Sunday, January 22, 2012
Great Fiction
I have a hard time with fiction. I can't see spending time reading about characters that are made up or a story that is imagined. So I usually choose non-fiction: biographies, history, essays, and the like. I remember, however, as an adolescent, being entranced by novels - drawn in by a great narrative, caring deeply for well-drawn characters. I recently rediscovered these feelings as I read Stephen King's new book "11/22/63." It's a time traveling yarn and a story of love. The characters are clear, the research of 60's life and mores so well done, that one senses being right there with Jake, the protagonist, as he travels across time and through story. When he falls in love with Sadie, the school librarian, so do we. This book made me travel back in time - to the 60s, and to those emotions I remembered having upon reading a great work of fiction.