he went back after Sadie did or do the right thing and save the world.) King did a great job of playing out Jake’s turmoil. His heart and mind were at such odds. I think him thinking of their possible children was the tipping point (and a great point as I had not thought of that.) The ending, seeing Sadie as an older lady was very sweet. You get that Jake will always this ache in his heart, so bittersweet.
I was kinda apathetic towards Sadie until she showed up at the gymnasium in front of the town at the benefit to raise money for her surgery. And in the end, I just loved her – the way she handled herself on 11/22 showed more spunk, humor and heart than throughout the whole story up to that point.
I felt Jake was a good protagonist. He was in no way a perfect man but he was caring and rational and had a heart in the right place. I was a little surprised how easily he killed – even a crazy murdering father – but I was glad King threw in a line at the end that said “killing someone changes you.”
I was surprised at how un-controversial the past was for Jake. There was way more mention of cost-savings than there was of segregation. I really enjoyed those comments about the differences between 1958 and 2011 however, especially talking about how much everyone smoked. When Jake threw away his cell phone, that was a dramatic shift to me because I can’t think of a single invention more significant to the 00’s than cell phones.
I’ll be back with more!
Beth
There’s some debate among King fans as to the yellow-card man/men. Some think they may be employees of Trans Corporation similar to Dinky Earnshaw from the short story “Everything’s Eventual”. Other people claim they’re gifted individuals employed by the Tet Corporation, which was started to thwart companies like Trans.
While Trans Corp is certainly NOT good, the people in it’s employ aren’t necessarily bad. Many of them are forced into service or outright lied to about the work they do. I tend to side with the second theory, that these people who work as guardians over these “soft spots” are working for good.
Crystal
Wanted to add, I haven’t read a lot of Stephen King books but it seems every one I have, includes a moment where someone is treating a dog with violence.
I guess to him (as it is me) really upsetting so it’s a strong example of a cruel person or place.
I still haven’t exported my notes from Kindle so I may add more later.
Didn’t know Bevy from the Levee and the boy were characters from another story. Neat.
Crystal
Also meant to say, yes, I was also afraid to find out about the broom!
Beth
Bevvy from the Levy and Richie Tozier are from IT, which is probably the best King book there is.
Also, IT has probably the worst possible dog cruelty bit I’ve ever read. It still bothers me to think about it.