“11/22/63” is a science fiction time-traveling book that shows an alternate version of history where the change of a past event ruins the fabric of time.
With the jaw-dropping realistic depiction of events and an in-depth definition of characters, “11/22/63” has become a sci-fi masterpiece.
“11/22/63” begins with Jake Epping, a Lisbon Falls high school teacher, assessing his GED adult student’s work, which is to write about the day that changed their lives. He reads Harry Dunning, Lisbon Falls High School’s janitor’s work, where he writes about the day his drunk father murdered his mother and siblings.
Jake sympathizes with Harry and gives his work an A. The janitor graduates with excellent colors, and Jake takes him to his favorite restaurant, Al’s Diner. Two years later, Jake stops at Al’s diner, and Al tells him to visit him the next day. To his surprise, Jake meets a different Al, who looks aged and worn out.
Al tells Jake he has lung cancer, which leaves him confused because a normal-looking man couldn’t develop cancer and age rapidly in 24 hours. Al decides to let Jake experience a secret and instructs him to step further into a portal. Immediately, Jake finds himself in a Lisbon Falls older than the one he knew; this makes him realize he has time traveled.
Spending an hour in the past of September 9, 1958, Jake explores Lisbon Falls to be sure he is not hallucinating. He talks to a crazy man called the yellow card man. Jake returns to the present in shock as Al tells him time travel exists.
According to Al’s deduction, traveling through the portal takes a person to September 9, 1958, and no matter how long they spend in the past, only two minutes pass in the present.
I am curious about why traveling through time resulted in only a 2-minute loss in the present in the novel. That seems weird.
Al explains that every event someone changes in the past affects the present, but it can be reset by entering the portal again. He also deduces that the past throws hurdles at anyone trying to change it. He tells Jake of his plan to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the president of America, who died in 1963, and begs him to join in the effort.
The rising action begins when Jake agrees to Al’s request and enters the portal again. He saves Harry Dunning’s family by killing Frank Dunning. However, after returning to the present, he discovers that Harry Dunning died because he joined the army and fought in Vietnam.
Al eventually commits suicide. Jake re-enters the portal, knowing the diner will close if he does not hastily take action. Jake discovers a black man has replaced the yellow card man on re-entering the portal. He tries resolving one of Al’s missions by saving a young girl from being shot by a hunter.
I believe Al committed suicide because time was fighting against him. He traveled to an era he was not meant to exist in and because of this, he aged and got cancer.
The conflict begins when Jake moves to Jodie, Texas. He starts scheming to save the President from Oswald and while in Jodie, he meets Sadie, a librarian. They fall in love after he saves her from an abusive husband, Johnny Clayton.
The climax begins when Jake tells Sadie he is from the future. He proves it by predicting the Cuban missile crisis. Jake establishes himself for years and begins stalking Oswald, and on November 22, 1963, he reaches Oswald’s sniping position and fires a shot at him.
Unfortunately, his shot misses, and Oswald fires back and his bullet hits Sadie. The police and Secret Service shoot Oswald, killing him. However, Sadie dies in from her wounds.
Why do protagonists make mistakes when it comes to time travel? This trend unsettles me. Yes, time is a delicate entity people do not understand, but most books make it so that the time traveler makes cliche mistakes like failing to hit a target. Are these mistakes human error? Or is it just another author’s input for dramatic effect?
With his mission a success, Jake becomes a hero instantly but re-enters the portal to redo everything and save Sadie. He later starts discovering the consequence of his action as a massive earthquake occurs, leaving thousands of people dead. After successfully leaving Texas, Jake reaches the portal, where he discovers the yellow card man is now a respectable-looking man called Zack Lang.
I believe the Yellow Card Man represents the decadence of time. We can see from the summary that after the Yellow Card Man leaves, another much younger and more vibrant person takes the spot. One can deduce that the YCM represents the increasing entropy created by time.
Zack explains to Jake that re-entering the portal does not erase all the actions that previously happened but creates new timelines that form a new reality. He explains that he is a guardian who advises anyone entering the portal. Zack tells Jake that after a while, the guardians become drunks and deteriorate mentally before dying.
The turning point begins when Jake returns to the present to meet everywhere in ruins. Harry, who is now a war veteran, tells him that saving the president prevented many changes from happening and led to the use of nuclear weapons, which poisoned the world.
Jake quickly returns to 1958, where he meets a now worn-out Zack, who tells him he must return to the present as he has erased the changes he made.
If Jake eventually reset the timeline, would that not mean Al lives? This seems like a mind-bender. Or is it a loophole in the plot? Why did Al not return when Jake eventually reset everything? Zack nicely explains everything when he tells Jake that resetting time creates new realities. Maybe after Jake resets everything, it creates an alternate reality where Al dies.
The resolution begins when Jake returns to 2011. He learns Sadie survived her husband’s assault and meets an 80-year-old Sadie, who is celebrated for her relentless efforts to improve the world. He asks her for a dance, and she agrees. Sadie experiences Deja Vu while dancing, and she asks him who he is.
Jake responds as quoted saying:
Someone you knew in another life honey.
“11/22/63” is a refreshing take on historical fiction. Though it follows the somewhat simplistic nature of time travel, it still creates a story with fleshed-out characters. Each scene feels real like it happened in a timeline I do not know about.
