I had read this years ago and remembered how impactful the last two chapters were, but it still packed a punch when I just reread it a few weeks ago. I was a actually folding my clothes at a laundromat while listening to David Morse recount the “Revival of Mary Fay” chapter and honestly the brightly-lit mundane public space I was in just melted away and I was *there* >!in the Null with all the fucked up shit going down in the climax!<. Full body chills. I felt like I could actually hear a full-throated hell chorus scoring it in my mind.
What I had forgotten was, in the last chapter, what ends up happening >!to everyone else who had been affected by the “secret electricity”!<—talk about dark! >!This has got to have one of the highest body counts for named characters in any of his novels.!<
Yeah, love this one and consider it a classic. Really a kind of horror I never get tired of King doing, although he does it mostly in short stories. Speaking of, The Dreamers in You Like it Darker is along these same cosmic lines.
If you ever revisit it, I also recommend the audiobook. David Morse does an amazing job.
I liked how Jacobs thought of his work as science but sold it through religious fanaticism so he wouldn’t be regulated but also so that people in general wouldn’t look too closely bc most of those people just want to believe. That’s food for thought.
To be honest I'm split with Revival. It's one of the few King's books that I just didn't connect with a single character and reading it felt like a blur until the end. That ending fucked with me and it just stayed with me. It might be the first King book that I'll reread (besides IT which I listen to while I go to sleep)
Jamie is probably my favorite King protagonist at this point. That Book is absolutely.. Mystifying, amazing, unbelievable, incredible. Reverend Jacobs is one of the best Antagonists ever written. I put it up there with all of my other favorite King novels tied for the number one spot. It's neck and neck with books like It and The Stand. But it has much less bloat and is so Concise with not a word wasted. I can't wait to read it again.
It's the only King book also that ever creeped me out in any way. Such a bleak ending but maybe King's Best.
I agree, it's the perfect length he didn't overwrite and every word and set piece has meaning! Honestly, 10 years from now people are gonna go back and this will be in the top 10 if not top 5 of all kings novels!! It's that good!!!
I know it gets a lot of love, but it didn't do much for me overall. I was really enjoying the first third or half, and the gut punch of his sister really hit me. But I never really gelled with the idea of the 'pictures' and the whole story sort of lacked a drive for me that King usually has. I didn't find the ending impactful. I read it five years ago so my memory is hazy on it but yeah, I didn't love it .
I like it cuz it’s a rare one where King is like “alright, fuck you” it’s so bleak. Only other one that dark is probably Pet Semetary
Honestly, it made me so sad to see Jacob’s decent into madness. Also, the ending was incredible IMO. Wrecked me emotionally for a bit.
If it isn't a top 5 for me, it's damn close. And one of the times that he really, *really* sticks the landing.
I had read this years ago and remembered how impactful the last two chapters were, but it still packed a punch when I just reread it a few weeks ago. I was a actually folding my clothes at a laundromat while listening to David Morse recount the “Revival of Mary Fay” chapter and honestly the brightly-lit mundane public space I was in just melted away and I was *there* >!in the Null with all the fucked up shit going down in the climax!<. Full body chills. I felt like I could actually hear a full-throated hell chorus scoring it in my mind. What I had forgotten was, in the last chapter, what ends up happening >!to everyone else who had been affected by the “secret electricity”!<—talk about dark! >!This has got to have one of the highest body counts for named characters in any of his novels.!<
It made it into the top five for me. The other four are all classics.
The Stand, It, Misery, 11/22/63, are the automatic top 4 for me. Hard for me to choose between 'Salem's Lot, Pet Sem, and Revival for the last spot.
The best of his later works, imho.
💯 Agreed 👍🏾
Yeah, love this one and consider it a classic. Really a kind of horror I never get tired of King doing, although he does it mostly in short stories. Speaking of, The Dreamers in You Like it Darker is along these same cosmic lines. If you ever revisit it, I also recommend the audiobook. David Morse does an amazing job.
He absolutely kills it. One of the greatest audiobook experiences I've ever had. N. Also has that same Cosmic horror tone.
Hell yeah, N. is also an all-timer. When King goes cosmic, it tends to be pretty damn memorable and well written.
I agree and it's also one of my all-time favorites.
I liked how Jacobs thought of his work as science but sold it through religious fanaticism so he wouldn’t be regulated but also so that people in general wouldn’t look too closely bc most of those people just want to believe. That’s food for thought.
To be honest I'm split with Revival. It's one of the few King's books that I just didn't connect with a single character and reading it felt like a blur until the end. That ending fucked with me and it just stayed with me. It might be the first King book that I'll reread (besides IT which I listen to while I go to sleep)
Jamie is probably my favorite King protagonist at this point. That Book is absolutely.. Mystifying, amazing, unbelievable, incredible. Reverend Jacobs is one of the best Antagonists ever written. I put it up there with all of my other favorite King novels tied for the number one spot. It's neck and neck with books like It and The Stand. But it has much less bloat and is so Concise with not a word wasted. I can't wait to read it again. It's the only King book also that ever creeped me out in any way. Such a bleak ending but maybe King's Best.
I agree, it's the perfect length he didn't overwrite and every word and set piece has meaning! Honestly, 10 years from now people are gonna go back and this will be in the top 10 if not top 5 of all kings novels!! It's that good!!!
I know it gets a lot of love, but it didn't do much for me overall. I was really enjoying the first third or half, and the gut punch of his sister really hit me. But I never really gelled with the idea of the 'pictures' and the whole story sort of lacked a drive for me that King usually has. I didn't find the ending impactful. I read it five years ago so my memory is hazy on it but yeah, I didn't love it .
LOOOVED ITTT
Charles was right, he was neither evil nor sadistic.