The last dance *spoilers*

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davo67

Member
Jan 21, 2014
14
69
Australia
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,
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.
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.
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
Welcome to the board. Please use spoiler coding when appropriate, even in some threads clearly labeled SPOILERS AHEAD, it's a nice courtesy to have actual specific spoilers hidden. Just

[ spoiler] say what you have to say [/ spoiler]. The space between the first bracket and the s needs to be closed up and the space between the backward slash and the s of the second spoiler should be closed up and you have a spoiler tag.
 

davo67

Member
Jan 21, 2014
14
69
Australia
Welcome to the board. Please use spoiler coding when appropriate, even in some threads clearly labeled SPOILERS AHEAD, it's a nice courtesy to have actual specific spoilers hidden. Just

[ spoiler] say what you have to say [/ spoiler]. The space between the first bracket and the s needs to be closed up and the space between the backward slash and the s of the second spoiler should be closed up and you have a spoiler tag.
ok, thanks.
 

davo67

Member
Jan 21, 2014
14
69
Australia
I'm reminded of Jackie. Even as a kid I wondered about her life after Jack. How does one escape that pain?
I actually never thought about Jackie during those last few pages, but now I think that is a very symbolic tie in to the book. Maybe not being an American and being only a toddler through those first years after the assassination made a difference. Thinking about it now, my first recognition of Jackie was probably in 1975 when she was Jackie Onassis and was mourning the death of a second husband. As a kid, in the limited news bulletins that I would have seen, I thought she never looked happy.
 

davo67

Member
Jan 21, 2014
14
69
Australia
I preferred the alternate ending that Stephen King posted to this site. It took some of the sting out.

Heartbreaking love story. That was the horror aspect to the book, the most unsettling part.
After having read the alternate ending, I still liked the ending published in the book. Of course, it wouldn't be what I wanted for Jake and Sadie, but the ending is just one of the things that makes it a great story.
 

Andy1963

Well-Known Member
May 2, 2016
50
196
60
After having read the alternate ending, I still liked the ending published in the book. Of course, it wouldn't be what I wanted for Jake and Sadie, but the ending is just one of the things that makes it a great story.
I agree, the alternate ending would not have got quite the same response as the masterful final scene as published. An earlier post said about measuring SK's novels by the number of tissue boxes... I need to buy more.