I have not read a fiction book in quite a while. It is probably because I believe in the saying, "truth is stranger than fiction." Nevertheless, when my husband went to download a movie on his IPad, he had trouble with the download and ultimately chose to download a book instead. My husband rarely reads except when he travels, and then he will take on a monster of a book, such as Atlas Shrugged.
This time, however, he chose 11/22/63, a novel by Stephen King. This one was "only" 866 pages. On the flight while he was waiting for permission to turn on his electronic device, he told me about the book.
If you could go back in time to change an event in history, would you do it? What if it meant that you would have to wait four years in the past for the event to happen? The premise of the book is that the main character has been given the "opportunity" to potentially stop the Kennedy assassination, but he has to hang out in the past for several years first.
I was intrigued by the description of the book and I began to read over my husband's shoulder as he read. (He did not like that very much). When we got home, I started the book from scratch and as he watched football, I read. While he was golfing, I read. While he was at work, I read.
I cannot tell you the last time I read a Stephen King book. I think it was Misery in the early 1990's, but I could not put this book down. The reason? Well, because it was really about synchronicities of course. The character experienced them frequently.
"The past harmonizes."
The other compelling component of the book was the concept of the butterfly effect. This is the concept that a tiny change can have great consequences. The concept was originally conceived in a Ray Bradbury science fiction story titled, "A Sound of Thunder." That story was also about time travel.
So last night I finally finished the book. Today, I've been seeing butterflies everywhere.
If you have read 11/22/63 - I'm curious what your thoughts are.
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