This is my first post and will contain spoilers. I was extremely surprised at my response to the ending of ‘11.22.63’. Never have I felt so emotional about two characters from a story, but I’ve cried for days afterwards whenever I thought about Jake and Sadie. I thought I was going crazy to have such a reaction and it was a relief to read some of the posts here that showed other readers having similar experiences. Being familiar with a number of King stories,
What did other readers think? This may have been discussed in earlier posts, when the book was first released, so I apologise if I’m going over old territory.
I knew Jake would not get to have his (pound) cake and eat it too, even as he was telling the dead Sadie he knew what he had to do. I cried along with Jake (the man who never cries) as he realised his true love was a butterfly and that he would let her go. For Jake to describe himself as a man with no particular prospects and no expectations from life was devastatingly sad. To think there was no dancing left in his life, at his age, was cruel. Finally, I’m not sure what to make of his dance with the 80 year old Sadie. I felt sad for her too, as there appeared to be no ‘true love’ as she remained single and childless. Did she ever find someone to get rid of the broom? I had hoped so, but maybe not with her dedication to civic life. I interpreted the final dance of the book as a means for closure for Jake and that they wouldn’t see each other again.