King Fix Filled

Yesterday I finished the last in the group of Stephen King novels I downloaded.  Once again I truly enjoyed descending into his world which can make even the mundane aspects of life creepy.  The novel was 11/22/63.  It involved a Maine schoolteacher who finds a time portal and travels back to 1958 with the mission of stopping the JFK assassination five years later.  It was a truly fascinating look at life in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  King also had the character travel through one of his most infamous locales, Derry, Maine, where he had a brief encounter with some of the characters from King’s book, It.  I like it when authors do that, it gives the reader the assurance that the people you really liked in other books are still out there in literary world going about their lives.  In this book the main character has to spend five years in the past and of course falls in love with the perfect woman.  But this is Stephen King so there will be no fairy tale endings.  King does do poignant well though and the ending for this book is perfect.  If I explain too much I could ruin it for you.  Only King could make the JFK murder turn out to be a good thing.  I liked that he also disregarded all of the idiotic conspiracy theories that abound but thankfully are dying on the vine.  It wouldn’t be a King reading without some eerie moment and I had that as I was finishing the book.  King transported his hero back to the present and he mentions the date in 2012 that the hero is doing something – it was the exact same date that I was reading it in April 2012.  Now I’m not saying the date changes every time you read it - still, kind of spooky.  The book was great, especially for we children of the 1960s – very long, but very readable.  Last night I took my bride out for pizza and beer, our Friday tradition.  I really enjoy these times and I love going into a place where we seem to know all the waitress staff – pseudo celebrity status (could be that I tip well).  It seems like the only time we get to sit down and talk with each other – of course she does most of the talking; still it’s a lot of fun and did I mention beer was involved.  We came back to the house and I finished the latest puzzle (see below).  Apparently a couple of beers helps the brain solve problems better because I blew through the last 100 pieces or so.  I always knew beer had medicinal effects.  The Red Sox won their home opener, so once again they’re dragging me back in, life as a Red Sox fan.

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