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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
As a child in the 60s, Jamie Morton forms a friendship with Charles Jacobs, the new minister in their small town. Jacobs has a fascination with electricity, which ends up shaping the lives of Jamie and many others as the years pass and culminating in one final experiment.
Meh, where to begin with this one? King's books are usually either hit or miss for me, and this was definitely a miss. It took forever to get going, with the first third of the book being Jamie's life story. When Jacobs does finally reappear and we begin to learn more about the consequences of his actions, it's all a bit underwhelming. I particularly disliked the ending, which isn't uncommon with King books, I know!
There are so many books by this author that I adore, but sadly this isn't one of them.
2.5/5
Meh, where to begin with this one? King's books are usually either hit or miss for me, and this was definitely a miss. It took forever to get going, with the first third of the book being Jamie's life story. When Jacobs does finally reappear and we begin to learn more about the consequences of his actions, it's all a bit underwhelming. I particularly disliked the ending, which isn't uncommon with King books, I know!
There are so many books by this author that I adore, but sadly this isn't one of them.
2.5/5
Eh. This one was slow and not very “scary” for me. Good book but not one I would have read if it wasn’t an SK.
Stephen King has been on a roll recently. I read a lot of his books when i was younger, and still love The Stand, Salem's Lot, The Shining and, especially, IT, but the late 80s and the 90s were, to me anyway, a lean time for King and we grew apart. Since his serious accident his work appears to be growing stronger. I loved Under the Dome despite the weak ending, thought 11.22.63 was as strong as anything since IT and, while Doctor Sleep was no Shining, it was enjoyable.
Revival shares a lot of the nostalgia of his recent Joyland, a really good pulp novel, and the first person narration of Mr Mercedes, a solid crime novel, but the tone, especially as it builds towards the climax, reminds me of something like Pet Semetary. It is bleak. It is scary. It owes a lot to Lovecraft, as King acknowledges in his epigram and directly in the novel. The story is nasty, in the right way, and haunting. Whether it will remain so in the mind with time, as those early novels do, remains to be seen but I now look forward to the new Stephen King in a way I haven't done for years and that has got to be a good thing. I can't wait to see what he and Peter Straub come up with if and when their third collaboration arrives.
Revival shares a lot of the nostalgia of his recent Joyland, a really good pulp novel, and the first person narration of Mr Mercedes, a solid crime novel, but the tone, especially as it builds towards the climax, reminds me of something like Pet Semetary. It is bleak. It is scary. It owes a lot to Lovecraft, as King acknowledges in his epigram and directly in the novel. The story is nasty, in the right way, and haunting. Whether it will remain so in the mind with time, as those early novels do, remains to be seen but I now look forward to the new Stephen King in a way I haven't done for years and that has got to be a good thing. I can't wait to see what he and Peter Straub come up with if and when their third collaboration arrives.
I enjoyed the plot behind this story. It was interesting, a bit spooky, and (not to give any spoilers) has a fascinating (brief) surprise character at the end. The problem is, the ending left me either wanting more or wanting less. I feel as though this book would have either been an excellent short story, or that this book just reached the intriguing part and stopped before even getting to the climax and ensuing battle. If it were to be a short story, I find the ending entirely appropriate, but after reading the majority of the book before finding a semi-answer to the question we've been asking all along, as a novel, I want there to be more story to read now.
Revival is a different kind of Stephen King book, which is incredible, considering the fact that this book was published in 2014, and this man already has more than 70 books under his belt. To evolve as a writer this late into your career is something seldom seen elsewhere, and I certainly wasn't expecting Revival to be any different from Stephen King's later works.
Don't get me wrong, I still love Stephen King as a writer. It's just that, if I were to touch my heart, I would say that Stephen King hasn't written a truly great book since 2011's 11/22/63. While the Bill Hodges Trilogy was brainless and entertaining, it never rose out of the bottom pile of Stephen King books for me. So I didn't have much hope coming into Revival, a book written square in the middle of his career in the 2010s, right between Mr Mercedes (an OK thriller) and Finders Keepers (a somewhat better thriller).
So is Revival the — ahem — revival of Stephen King since 2011's 11/22/63?
No, but King sure does a good job at reinventing himself as a writer.
Revival is Stephen King's HP Lovecraft book. This is his take on the Lovecraftian horror. It's not that he hasn't attempted anything like this before — we've seen that in short stories like 'N'; the macroverse in IT and the todash space in The Dark Tower series, etc. However, I think this was the first time Stephen King decided to write a book in the exact footsteps of Lovecraft.
Which is refreshing, because you tend to fall into a cadence of sorts if you have written more than 70 books like he has — and, let's face it, Stephen King has fallen into a bit of a rehash mode in the last 10 years. His more recent books tend to follow a familiar structure. Creepy shit happens in a small town, members of the small town freak out, members of the small town band together to investigate, members of the small town band together to defeat the villain, the end. He's even started to take creative cues from his previous works. As much as I enjoyed the first two-thirds of The Outsider, his latest book, even I have to admit that the turn in the last act is basically straight out of his 1996 book, Desperation. Both feature a 'shapeshifting' villain, and the origins of both villains revolve around an evil cave that collapsed long ago. Been there, done that, no matter how entertaining the ride is.
Now, Revival doesn't follow those formulas. Instead, this is a book written by a writer who is super sure of his footing. Instead of sprinkling mini climaxes throughout the book, King baits the reader with a central mystery. He promises to reveal it to the characters and, in turn, the readers, by the end of the book. He also knows that the mystery is alluring enough for readers to go along for the ride. So he tightens the screw little by little — or increases the temperature of the water, if you will — and builds the tension like an old hand. Instead of the neat endings that King sometimes falls prey to, Revival doesn't shy away from the kind of endings that he used to be known for. This one is a gut punch, and leaves the readers with such dread and hopelessness that it hangs around long after the last page — no, the last line — is done. As a fan of his body of work, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.
While it doesn't quite rise to the height of 11/22/63, I am happy to report that Revival may very well be my favourite Stephen King novel since 2011. A very well written book by an accomplished horror writer who continues to impress and surprise.
Don't get me wrong, I still love Stephen King as a writer. It's just that, if I were to touch my heart, I would say that Stephen King hasn't written a truly great book since 2011's 11/22/63. While the Bill Hodges Trilogy was brainless and entertaining, it never rose out of the bottom pile of Stephen King books for me. So I didn't have much hope coming into Revival, a book written square in the middle of his career in the 2010s, right between Mr Mercedes (an OK thriller) and Finders Keepers (a somewhat better thriller).
So is Revival the — ahem — revival of Stephen King since 2011's 11/22/63?
No, but King sure does a good job at reinventing himself as a writer.
Revival is Stephen King's HP Lovecraft book. This is his take on the Lovecraftian horror. It's not that he hasn't attempted anything like this before — we've seen that in short stories like 'N'; the macroverse in IT and the todash space in The Dark Tower series, etc. However, I think this was the first time Stephen King decided to write a book in the exact footsteps of Lovecraft.
Which is refreshing, because you tend to fall into a cadence of sorts if you have written more than 70 books like he has — and, let's face it, Stephen King has fallen into a bit of a rehash mode in the last 10 years. His more recent books tend to follow a familiar structure. Creepy shit happens in a small town, members of the small town freak out, members of the small town band together to investigate, members of the small town band together to defeat the villain, the end. He's even started to take creative cues from his previous works. As much as I enjoyed the first two-thirds of The Outsider, his latest book, even I have to admit that the turn in the last act is basically straight out of his 1996 book, Desperation. Both feature a 'shapeshifting' villain, and the origins of both villains revolve around an evil cave that collapsed long ago. Been there, done that, no matter how entertaining the ride is.
Now, Revival doesn't follow those formulas. Instead, this is a book written by a writer who is super sure of his footing. Instead of sprinkling mini climaxes throughout the book, King baits the reader with a central mystery. He promises to reveal it to the characters and, in turn, the readers, by the end of the book. He also knows that the mystery is alluring enough for readers to go along for the ride. So he tightens the screw little by little — or increases the temperature of the water, if you will — and builds the tension like an old hand. Instead of the neat endings that King sometimes falls prey to, Revival doesn't shy away from the kind of endings that he used to be known for. This one is a gut punch, and leaves the readers with such dread and hopelessness that it hangs around long after the last page — no, the last line — is done. As a fan of his body of work, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.
While it doesn't quite rise to the height of 11/22/63, I am happy to report that Revival may very well be my favourite Stephen King novel since 2011. A very well written book by an accomplished horror writer who continues to impress and surprise.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Familiar
This book has a familiar feel - in some ways reminding me off the Shining and Doctor Sleep, although the subject matter isn't quite the same.
This book has a familiar feel - in some ways reminding me off the Shining and Doctor Sleep, although the subject matter isn't quite the same.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a masterpiece. It’s like reading several books in one, and each is superb. Stephen King can truly write anything, any genre; I know this does fall under the “horror” genre, but not for a lot of the book. It’s a story about a young boy, Jamie, and his nuclear family in small town Maine in the 1960’s. God fearing, church going, hard working, etc. When the new Methodist minister, Charlie Jacobs, comes to town ahead of his wife and young son, Jamie is the first kid he meets. He helps Jamie’s brother Conrad after an accident takes his voice. He’s a little obsessed with electricity, but he keeps the Bible and Jesus interesting for the young folk. But then something tragic happens, and he leaves the area. Jamie grows up and does too though, playing rhythm guitar for a handful of bands, ending up all over the country. And one fateful night in Oklahoma he runs into ol’ Charlie Jacobs at the state fair. Charlie helps him get through some shit, with his electrical experiments, and then finds him the perfect job out in Colorado working at a recording studio. All is well, until some more years later in pops Charlie. And shit is getting weird.
I loved watching Jamie grow up, though there are of course some big time jumps, and I enjoyed watching him figure Charlie out. He was slow on the uptake for some of it, but so was I. I loved seeing him overcome his addiction, no matter the method. It’s just that the method left him feeling somewhat indebted to Crazy Charlie. And the Final Showdown fucked me up man. I shan’t mention a word about it though, but it fucked me up. In the same vein as A Short Stay In Hell it makes me giggle to picture the ultra-religious passing away and ending up either of the Afterworlds from this one or ASSIH, so drastically different from anything their religion taught them. But this one is infinitely scarier.
The book as whole is not scary. There are some sad parts, some difficult parts, and the creep factor does begin picking up after running into Charlie in Colorado, and then New York, and then Maine again, except once we’re back in Maine it’s pretty much nothing but fucking creepy. I’m glad I stopped reading last night because I don’t think I’d have fallen asleep easily. But the ending is also sad; all the reactions by the various “success cases.”
Anyway. If you haven’t read a lot of King and you read this, you may be surprised by some of his other works later on, or on the other hand if you think King isn’t for you because of this, try his other works. I think I could put this in my top 10 King list, if counting The Dark Tower series as one entry. Excellent fucking book.
I loved watching Jamie grow up, though there are of course some big time jumps, and I enjoyed watching him figure Charlie out. He was slow on the uptake for some of it, but so was I. I loved seeing him overcome his addiction, no matter the method. It’s just that the method left him feeling somewhat indebted to Crazy Charlie. And the Final Showdown fucked me up man. I shan’t mention a word about it though, but it fucked me up. In the same vein as A Short Stay In Hell it makes me giggle to picture the ultra-religious passing away and ending up either of the Afterworlds from this one or ASSIH, so drastically different from anything their religion taught them. But this one is infinitely scarier.
The book as whole is not scary. There are some sad parts, some difficult parts, and the creep factor does begin picking up after running into Charlie in Colorado, and then New York, and then Maine again, except once we’re back in Maine it’s pretty much nothing but fucking creepy. I’m glad I stopped reading last night because I don’t think I’d have fallen asleep easily. But the ending is also sad; all the reactions by the various “success cases.”
Anyway. If you haven’t read a lot of King and you read this, you may be surprised by some of his other works later on, or on the other hand if you think King isn’t for you because of this, try his other works. I think I could put this in my top 10 King list, if counting The Dark Tower series as one entry. Excellent fucking book.
Hyvä tarina, mutta huono loppu. Niinkuin Kingin kirjoissa usein.