Hello,
*SPOILERS*
I've just finished the audio book version of 11/22/63. It's the first book in a long while that has so thoroughly consumed my attention and I must confess it has left me in a strange place. Don't get me wrong, I loved it and it ranks among my top reads, but I just can't help feeling distraught over the romance of Sadie and Jake. I understand he did the right thing for reality, and that Sadie lead a long, accomplished life. I've gone over the last few pages several times, and I still have this lingering doubt:
Was Sadie happy with her new life?
She has done many noble things, and I certainly don't mean to suggest that a woman needs a man to be happy, but Sadie and Jake were made to be together. Two star-crossed lovers separated by an ocean of time. Was there a missing part in her life, a dull ache that she couldn't place? Apparently she had dreams of the other 'string,' of her time with "George." I know that Jake will probably never get over it. I just wonder if Sadie has lived these long years between 1963 and now with the same ache. I hope that is not true, but my heart sinks whenever I ponder the situation (which I have been doing a lot of).
To me, the Sadie/Jake dynamic is the core of the book and the Oswald business is just a means to an end. I want to believe in happy endings, but Jake seems to have saved the world at the cost of his own soul. Or heart, at least. Perhaps there are no happy endings. Or we must seize whatever small kernel of joy we can get our filthy mitts on.
Mr. King, if you ever come across this, I realize it is your want and discretion to craft characters, and you do a real bang-up job of it. Extremely compelling characters, at that. I just can't shake this sadness in speculating on Sadie's life. I don't know if any of these characters will ever show up in your work again, but please throw me a bone.
Thanks for getting to the end of a long read,
Mike
PS. As a coincidence, my wife happens to be a blond, 6'00" woman prone to accidents.
*SPOILERS*
I've just finished the audio book version of 11/22/63. It's the first book in a long while that has so thoroughly consumed my attention and I must confess it has left me in a strange place. Don't get me wrong, I loved it and it ranks among my top reads, but I just can't help feeling distraught over the romance of Sadie and Jake. I understand he did the right thing for reality, and that Sadie lead a long, accomplished life. I've gone over the last few pages several times, and I still have this lingering doubt:
Was Sadie happy with her new life?
She has done many noble things, and I certainly don't mean to suggest that a woman needs a man to be happy, but Sadie and Jake were made to be together. Two star-crossed lovers separated by an ocean of time. Was there a missing part in her life, a dull ache that she couldn't place? Apparently she had dreams of the other 'string,' of her time with "George." I know that Jake will probably never get over it. I just wonder if Sadie has lived these long years between 1963 and now with the same ache. I hope that is not true, but my heart sinks whenever I ponder the situation (which I have been doing a lot of).
To me, the Sadie/Jake dynamic is the core of the book and the Oswald business is just a means to an end. I want to believe in happy endings, but Jake seems to have saved the world at the cost of his own soul. Or heart, at least. Perhaps there are no happy endings. Or we must seize whatever small kernel of joy we can get our filthy mitts on.
Mr. King, if you ever come across this, I realize it is your want and discretion to craft characters, and you do a real bang-up job of it. Extremely compelling characters, at that. I just can't shake this sadness in speculating on Sadie's life. I don't know if any of these characters will ever show up in your work again, but please throw me a bone.
Thanks for getting to the end of a long read,
Mike
PS. As a coincidence, my wife happens to be a blond, 6'00" woman prone to accidents.