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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
My first Stephen King book for a while. But not his best.
Beginning hooked me. Middle was so-so. Ending was stellar. 3 1/2 stars.
I recommend this book to people who are not avid King readers like me, but who are interested in giving him a try, because it covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time. I was initially drawn to this book because it's a story about a preacher losing his faith in god, but I loved the way time passed in this book and the way the characters kept crossing paths even over time and distance.
I didn't really want the "fresh adrenaline rush of terror" promised on the cover, and fortunately I didn't get it. A quick and easy read.
It's an interesting one this. It's talked of highly but never with any reference made as to what Revival is actually about, and given the blurb is so vague it's not much to go off. Especially for a King novel, which in my world are usually very ideas-led; most of his novels that I know could be pitched pretty concisely, maybe in a sentence. Here I really *wouldn't* want to say what it was about; the mystery is charming and it unfolds in an interesting way, given you really haven't the faintest clue where it's going. Only that people may say this is scary, and one of King's better 'late life' novels. I find King's usual writing style (in his heyday) incredibly irritating, as technically brilliant as it is, and as good as the novels themselves are by virtue of plotting/pacing and whatever else makes a good novel. There's just a zany quality to it that is annoying, and here isn't really present. The main character is very much in his usual bracket, and there is some of the quirky humour here but it works and is in moderation. The tone here is light enough for it to fit, but for all its lightness this is not a novel where King is labouring the word count. It's just long enough, in my view - some might say it's too long, but for what it is, it needed that. More on this later.
I'll spoiler tag the rest of this review, as I just think anyone considering picking this up should revel in the ambiguity of the concept and trust it is good or at the very least worth a read.
So going back to the length to begin with, probably what is so clever about the horror element of this is its disguise. It's easy to get clever with that and just bore you reader with swathes of text, occasionally chucking in a bit of spice to keep your reader motivated to finish, but here I feel the balance is carefully and intelligently done. We see Jamie's entire life, we are given enough details to relate to him and the characters around him (particularly important with Astrid toward the end), we feel - and are - reading a slice of life, generational tale. As a side-plot, the strangeness of the lightening wizard reverend popping up now and again jars. Even though it is the suspense that keeps the novel going, it rubs strangely. Which is essentially the horror at play here. All of it works together well, and the chunk of time spent to everything other than the action is well worth it, unlike other King works I found he wasn't sparing with his words either. It is tight, as tight as it needed to be.
At its core, as a slice of life generational tale, there is nothing new here. That side of it what it is, servicing the real horror in the background. Druggy guitarist, some family trauma, growing old. I'm glad we didn't stick with the childhood POV for long, but its ending with the Rev leaving and the love confession was very sweet; I teared up.
In terms of the horror, I think it sits with you. I wasn't even sure if I liked this one, after reading the ending. On one hand it was all kind of stupid, massive ants, the small payoff you get for so much world-building. Greedily I wanted more of the afterlife. But after stewing on it for a day, I just know it will stick with me and that others who have enjoyed this have thought the same. For all death, the after life, religion are common themes in literature, the idea of dreading the afterlife is not properly explored, I think. Yes everyone fears death - but in a confident atheist's world, it's easy enough to dismiss the after. While for the religious, there is a certain confidence in the structure of the afterlife, the ambiguity is which side you'll end up. But everyone has occasionally thought of the what-if, that you must go into the boundless unknown alone and see whether the great gamble you've made in your life of assuming what will follow the end of it has paid off. It is a thought, for me at least, that plagued my childhood years and I rarely think of now (until this book anyway), perhaps it's the same for others. It's not the naivety of childhood wearing off, it's supressed fear and King awakens it here. Only in brief sentences, but the tension he builds up throughout the book all explodes in those lines he gives us.
The seasoned cosmic horror reader may not be as touched by this, but I reckon as a cosmic horror ignoramus, Revival is a good way of shaking up the genre for all it sticks true to the principles. Again because of its subtlety. Lovecraft is no fun for a modern reader; King has taken his horror and brought it to life. It's a good horror that scares you by pulling reality away, and it's done well here. It will be interesting to read the book again some day and see if there is any foreshadowing or references to 'Mother' that I lost reading it for the first time; this was the only part of the 'other world' that I could've done with a bit more detail on, just a few more references would've made the ending all the more chilling. Regardless the ambiguity works . I suppose you have to fill in the gaps.
I'll spoiler tag the rest of this review, as I just think anyone considering picking this up should revel in the ambiguity of the concept and trust it is good or at the very least worth a read.
Spoiler
So going back to the length to begin with, probably what is so clever about the horror element of this is its disguise. It's easy to get clever with that and just bore you reader with swathes of text, occasionally chucking in a bit of spice to keep your reader motivated to finish, but here I feel the balance is carefully and intelligently done. We see Jamie's entire life, we are given enough details to relate to him and the characters around him (particularly important with Astrid toward the end), we feel - and are - reading a slice of life, generational tale. As a side-plot, the strangeness of the lightening wizard reverend popping up now and again jars. Even though it is the suspense that keeps the novel going, it rubs strangely. Which is essentially the horror at play here. All of it works together well, and the chunk of time spent to everything other than the action is well worth it, unlike other King works I found he wasn't sparing with his words either. It is tight, as tight as it needed to be.
At its core, as a slice of life generational tale, there is nothing new here. That side of it what it is, servicing the real horror in the background. Druggy guitarist, some family trauma, growing old. I'm glad we didn't stick with the childhood POV for long, but its ending with the Rev leaving and the love confession was very sweet; I teared up.
In terms of the horror, I think it sits with you. I wasn't even sure if I liked this one, after reading the ending. On one hand it was all kind of stupid, massive ants, the small payoff you get for so much world-building. Greedily I wanted more of the afterlife. But after stewing on it for a day, I just know it will stick with me and that others who have enjoyed this have thought the same. For all death, the after life, religion are common themes in literature, the idea of dreading the afterlife is not properly explored, I think. Yes everyone fears death - but in a confident atheist's world, it's easy enough to dismiss the after. While for the religious, there is a certain confidence in the structure of the afterlife, the ambiguity is which side you'll end up. But everyone has occasionally thought of the what-if, that you must go into the boundless unknown alone and see whether the great gamble you've made in your life of assuming what will follow the end of it has paid off. It is a thought, for me at least, that plagued my childhood years and I rarely think of now (until this book anyway), perhaps it's the same for others. It's not the naivety of childhood wearing off, it's supressed fear and King awakens it here. Only in brief sentences, but the tension he builds up throughout the book all explodes in those lines he gives us.
The seasoned cosmic horror reader may not be as touched by this, but I reckon as a cosmic horror ignoramus, Revival is a good way of shaking up the genre for all it sticks true to the principles. Again because of its subtlety. Lovecraft is no fun for a modern reader; King has taken his horror and brought it to life. It's a good horror that scares you by pulling reality away, and it's done well here. It will be interesting to read the book again some day and see if there is any foreshadowing or references to 'Mother' that I lost reading it for the first time; this was the only part of the 'other world' that I could've done with a bit more detail on, just a few more references would've made the ending all the more chilling. Regardless the ambiguity works . I suppose you have to fill in the gaps.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow what a book. Truly an ode to Lovecraft and Shelly. The built up to the final reveals was rewarded and the reveals were just frightening. The character work in this book was just excellent. Both Jamie and his nemesis Charlie were just great great characters. There were great scenes in this from the Patsy and Morrie tragedy to The Terrible Sermon to Charlie and all his cures to the final terrible scene at the Skytop.
This was a mix of a Frankensteinian Mad Doctor with a Lovecraft twist. The end and its implications were so bleak and the imagery of that other place beyond the door is so haunting.
Also had some great lines that floored me from “Home is where they want you to stay longer” to “No death, no light, no rest”. I also really liked that there was a book akin to Lovecraft’s Necronomicon and King’s use of Lovecraft’s famous line “That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons, even death may die” was so fitting and haunting as well. While not having that many of King’s all time highs still the climax chapter was worth it. On further thought the implications and the reveals of the climax chapter are just so scary and are truly one of King’s best writing and I know, even as I read more King, will remain to me as one of King’s all time highs for me. This is a great book and has a great ending as well for those who say King cannot write a good ending. (I am pretty sure on a reread {which I will a 100% do} the rating of this book will easily rise to a 5.0)
This was a mix of a Frankensteinian Mad Doctor with a Lovecraft twist. The end and its implications were so bleak and the imagery of that other place beyond the door is so haunting.
Also had some great lines that floored me from “Home is where they want you to stay longer” to “No death, no light, no rest”. I also really liked that there was a book akin to Lovecraft’s Necronomicon and King’s use of Lovecraft’s famous line “That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons, even death may die” was so fitting and haunting as well. While not having that many of King’s all time highs still the climax chapter was worth it. On further thought the implications and the reveals of the climax chapter are just so scary and are truly one of King’s best writing and I know, even as I read more King, will remain to me as one of King’s all time highs for me. This is a great book and has a great ending as well for those who say King cannot write a good ending. (I am pretty sure on a reread {which I will a 100% do} the rating of this book will easily rise to a 5.0)
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reads like a short story that has been padded for length. The ending is memorable, but the story leading up to it is mawkish, meandering and bloated. Feels like two different stories. It's as if he was writing one story up until the end and then suddenly thought, 'Oh shit I'm Stephen King. I need some horror in this.'