1. ·                     Jake, as our main character, is described as a good, decent man but he's also willing to commit murder and uses his foreknowledge of sports to cheat at gambling.  Does this make him a bad guy or did it change your opinion of him in any way?
    

2. ·                     How important is the Yellow Card Man?  What does he symbolize?
    

3. ·                     Why do you think it was important that every trip back was the first time?  Do you think Jake would have gone back knowing that he couldn't change it back if the future came out wrong?
    

4. ·                     Jake and Al encounter resistance to changing the past.  Jake believes that the more history is changed, the harder it is to make the change.  Do you agree with Jake?  Why do you think there would be resistance anyway?
    

5. ·                     The first time that Jake goes back to save the Dunnings, he prevents Harry from being injured but he ends up dying in the Vietnam War.  Obviously, neither is a good option, but which do you think was the better future?
    

6. ·                     Why do you think that Jake and Al, after changing the past, can still remember the original future?  For example, after Jake saves Harry the first time, both he and Al remember Harry as the janitor even though that future no longer exists.
    

7. ·                     Do you agree with Jake that Al committed suicide because he knew that Jake would have second thoughts?
    

8. ·                     Do you think that Jake and Sadie's story could have or should have ended differently?
    

9. ·                     In the afterword, Stephen King tells us that his son came up with the book's new and better ending.  You can read the original ending on his site here.  Which ending do you prefer?
    

10. ·                     I think that you could sum up the theme of the book as "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Although Jake and Al go back in time to save President Kennedy and, therefore, make the world better, it doesn't end up actually making the world better. Do you think that you could ever go back in time and "make things right" or would it always have unintended harm as well?
     

11. ·                     Fantasy time!  If you could go back and change one event in history, what would it be?  How do you think changing that event would affect the future?

Posted by Caroline Library Virtual Book Club at 11/17/2012 01:11:00 PM