[stylist] Review on 11/22/63

Sat Jan 7 16:00:15 UTC 2012

Honestly, romance novels dididn't have to be a specific type of 
novel.  Their story can just be told once: guy rescues girl from 
something, they fall in love.
Maybe I yn

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Brad Dunsé <lists at braddunsemusic.com
To: Writer's Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:51:57 -0600
Subject: Re: [stylist] Review on 11/22/63

Bridgit,

If I were to rate it on a one to five, five being
extreme and 1 being barely scoring, I'd rate it as:

Romance: 4
Violence: 2
Mature Language: 2.5
Descriptions of Sex: .5
Graphical Gore: 1
Mystery: 3
Suspense: 3.5
Historical: 2.5

Brad

On 1/6/2012  07:32 PM Bridgit Pollpeter said...
Brad,

Nice, in-depth review.  I like how you use specific examples from 
the
writing to better explain your point as well as the carpenter 
analogy.
I've only read a few King books, but tend to stay away from his 
novels
just because I can't always handle disturbing material.  I 
usually let my
husband read this kind of stuff and let me know if I could handle 
it!
Grin.  This book sounds intriguing nonetheless and not as violent 
or
disturbing as some of his books have been.  The Stand or Bag of 
Bones
anyone?

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 26
Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:22:31 -0600
From: Brad Duns? <lists at braddunsemusic.com
To: Writer's Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Book review of sorts: 11-22-63
Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20120106091812.055ac2e0 at braddunsemusic.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed

Title: 11-22-63
Author: Stephen King
Genre (my classification): Sci Fi/Drama/Suspense/Mystery/Romance 
Rating
(1 out of 5) 4.5
Rating: I would give it an R due to occasional
language and violence, though I'm a bit
conservative compared to the current media rating
system which might give it a PG.  As if a parent
sitting next to a kid would mysteriously and
effectively eliminate the offensive elements.
Pages: Unknown as it was the commercial audio version.
Reading time: Approximately 30 hours 45 minutes

Though I am not totally opposed to a good horror
flick now and again, I do tend to gravitate
towards mystery, drama, suspense and occasional
romance media; not to mention biographies and
self-advancement type books.  Nonetheless, and
despite the genre he is known for, I was very
curious to read a Stephen King novel simply due
to the fact people seemed to rave of his writing style.

I was gifted the audio version of the novel
11-22-63 by Stephen King from my son for
Christmas.  I think because he knows my wife--his
mother, is absolutely not a fan of anything
horror, decided to play it safe and pick a King
novel that was more of a Sci Fi than anything
close to horror.  I will say that I am not a
"Treky" type either and tend to shy away from
cheesy Sci Fi type movies or books, but I thought
to give this Sci Fi a go regardless.  On the
horror front, since I tend to blare books while
on the early morning treadmill, I too was glad my
wife wouldn't be awakened to graphical
descriptions of dismemberment and character
disfiguring, though it might be an effective
stimulant without the consumption of caffeine.

I didn't get far into the book before I began to
recognize why King's writing style kept one's
interest.  The fresh descriptions of everyday
items was particularly appealing to me as a
songwriter, Phrases like "fish-belly white" when
describing a face gone pale; and "the flirt that
was floating between us for the past two months"
describing that ever slight and mysterious sense
just before actually recognizing a flirt existed.
The fresh phrases and perspective kept me
interested in general, and just when you think he
has exhausted describing a scene or character's
thought, he successfully digresses into a small
flashback or diversion of current events, and
then returns to his diverted description,
investing more of your visual and emotional
capital like an effective stockbroker drawing out
more of your willingness to buy more shares.

I would liken his writing, at least in this book,
as a master carpenter who knows the value of kerf
cuts.  A kerf cut is a linear series of saw cuts
not quite all the way through a strip of wood,
enabling it to be bent without breaking.  You can
take a perfectly straight rigid piece of wood,
and if given enough kerf cuts in it, can make it
into a complete circle without crack or splinter.
What King does in this book is start you off with
a straight piece of wood, then puts some kerf
cuts on one side of the board, then on the other,
then a little more on that same side, then
switches sides on you to direct your emotion in
another direction.  Since a strip of wood has four
sides to it, he makes well use of kerfing all
four sides, or wait ? does a strip of wood have
just four sides? That is what he would like you
to assume, but why couldn't it have six, eight or
more sides to it? Kerf cutting each one of those
facets would indeed create quite a twisted
curling piece of wood.  That is King's art.  He
plays on your assumption and curls the strip of
wood, or plot, always staying ahead of the curve.  He
gives the feel of random cuts kerfed in the
board, and yet you know there is no randomness to it whatsoever.

I won't comment on the storyline or summarize the
plot or characters because it would totally spoil
the apprehension of the story.  I will say it is
based off the assassination of JFK which has a
historical element to it.  It is told from the
protagonists narrative and I think the most
impressive thing about this book is it appealed
to all of the genre's I love.  I'd gotten my fix
of mystery as there were elements that ran the
length of the book that kept you thinking of what
it meant-and he was not shy to bring that to the
front of your mind along the way; e.g.  jimla and
the yellow card man.  There was suspense as you
followed in real-time as the narrator recalled
his experiences, not knowing what would happen
next as he described it.  There was a powerful
underlying romance that drove the entire book
along with friendships that drew you in.  You
didn't just listen to the character, he wrote it
in such a way that you felt you "knew" those
people.  There is a fine balance in determining
what to say about someone and what not to say;
that is to say if we go too far in describing
something it creates more questions that if left
unanswered make a character unbelievable.  Just
prior to that, you can eliminate some aspects and
we don't get to a point of guessing or wondering
about a whole left.  For instance one character in
the book does a very bad thing, and it seems an
extreme end of his character, and while King
could have went off and described or tried
explaining why, it would have taken us too far
away from the plots trail, and in essence create
more curiosity or question about the character's
past.  Omitting some detail and leaving the act
stand for what it was and moving on was the right choice.
Each aspect or genre within this one book had its
own story, yet they all were intertwined.  I will
say due to the Sci Fi aspect of it, it sure made
you think of various possibilities or what could
be possible based on the set up he gave.  I like that aspect of 
that
genre.

I had one problem with this book, and that was
its obstinate draw on my calendar.  That is to
say, I couldn't put the book down, I found myself
thinking of it when I wasn't reading it, and
created excuses to do other things around the
house just so I could listen to it.  I dare say,
due to cooked meals, folded laundry and such, my
wife would likely want me to read another one
though.  The audio actor who read it did a superb
job, he totally became the character and not only
did he do a good job impersonating JFK, Texans,
and the east coasters, but I expect you'll
recognize the voice impersonations of the FBI
agent, Dallas police and old man in the wheelchair.

Stephen talks about the writing of the book at
the end, which was interesting.  Due to the
historical nature of it, there was lot of
information for him to draw on, and yet due to
the mystery behind JFKs assassination, that gave
him license to speculate or make his
determination just like the rest of the world.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, it is an
excellent sample of writing.  I will give a
warning that there are some rather powerful
expletives in it.  He spared us of descriptions of
sex, and as for the horror aspect, if you are a
bit weak in the knees in that area, you'll be
glad to know that you'll make it through without
faint.  Only one area is descriptive but it is
very brief, and I would say probably more of an
emotional impact rather than graphical because of
the situation and delivery of it.  It is a very
minute part of the whole so you'll be OK.

When said and done, I am interested in reading
another of his novels, but my problem is, I have
other things to get done in life and I could
easily become consumed in reading more of these
if they are as good as this one.

I'll leave you with the following phrases:

"Who are you! What are you doing here? You don't belong here!" 
"Jimla"
"How we danced" Glen Miller's "In The Mood" "The harmonics in 
life"
"Hello Ms Dunnhill" "My lindy days are long gone"

Brad Duns?

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site:
http://www.nfb-writers-division.net 
<http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/

stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
for stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/lists%40brad
dunsemusic.com

Brad Dunsé

"Work is for people who aren't songwriters." --Capt'n Frank

http://www.braddunsemusic.com

http://www.facebook.com/braddunse

http://www.twitter.com/braddunse
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site:
http://www.nfb-writers-division.net 
<http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/

stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
for stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/brlsurfer%40
gmail.com