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Stephen King's 11/22/63

Walter Ego

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Walter Ego
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Stephen King's new novel 11/22/63 is being released this week. It's King's first time travel story and it's about a man who travels into the past to prevent the assassination of JFK by killing Lee Harvey Oswald before the events of the title date.

King is going to catch some flack from the conspiracy kooks because he believes Oswald was the lone shooter in Daley Plaza and that there was no conspiracy to kill JFK.

An NPR review of the book here and a promotional video (below) from the publisher Simon & Schuster.

 
I think I already saw the TV movie version. I liked the bit where Lister and Cat pushed LHO out of the window....
 
That wouldn't work even if time travel was possible. The man would shoot Oswald which would change history but since JFK wasn't assinated then man wouldn't be shooting Oswald who then would shoot JFK.
 
I'm a sucker for time travel stories, being quite happy to suspend my disbelief as long as they're well-written and entertaining. The book will no doubt be a huge bestseller and may even encourage people to look anew at the mountain of evidence in favour of Oswald being the sole assassin.
 
pipelineaudio said:
no
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I haven't read any of King's books published since the mid-1980s so I was probably mistaken about the time travel theme being used for the first time.

From what I gather, the critics are treating King more seriously these day.

I'll probably read the new novel because I'm curious the see how he treats historical characters like Lee and Marina Oswald and the JFK assassination is a subject of interest to me. And I like the idea he's taking on the conspiracy nutters.
 
Marduk said:
It was the Langoliers, a truly awful movie with a despicable cast,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112040/
;)
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I'm going to have to disagree with you there. The Langoliers was not about time travel as it is commonly used.


They actually went to another 'dimension', perhaps, where all living things have moved on and only inanimate objects are left until the Langoliers come an eat everything.
 
SumDood said:
I'm going to have to disagree with you there. The Langoliers was not about time travel as it is commonly used.


They actually went to another 'dimension', perhaps, where all living things have moved on and only inanimate objects are left until the Langoliers come an eat everything.
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they flew through what is described in the film as a "time rip" into a dimension that they perceive as "yesterday", where they meet the Langoliers who are described in the film as "the timekeepers of eternity, who's purpose is to clean up what is left of the past by eating it."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Langoliers
maybe you were watching a different movie
:p
 
Marduk said:
they flew through what is described in the film as a "time rip" into a dimension that they perceive as "yesterday", where they meet the Langoliers who are described in the film as "the timekeepers of eternity, who's purpose is to clean up what is left of the past by eating it."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Langoliers
maybe you were watching a different movie
:p
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Nope, actually remembering more of the short story than the movie. They didn't "meet" anyone. There were no living things through the rip, except arguably the Langoliers themselves, which are described as "large dark beach ball-like monsters expanding and contracting with semicircular caves as mouths and gnashing blurring teeth leaving trails of black nothingness in their wake." They didn't start at one point in history and travel to another point in history, what most would call 'time travel'. They went to the 'waste waiting area' where all inanimate objects exists after time passes and is later devoured by the Langoliers.
 
SumDood said:
Nope, .
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what do you mean "nope", I linked to proof of my claim, you've made no attempt to refute it
all you've offered is unevidenced personal opinion
whats your personal opinion on this article entitled "The Use of Time Travel in The Langoliers"
http://www.examiner.com/stephen-king-in-national/the-use-of-time-travel-the-langoliers
whats your personal opinion on the fact that the phrase "time travel" is mentioned in the original novella on no less than six seperate occaisons ?
:p
 
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Tomtomkent said:
I think I already saw the TV movie version. I liked the bit where Lister and Cat pushed LHO out of the window....
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That was an excellent episode and probably the best time travel/JFK story of them all. [How many can you name?]

I picked up King's book today and have added it to my "to-be-read" pile.
 
Cainkane1 said:
That wouldn't work even if time travel was possible. The man would shoot Oswald which would change history but since JFK wasn't assinated then man wouldn't be shooting Oswald who then would shoot JFK.
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Haha, dude, it's a story meant for entertainment, not a scientific treatise. =]
 
Marduk said:
what do you mean "nope", I linked to proof of my claim, you've made no attempt to refute it
all you've offered is unevidenced personal opinion
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I mean "nope, i'm not watching a different movie". You used the phrase "meet the Langoliers" which is not used in your referenced page and in no way happens in the movie or the short story. That's not my opinion, that's what is in the movie and the story. I added to the description of the Langoliers beyond what you quoted ("the timekeepers of eternity, who's purpose is to clean up what is left of the past by eating it.") in order to point out that they are in now way human or human-like, which your description implies.

Marduk said:
whats your personal opinion on this article entitled "The Use of Time Travel in The Langoliers"
http://www.examiner.com/stephen-king-in-national/the-use-of-time-travel-the-langoliers
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Fine article and accurate description of the story.
the article said:
"There are no alternate timelines or inevitable paradoxes to be created by the presence of present characters in the past."
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I said from the start that the story does not use time travel "as it is commonly used". Alternate timelines and paradoxes are an integral part of time travel in fiction. When the phrase 'time travel' is used, commonly it means traveling to another time, in the future or the past, and interacting with the world and its inhabitants.

Marduk said:
whats your personal opinion on the fact that the phrase "time travel" is mentioned in the original novella on no less than six seperate occaisons ?
:p
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I'd have to go back and see the context.

Yes, technically, they do travel through time, but in no way is a traditional time travel story.
 
I am 82% of the way through 11/22/63.

It's pretty good, but ol' Steve has a lot to learn about...

...Kennedy conspiracy theorists. He thinks the "shooter in the sewer with a periscope" theory is one of the really crazy ideas these people have. Maybe he needs to come check out the CT section. :D
 
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catsmate1 said:
[How many can you name?]
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I saw some TV show a long time ago where the time traveler saves JFK, and then WWIII breaks out. Then he goes back again and trades places with JFK, who returns to the future.

Anyone see this and can remember the show? It was probably a 60-minute episode of Amazing Stories or maybe Twilight Zone.
 
phildonnia said:
I saw some TV show a long time ago where the time traveler saves JFK, and then WWIII breaks out. Then he goes back again and trades places with JFK, who returns to the future.

Anyone see this and can remember the show? It was probably a 60-minute episode of Amazing Stories or maybe Twilight Zone.
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Twilight Zone.

ETA: it looks like King's book will be adapted for film.
Helmer Jonathan Demme has optioned the feature rights to Stephen King's upcoming novel "11/22/63" and is set to write, direct and produce the adaptation through his Clinica Estetico banner.

Book follows Jake Epping, a 35-year-old high school English teacher from Maine who travels back in time to try to prevent President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Ilona Herzberg ("Rachel Getting Married") will produce the sci-fi project, while King will exec produce.

Project has yet to land a distributor, though Demme is aiming to start shooting in fall 2012.

Demme has had plenty of success bringing popular authors' books to the bigscreen, having helmed adaptations of Richard Condon's "The Manchurian Candidate," Toni Morrison's "Beloved" and, most notably, Thomas Harris' "The Silence of the Lambs," for which Demme won an Oscar.
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