Mogsy: A Book That Makes You Sad

 
Can I take “Book that made me sad” to also mean “Book that made me bawl my friggin’ eyes out so hard that I couldn’t even see well enough to finish the last page”?

If so, this would be it. 11/22/63 isn’t really that sad per se, but the ending is gut-wrenchingly bittersweet. I found myself at the kitchen table the morning I finished this book sobbing so loudly my husband rushed in from the back of the house to ask me if anything was wrong.

“Uh, yeah,” I said. “Stephen King actually made me cry!”

Yup. Stephen King. Made me cry. I doubt he’d be the first one to come to mind when naming authors adept at pulling heartstrings, and in fact, I believe King has been criticized in the past for his awkward handling of scenes that involve any deep emotion or feeling. For example, you wouldn’t think romance would be his forte.

11/22/63 would prove that wrong. Obviously, the book isn’t a tearjerker romance (Note: it’s not horror either; personally I would say Thriller/Suspense). Still, I can’t deny those emotional factors made it even stronger, and ultimately it’s the love story in the end that stayed with me.

But the book is about so much more! Basically, it’s one giant “what if” scenario involving John F. Kennedy and his assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald that fateful day in 1963. It’s got aspects of time travel, alternate history, historical fiction, thrills and chills — honestly, it’s great. But I’d say the less you know about the story going in, the better the experience is going to be. It’s just one of those books!