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Revival
In a small New England town, in the early 60s, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister, Charles Jacobs. Soon they forge a deep bond, based on their fascination with simple experiments in electricity.
Decades later, Jamie is living nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll. Now an addict, he sees Jacobs again - a showman on stage, creating dazzling 'portraits in lightning' - and their meeting has profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.
Revival is a spectacularly dark and electrifying novel about addiction, religion, music and what might exist on the other side of life. It's a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe.
Decades later, Jamie is living nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll. Now an addict, he sees Jacobs again - a showman on stage, creating dazzling 'portraits in lightning' - and their meeting has profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.
Revival is a spectacularly dark and electrifying novel about addiction, religion, music and what might exist on the other side of life. It's a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe.
372 pages, Paperback
Published November 11, 2014
14 people are currently reading
About the author
Stephen King
2,289 books892k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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October 16, 2021
“Everyone needs a hobby, he said. And everyone needs a miracle or two, just to prove life is more than just one long trudge from the cradle to the grave.”
Revival follows the story of Jamie Morton and Charles Jacobs. When Jamie is six, Charles Jacobs moves to his small town in Maine and becomes the new minister of the local church. Reverend Jacobs, along with his wife and son, are loved by the entire community. Jamie in particular forms a deep bond with Reverend Jacobs, based on their mutual love for experiments in electricity.
Suddenly tragedy strikes, and the charming preacher curses God, and is banished from the shocked town.
Many years later, Jamie, now a heroin addict encounters Charles Jacobs again. At a carnival on stage, performing portraits in Electricity. During this encounter, Charles leaves Jamie with a renewed life. Their bond becomes a pact that leaves Jamie indebted and connected to Charles for all time.
Revival is a dark, eerie, tragic and brutal story about religion, addiction, family, music, life and most importantly death.
I adore novels that span decades and Revival was no exception. I got to live through and experience the love, loss, victories and defeats of the protagonist in a way that made me completely attached to him. The character development in this novel is insane. I would have happily continued reading for another 200 pages.
The reveal and ending were brilliant, giving me those ‘old school’ Stephen King vibes. Absolutely terrifying and I loved it! If I don’t have nightmares I’ll be surprised….and disappointed ;)
I loved this book. Highly recommend!
Revival follows the story of Jamie Morton and Charles Jacobs. When Jamie is six, Charles Jacobs moves to his small town in Maine and becomes the new minister of the local church. Reverend Jacobs, along with his wife and son, are loved by the entire community. Jamie in particular forms a deep bond with Reverend Jacobs, based on their mutual love for experiments in electricity.
Suddenly tragedy strikes, and the charming preacher curses God, and is banished from the shocked town.
Many years later, Jamie, now a heroin addict encounters Charles Jacobs again. At a carnival on stage, performing portraits in Electricity. During this encounter, Charles leaves Jamie with a renewed life. Their bond becomes a pact that leaves Jamie indebted and connected to Charles for all time.
Revival is a dark, eerie, tragic and brutal story about religion, addiction, family, music, life and most importantly death.
I adore novels that span decades and Revival was no exception. I got to live through and experience the love, loss, victories and defeats of the protagonist in a way that made me completely attached to him. The character development in this novel is insane. I would have happily continued reading for another 200 pages.
The reveal and ending were brilliant, giving me those ‘old school’ Stephen King vibes. Absolutely terrifying and I loved it! If I don’t have nightmares I’ll be surprised….and disappointed ;)
I loved this book. Highly recommend!
November 5, 2023
The dust jacket of Revival promised a a contemporary Gothic novel in the "great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe, which would span five decades and contain the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. Stephen King himself said that the book is too scary", and that he doesn't want to think about it anymore, calling it "a nasty, dark piece of work.". This is his second book to be released this year, after the disappointing Mr. Mercedes. In comparison, Revival fares better - but that was a low point of comparison to begin with.
Readers expecting a Gothic novel are bound to be disappointed, as much of the book is typical King fare. Although the structure at first looks like a homage to the form - the protagonist relating the horrors that he has already experienced in recollection, short summaries below each chapter - it soon lapses into familiar territory.
Revival begins in the setting of so many of Stephen King novels, the ubiquitous small town in New England, and is narrated by Jamie Morton - a local boy who is the first to meet the town's new pastor, Charles Jacobs. Jacobs has just moved in with his wife and son, and quickly proves popular with the community , filling up the town church; he is also deeply passionate about electricity, which he describes to the church youth as a"one of God's doorways to the infinite". Jacob's good fortune doesn't last long - after a horrible accident strikes his family, he gives his last sermon - in passion he denounces and ridicules religious belief and curses God with anger and fury. It's obvious that his career as a local preacher is over, and Jacobs soon leaves town.
Jamie Morton grows up, and discovers his talent and passion for the guitar - he first joins a band in his school, and soon begins to perform professionally and tour with various bands, getting lost in drugs. This is my main problem with Revival - we've been here before; drug addiction is a running theme in many of King's novels, and main protagonists of books such as The Shining and Tommyknockers openly struggle with it. This isn't a surprise, as Stephen King himself was addicted to both drugs and alcohol during the 1980's - Misery is probably the clearest metaphor of addiction, with Annie Wilkes's deadly addiction to Paul Sheldon directly mirroring King's own destructive addiction to cocaine; his first "sober" novel is also about addiction though of a different kind, tellingly titled Needful Things.
The second main problem that I had with Revival is the lack of promised Gothic and pure horror. Approximately 3/4 of content is focused on Jamie's life - from his growing up in a small town and his relationship with his family, his first love and passion for music, and his downward spiral. King fans will delight in picking small references to his universe - the cities of Castle Rock and Jerusalem's Lot, Gunslingers, Roses and the number 19 among others - but I would argue that there's little of Edgar Allan Poe or Nathaniel Hawthorne to be found here. I was reminded of last year's Doctor Sleep, where the main character was an alcoholic who also struggled with addiction and recovery.
Luckily for us, Jamie's and Jacob's life intertwine throughout the book - Jamie meets his old friend at a carnival fair, where the reverend is creating "portraits in electricity". The meeting will have a drastic impact on Jamie, who will come to believe that Jacob's faith in electricity might not be entirely misguided. When Jamie and Jacobs will meet again, the pastor will reinvent himself as a faith healer in The First Church of Electricity, and although Jacobs's performances don't seem to be that different from other faith healers, Jamie will nonetheless suspect that there's something deeply troubling about them.
The last quarter of the novel is the best of all, and this is the part of the book where - finally - the Gothic horror comes to life, and develops into something much greater. Although the theme of electricity brings to mind Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein, the book owes a much larger debt to Arthur Machen's classic horror novella The Great God Pan, and the writings of H.P. Lovecraft (whose classic quote ...even death may die" is the book's epigraph, and signifies things to come). The novel is dedicated to both writers (among others), but Machen is singled out as is The Great God Pan, which King says has haunted him "all his life". Still, I can't help but think that the impact of the ending was significantly diminished with the long buildup, which felt largely separate from it and non-horrific. It feels weird to write it about a tribute to the classics of cosmic horror, but I think that it was a case of the proverbial too little, to late.
I was also disappointed in the ending for another reason:
My hopes for Revival were high; I expected it to revive, if you'll pardon the pun, the classic horror that was promised to us. I expected a rich, atmospheric horror, in tradition of Stephen King's own 'Salem's Lot or its great short story predecessor, Jerusalem's Lot, itself a tribute to Lovecraft's Rats in the Walls. This time the inspiration was too transparent, and in its ending sections Revival read as a homage to both Lovecraft and Machen - while I really wanted it to succeed and terrify on its own.
Readers expecting a Gothic novel are bound to be disappointed, as much of the book is typical King fare. Although the structure at first looks like a homage to the form - the protagonist relating the horrors that he has already experienced in recollection, short summaries below each chapter - it soon lapses into familiar territory.
Revival begins in the setting of so many of Stephen King novels, the ubiquitous small town in New England, and is narrated by Jamie Morton - a local boy who is the first to meet the town's new pastor, Charles Jacobs. Jacobs has just moved in with his wife and son, and quickly proves popular with the community , filling up the town church; he is also deeply passionate about electricity, which he describes to the church youth as a"one of God's doorways to the infinite". Jacob's good fortune doesn't last long - after a horrible accident strikes his family, he gives his last sermon - in passion he denounces and ridicules religious belief and curses God with anger and fury. It's obvious that his career as a local preacher is over, and Jacobs soon leaves town.
Jamie Morton grows up, and discovers his talent and passion for the guitar - he first joins a band in his school, and soon begins to perform professionally and tour with various bands, getting lost in drugs. This is my main problem with Revival - we've been here before; drug addiction is a running theme in many of King's novels, and main protagonists of books such as The Shining and Tommyknockers openly struggle with it. This isn't a surprise, as Stephen King himself was addicted to both drugs and alcohol during the 1980's - Misery is probably the clearest metaphor of addiction, with Annie Wilkes's deadly addiction to Paul Sheldon directly mirroring King's own destructive addiction to cocaine; his first "sober" novel is also about addiction though of a different kind, tellingly titled Needful Things.
The second main problem that I had with Revival is the lack of promised Gothic and pure horror. Approximately 3/4 of content is focused on Jamie's life - from his growing up in a small town and his relationship with his family, his first love and passion for music, and his downward spiral. King fans will delight in picking small references to his universe - the cities of Castle Rock and Jerusalem's Lot, Gunslingers, Roses and the number 19 among others - but I would argue that there's little of Edgar Allan Poe or Nathaniel Hawthorne to be found here. I was reminded of last year's Doctor Sleep, where the main character was an alcoholic who also struggled with addiction and recovery.
Luckily for us, Jamie's and Jacob's life intertwine throughout the book - Jamie meets his old friend at a carnival fair, where the reverend is creating "portraits in electricity". The meeting will have a drastic impact on Jamie, who will come to believe that Jacob's faith in electricity might not be entirely misguided. When Jamie and Jacobs will meet again, the pastor will reinvent himself as a faith healer in The First Church of Electricity, and although Jacobs's performances don't seem to be that different from other faith healers, Jamie will nonetheless suspect that there's something deeply troubling about them.
The last quarter of the novel is the best of all, and this is the part of the book where - finally - the Gothic horror comes to life, and develops into something much greater. Although the theme of electricity brings to mind Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein, the book owes a much larger debt to Arthur Machen's classic horror novella The Great God Pan, and the writings of H.P. Lovecraft (whose classic quote ...even death may die" is the book's epigraph, and signifies things to come). The novel is dedicated to both writers (among others), but Machen is singled out as is The Great God Pan, which King says has haunted him "all his life". Still, I can't help but think that the impact of the ending was significantly diminished with the long buildup, which felt largely separate from it and non-horrific. It feels weird to write it about a tribute to the classics of cosmic horror, but I think that it was a case of the proverbial too little, to late.
I was also disappointed in the ending for another reason:
My hopes for Revival were high; I expected it to revive, if you'll pardon the pun, the classic horror that was promised to us. I expected a rich, atmospheric horror, in tradition of Stephen King's own 'Salem's Lot or its great short story predecessor, Jerusalem's Lot, itself a tribute to Lovecraft's Rats in the Walls. This time the inspiration was too transparent, and in its ending sections Revival read as a homage to both Lovecraft and Machen - while I really wanted it to succeed and terrify on its own.
January 13, 2015
Stephen King writes good books and brilliant books and this is one of the brilliant ones. Surprisingly it is only a little bit scary but the story is really intriguing and becomes compulsive reading. Another book where I could not stop because I just had to find out how it was going to end. It reminded me very much of The Shining and like that book although it stands alone I think there is every chance that there will be a part two some time in the future. I hope so!
February 5, 2016
What can i say this was so different to the Stephen King books i have read the storyline confused me a bit by saying that it was a bit creepy eerie to say the least not sure if i enjoyed it or not but 4 stars says it all
March 17, 2023
Disappointingly dull, I'm afraid.
This is the most disappointing King book I've read so far. The first 100-odd pages had me entertained, but then it just drifted into dull and I couldn't finish it fast enough. There was so very little to invest in.
The story is Jamie Morton's, and begins when he's six years old and meets Charles Jacobs for the first time. The two have intertwined destinies, and none of it is too pretty. Jacobs is obsessed with electricity, Jamie is a muso nomad, and I am already bored.
There was so little point to this story. Jacobs goes on the carny circuit with his electrical experimentation, and Jamie gets hooked on drugs. Even the experiments just did nothing for me. There are some troubling visions and after effects, but for the most part there was very little horror to this story.
King writes well, so the pace travels well enough and you do get to know the characters quite well. But because this is a book called Revival, it naturally is balanced by a LOT of deaths. People around Jamie are just ridiculously unlucky for some plot-convenient reason. Hmm. This book really just reeks of, 'my publishers needed another book from me and this is the best I could do with the time they gave me.'
There was just nothing about this story that I really cared for. It raises some interesting questions about death and the like but nothing new that hasn't been raised before. Plus, King just loves to sh*t all over religion, and while I'm not religious myself I'm honestly finding it a bit old.
Definitely not his best work, and a bit of a chore to get through by the end. Pet Sematary did it better.
This is the most disappointing King book I've read so far. The first 100-odd pages had me entertained, but then it just drifted into dull and I couldn't finish it fast enough. There was so very little to invest in.
The story is Jamie Morton's, and begins when he's six years old and meets Charles Jacobs for the first time. The two have intertwined destinies, and none of it is too pretty. Jacobs is obsessed with electricity, Jamie is a muso nomad, and I am already bored.
There was so little point to this story. Jacobs goes on the carny circuit with his electrical experimentation, and Jamie gets hooked on drugs. Even the experiments just did nothing for me. There are some troubling visions and after effects, but for the most part there was very little horror to this story.
King writes well, so the pace travels well enough and you do get to know the characters quite well. But because this is a book called Revival, it naturally is balanced by a LOT of deaths. People around Jamie are just ridiculously unlucky for some plot-convenient reason. Hmm. This book really just reeks of, 'my publishers needed another book from me and this is the best I could do with the time they gave me.'
There was just nothing about this story that I really cared for. It raises some interesting questions about death and the like but nothing new that hasn't been raised before. Plus, King just loves to sh*t all over religion, and while I'm not religious myself I'm honestly finding it a bit old.
Definitely not his best work, and a bit of a chore to get through by the end. Pet Sematary did it better.
March 29, 2020
WOW!! All you King fans who thought he has mellowed and lost his touch. Can't write horror anymore and is more a crime writer -read this. Remember the stories he built in The Stand and It and Insomnia etc, well here he goes again. A story set over generations where evil exists and manifests in one man. Did you enjoy Needful Things? You'll love this one
January 13, 2023
4.66 stars.
Such a lovely book to read, this one! The book is the narrator's story of his life, so well written along with some amazing characterization, culminating in a terrifying scene that can keep a reader thinking for a long time to come. Very effective, that. However, I enjoyed the book more for its story and characters, interspersed with life, music, etc. And SK is always so amazing at depicting kids and teenagers. He can really get inside them as well, apart from adults, so beautifully. Writing coming-of-age is his forte, as is seen in his books It and the novella The Body.
This was my 49th SK read. One more to go for a half-century. :)
Such a lovely book to read, this one! The book is the narrator's story of his life, so well written along with some amazing characterization, culminating in a terrifying scene that can keep a reader thinking for a long time to come. Very effective, that. However, I enjoyed the book more for its story and characters, interspersed with life, music, etc. And SK is always so amazing at depicting kids and teenagers. He can really get inside them as well, apart from adults, so beautifully. Writing coming-of-age is his forte, as is seen in his books It and the novella The Body.
This was my 49th SK read. One more to go for a half-century. :)
January 23, 2023
Leído para el reto de la copa de las casas en Instagram, una historia sorprendente cuya tensión e intriga aumenta a un ritmo lento pero necesario para llegar al gran clímax y comprender que con ciertos temas es mejor no indagar demasiado.
King lo ha hecho de nuevo, aunque no haya sido de mis favoritas.
Fueron de esos libros que compré por el booktrailer y su multiverso (entre tantos) llamado CASTLE ROCK.
RESEÑA COMPLETA EN MI BLOG: https://lavidadeungamerprincipiante.b...
King lo ha hecho de nuevo, aunque no haya sido de mis favoritas.
Fueron de esos libros que compré por el booktrailer y su multiverso (entre tantos) llamado CASTLE ROCK.
RESEÑA COMPLETA EN MI BLOG: https://lavidadeungamerprincipiante.b...
February 22, 2021
“People say that where there’s life, there’s hope, and I have no quarrel with that, but I also believe the reverse. There is hope, therefore I live.”
Jamie Morton was only a child playing with his toy soldiers when a shadow fell upon him. That shadow is Charlie Jacobs, the new minister of the town, whose weird interest in electricity as a cure for health problems will fascinate and haunt Jamie's life forever.
Oh how much I enjoyed this story.
Revival is not just a horror book, actually I feel like only the powerful ending could be considered horror in the classic definition of the term. It's a sad story that evokes coming-of-age feelings, especially in the first third of the book where Jamie talks about his childhood with his siblings and the years as a teenager, looking for his place in the world. Then his voice becomes one of an adult and we get to live what the narrator lives and feels: grief and anger, addiction, thirst for justice, failure.
It's a slow novel and there's not much happening for most of it, but there is that constant feeling that something dark is about to happen and... the ending did not disappoint at all. In my opinion one of the best King's ending, I absolutely loved it, it's dark and brilliant and... really disturbing.
While I was reading, I often asked myself: is Charlie Jacobs a villain? We can't ignore his good intentions but damn... I can't really say he is a good guy! He did good.. but at what cost? What do you think?
Needless to say, Revival is written beautifully. There's no need to have action or plot twists to keep me glued to the pages when the narration and the writing style is so good.
My first 5 star read of 2021! Definitely recommended!
Jamie Morton was only a child playing with his toy soldiers when a shadow fell upon him. That shadow is Charlie Jacobs, the new minister of the town, whose weird interest in electricity as a cure for health problems will fascinate and haunt Jamie's life forever.
Oh how much I enjoyed this story.
Revival is not just a horror book, actually I feel like only the powerful ending could be considered horror in the classic definition of the term. It's a sad story that evokes coming-of-age feelings, especially in the first third of the book where Jamie talks about his childhood with his siblings and the years as a teenager, looking for his place in the world. Then his voice becomes one of an adult and we get to live what the narrator lives and feels: grief and anger, addiction, thirst for justice, failure.
It's a slow novel and there's not much happening for most of it, but there is that constant feeling that something dark is about to happen and... the ending did not disappoint at all. In my opinion one of the best King's ending, I absolutely loved it, it's dark and brilliant and... really disturbing.
While I was reading, I often asked myself: is Charlie Jacobs a villain? We can't ignore his good intentions but damn... I can't really say he is a good guy! He did good.. but at what cost? What do you think?
Needless to say, Revival is written beautifully. There's no need to have action or plot twists to keep me glued to the pages when the narration and the writing style is so good.
My first 5 star read of 2021! Definitely recommended!
April 5, 2020
8/10
No hay mejor momento para terminar un libro de King que ha mitad de la noche.
Tengo que decir que este libro va un poco lento la primera mitad, pero siendo un libro de King que vaya lento significa mucho detalle en construcción de personajes, lo cuál a mí, la verdad, me parece bien.
No hay mejor momento para terminar un libro de King que ha mitad de la noche.
Tengo que decir que este libro va un poco lento la primera mitad, pero siendo un libro de King que vaya lento significa mucho detalle en construcción de personajes, lo cuál a mí, la verdad, me parece bien.
June 26, 2015
I thought this was reminiscent of Rose Madder and Joyland with of course the Stephen King Horror twist at the end. Loved it!
December 31, 2015
Could be interesting if Stephen King stopped a little to rethink narrative rhythm: a waste of pages to add nothing to the story
December 17, 2015
4 stars
I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed my first Steven King book. Revival tells the tale of Jamie Morton's life. From the eager, somewhat naive 6 year old, we watch him grow up before our eyes as he recounts his life until the age of 53. As he forever faces hardships, his fifth business Charles D. Jacobs is always casting a shadow over his life. We watch as this innocent and somewhat family-like bonding between them turns into distaste and something more that not even Jamie can describe. No matter what, their fates were forever entwined, and were always leading back to one another.
I thoroughly enjoyed the narrative. While many may find it boring, I found it engaging to read his recount of growing up and becoming a different person, one that he himself would not even recognise. My only complaint is a small one, which is that I found that the climax was somewhat of a disappointment, yet I cannot possibly imagine a greater way for the book to have ended. For over 300 pages, the narrator continuously alluded to the climax, but in reality it was less than 30 pages. Not to say that I found that those 300 pages were boring, but I wish there was something more to the climax. I felt that it lacked something, and I still have many questions that will probably never be answered.
Rather than using monster stories to scare us, King has instead decided to delve into one of the greatest mysteries, and fear of humankind- Is there life after death? His answer plays on our fear of the unknown and what could possibly be at the end of the tunnel. As I have only just finished the novel, I have not yet begun to really ponder this interpretation. If you ask me what I thought about the book in three days, i will mostly likely give you a completely different response to the one I have just written. Already I can tell that this ending will haunt me for a very long time.
Would I recommend this book? Of course. I think it was an amazing introduction into King's universe of mystery and horror. Although it is my first, it will undoubtedly not be my last.
I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed my first Steven King book. Revival tells the tale of Jamie Morton's life. From the eager, somewhat naive 6 year old, we watch him grow up before our eyes as he recounts his life until the age of 53. As he forever faces hardships, his fifth business Charles D. Jacobs is always casting a shadow over his life. We watch as this innocent and somewhat family-like bonding between them turns into distaste and something more that not even Jamie can describe. No matter what, their fates were forever entwined, and were always leading back to one another.
I thoroughly enjoyed the narrative. While many may find it boring, I found it engaging to read his recount of growing up and becoming a different person, one that he himself would not even recognise. My only complaint is a small one, which is that I found that the climax was somewhat of a disappointment, yet I cannot possibly imagine a greater way for the book to have ended. For over 300 pages, the narrator continuously alluded to the climax, but in reality it was less than 30 pages. Not to say that I found that those 300 pages were boring, but I wish there was something more to the climax. I felt that it lacked something, and I still have many questions that will probably never be answered.
Rather than using monster stories to scare us, King has instead decided to delve into one of the greatest mysteries, and fear of humankind- Is there life after death? His answer plays on our fear of the unknown and what could possibly be at the end of the tunnel. As I have only just finished the novel, I have not yet begun to really ponder this interpretation. If you ask me what I thought about the book in three days, i will mostly likely give you a completely different response to the one I have just written. Already I can tell that this ending will haunt me for a very long time.
Would I recommend this book? Of course. I think it was an amazing introduction into King's universe of mystery and horror. Although it is my first, it will undoubtedly not be my last.
March 12, 2016
Very disappointed with this. Probably my least satisfying SK read since the bad old days of Gerald's Game, The Tommyknockers, and Needful Things. I know King cites HP Lovecraft as a major influence (his short story, 'N', which is also very reminiscent of Lovecraft, is undoubtedly the most disturbing piece of fiction I have ever read - closely followed by The Mist), and that there is a tie-in with the Lovecraft/Bloch mythos here, but it just feels like a bit of a shonky rip-off. Fling in a dash of Frankenstein and that's about the long and short of it. Since reading Joyland (which I thought was wonderful) I've tried, and failed, to finish Mr Mercedes and Doctor Sleep, and although I got to the end of this, it never really had its hooks in me. He's my all-time favourite writer, and I'll never give up on him, but I'm hoping my next SK read thrills me a lot more than this did.
September 15, 2017
I was expeting a great end .. a satisfying one.. I liked the writing style and the characters were real..(this is my first book for Stephen King but I was not expecting this end.
The end was so cliche and stupid.
I would have rated 5 stars but because of the end I am giving it a one star.
The end was so cliche and stupid.
I would have rated 5 stars but because of the end I am giving it a one star.
August 22, 2017
Este es el tercer libro que leo de Stephen King y me gusto bastante hasta cierto punto...
El argumento me gusto hasta cierto punto. El inicio de la novela es genial, me mantenía sumamente atrapado, hasta que llegué la pagina 100 más o menos y se fue desplomando poco a poco. Cuando el argumento da un giro y empieza a seguir la vida de Jamie es el punto mas aburrido de toda la novela. Lo sentí super aburrido y las únicas veces que el argumento cobraba vida era cuando el reverendo Jacobs aparecía en escena. La historia vuelve a cobrar vida en más o menos al final, en torno a las 300 paginas. El final es algo que no me lo veía venir, da un giro bastante pronunciado con tintes de horror a lo Lovecraft. Fue un final super genial y lo que más me gusto de la novela.
En torno a los personajes, el reverendo Jacobs fue el mejor, lo amé con todo mi ser, es un genio aunque este un poco loco. En cambio, Jamie... digamos que su construcción y su argumento se quedaron flojisimos y super pobres. A diferencia del Jamie de las primeras 100 páginas, un chico super atento, curioso y muy simpático, el Jamie adulto quedó super flojo para mi. En cambio el reverendo Jacobs es un personaje que es bastante original y super interesante.
El libro puede ser un poco aburrido en algunas partes pero nunca se torno pesado ni mucho menos. La prosa del maestro es genial, super fluida, nada pesada y bien descriptiva sin ser tedioso de leer.
Es un libro de 3 estrellas pero le doy cuatro porque ese final se merece una estrella más!.
Puedo recomendar el libro, las partes mas interesantes del libro valen mucho la pena, sobretodo el final!
El argumento me gusto hasta cierto punto. El inicio de la novela es genial, me mantenía sumamente atrapado, hasta que llegué la pagina 100 más o menos y se fue desplomando poco a poco. Cuando el argumento da un giro y empieza a seguir la vida de Jamie es el punto mas aburrido de toda la novela. Lo sentí super aburrido y las únicas veces que el argumento cobraba vida era cuando el reverendo Jacobs aparecía en escena. La historia vuelve a cobrar vida en más o menos al final, en torno a las 300 paginas. El final es algo que no me lo veía venir, da un giro bastante pronunciado con tintes de horror a lo Lovecraft. Fue un final super genial y lo que más me gusto de la novela.
En torno a los personajes, el reverendo Jacobs fue el mejor, lo amé con todo mi ser, es un genio aunque este un poco loco. En cambio, Jamie... digamos que su construcción y su argumento se quedaron flojisimos y super pobres. A diferencia del Jamie de las primeras 100 páginas, un chico super atento, curioso y muy simpático, el Jamie adulto quedó super flojo para mi. En cambio el reverendo Jacobs es un personaje que es bastante original y super interesante.
El libro puede ser un poco aburrido en algunas partes pero nunca se torno pesado ni mucho menos. La prosa del maestro es genial, super fluida, nada pesada y bien descriptiva sin ser tedioso de leer.
Es un libro de 3 estrellas pero le doy cuatro porque ese final se merece una estrella más!.
Puedo recomendar el libro, las partes mas interesantes del libro valen mucho la pena, sobretodo el final!
February 26, 2016
Stephen King's novel Revival is what I'd call a slow burn. Covering themes of family, addiction and faith, Revival spans 50 years in the life of Jamie Morton and his priest, Reverend Jacobs.
Reverend Jacobs is obsessed with the power of electricity and he discovers he has the power to heal people. But does he heal with faith or science or is the whole thing just a con?
Although not a standout bestseller when compared to other novels in Stephen King's vast body of work, Revival contains an interesting plot exploring some big issues and showcasing some great writing along the way. Here's my favourite quote from page 60:
"Her blond hair was underground now, growing brittle on a satin pillow in the dark."
Oh my gosh, that still gives me the creeps! The best part of Revival was Jamie Morton's childhood growing up in New England. Stephen King has an unbeatable talent for writing young characters and the first quarter of the book had me chuckling and smiling, and the remainder of the book had me (and Jamie) yearning for the innocence of those early years.
Promotional material claims Revival is a 'masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe' although I'd have to disagree. Revival was an enjoyable story and a great page turner with a few flashes of brilliant writing, but it wasn't a knock-out for me.
Reverend Jacobs is obsessed with the power of electricity and he discovers he has the power to heal people. But does he heal with faith or science or is the whole thing just a con?
Although not a standout bestseller when compared to other novels in Stephen King's vast body of work, Revival contains an interesting plot exploring some big issues and showcasing some great writing along the way. Here's my favourite quote from page 60:
"Her blond hair was underground now, growing brittle on a satin pillow in the dark."
Oh my gosh, that still gives me the creeps! The best part of Revival was Jamie Morton's childhood growing up in New England. Stephen King has an unbeatable talent for writing young characters and the first quarter of the book had me chuckling and smiling, and the remainder of the book had me (and Jamie) yearning for the innocence of those early years.
Promotional material claims Revival is a 'masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe' although I'd have to disagree. Revival was an enjoyable story and a great page turner with a few flashes of brilliant writing, but it wasn't a knock-out for me.
April 17, 2022
Revival by Stephen King
Book 27/52
I swore off Stephen King after many battles with his books. I found ‘Misery’ boring. The collection of short stories my Mum got me for Christmas just didn’t scare me. And ‘The Stand’ was just…a lot. I couldn’t finish any. Whilst I always respected King as an author, I decided his books just weren’t for me.
Until one of my teacher’s recommended this little number. A quick annotation on my work ‘Have you read King’s ‘Revival?’ Out of spite I looked it up and ordered it and read it in two days. It was addictive.
Not really a lot to say other than I will never forget this book. It was a slow burn - the slowest of burns ever - but the characters were just so perfectly crafted that every page held me. The pay off - the final 50 or so pages - are unfathomable to put into words. Terrifying, in a completely devastating way.
Maybe I should forgive Stephen King.
January 20, 2015
Probably for the first time I really want to rate a book with a half star, so I rounded it up to five.
December 20, 2015
After reading three of the newest books by King, I can say that I still don't get it how he's considered a good author as much as he does. He's good, but not as much as the image he has. But again, that's from a guy who only read three books of his.
The synopsis for this book is really misleading, along with its cover. It teases a terrifying, old school, King book. But I can easily replace the title and the cover with: "The Life of a Mediocre Rhythm Guitarist"; and in the cover Jamie Morton will be shown in his sixties holding a Gibson SG with a big smile while he's high on pills (courtesy of Ed Braithwaite).
My suggestion sums up this enjoyable but unstatisfying book. The climax isn't enough although it had a big potential. The main reason it's not enough it's because it's too short. And the climax at the end was the only main "terrifying" part of this book. The rest are mostly just a soap opera, drama and a biography about Jamie Morton and about his family and childless miserable life, along with his random encounters with Charles Daniel Jacobs. And it's really skippable.
But it seems that I'm really harsh on King and his books. Eventually this is the third book by King that I read and I'm eager to read more of his work. The book had a few good moments, it is enjoyable especially because of his writing, he makes a mediocre life of a random man like Morton seems interesting. Add to that, the bizzare encounters and acts of Jacobs, along with his plan at the end. And the message that it tells eventually which I will not spoil.
Bottom line, this book is a bit overrrated. It's not terrifying but it's enjoyable, and as its disturbed moments (though not all of them are supernatural).
The synopsis for this book is really misleading, along with its cover. It teases a terrifying, old school, King book. But I can easily replace the title and the cover with: "The Life of a Mediocre Rhythm Guitarist"; and in the cover Jamie Morton will be shown in his sixties holding a Gibson SG with a big smile while he's high on pills (courtesy of Ed Braithwaite).
My suggestion sums up this enjoyable but unstatisfying book. The climax isn't enough although it had a big potential. The main reason it's not enough it's because it's too short. And the climax at the end was the only main "terrifying" part of this book. The rest are mostly just a soap opera, drama and a biography about Jamie Morton and about his family and childless miserable life, along with his random encounters with Charles Daniel Jacobs. And it's really skippable.
But it seems that I'm really harsh on King and his books. Eventually this is the third book by King that I read and I'm eager to read more of his work. The book had a few good moments, it is enjoyable especially because of his writing, he makes a mediocre life of a random man like Morton seems interesting. Add to that, the bizzare encounters and acts of Jacobs, along with his plan at the end. And the message that it tells eventually which I will not spoil.
Bottom line, this book is a bit overrrated. It's not terrifying but it's enjoyable, and as its disturbed moments (though not all of them are supernatural).
December 12, 2020
What a snooze fest.
I originally rated this 2.5 stars. Now that I’ve had time to sit on that rating, and as I’m gathering my thoughts for this review, I think even 2.5 may have been generous.
I know that Revival is loved by many (sorry Jo!) and if you managed to connect with it I love that for you, but it’s definitely not a book for me.
I was intrigued in the beginning. There was enough happening – and a couple of scenes in particular – that had me really excited to see how things were going to unravel, but before too long that level of intrigue was a distant memory and I was nothing but bored, frustrated, and begging for it to end.
I take notes as I read and I think this note from partway through sums it up perfectly: “Okay they’re reunited and I guess that means something but I didn’t care about electricity when Jamie was a kid and I still don’t care about it now.” Like, I just REALLY DID NOT CARE. I didn’t care for the characters, I didn’t care for their struggles, I hardly cared where they were going or what they were doing, and it was only the faintest niggling question of “but how the fuck is this going to end?!” that kept me going.
And I am glad that I stuck with it because I really did love the ending. I’m not quite sure how we got this ending from the monotony of the pages before it but it was weird and it was wonderful and it was the only truly enjoyable part of the entire experience.
Yes, Revival highlights the consequences of obsessions, of our actions, religion, addiction – it’s all there – but the delivery was flat, I just could not connect the story at all, and I’m taking off half a star because having to write this has angered me.
I originally rated this 2.5 stars. Now that I’ve had time to sit on that rating, and as I’m gathering my thoughts for this review, I think even 2.5 may have been generous.
I know that Revival is loved by many (sorry Jo!) and if you managed to connect with it I love that for you, but it’s definitely not a book for me.
I was intrigued in the beginning. There was enough happening – and a couple of scenes in particular – that had me really excited to see how things were going to unravel, but before too long that level of intrigue was a distant memory and I was nothing but bored, frustrated, and begging for it to end.
I take notes as I read and I think this note from partway through sums it up perfectly: “Okay they’re reunited and I guess that means something but I didn’t care about electricity when Jamie was a kid and I still don’t care about it now.” Like, I just REALLY DID NOT CARE. I didn’t care for the characters, I didn’t care for their struggles, I hardly cared where they were going or what they were doing, and it was only the faintest niggling question of “but how the fuck is this going to end?!” that kept me going.
And I am glad that I stuck with it because I really did love the ending. I’m not quite sure how we got this ending from the monotony of the pages before it but it was weird and it was wonderful and it was the only truly enjoyable part of the entire experience.
Yes, Revival highlights the consequences of obsessions, of our actions, religion, addiction – it’s all there – but the delivery was flat, I just could not connect the story at all, and I’m taking off half a star because having to write this has angered me.
March 1, 2018
Δεν ξέρω αν υπάρχει περίπτωση να διαβάσω ποτέ βιβλίο του Stephen King που να μην μου αρέσει κι έχω εντοπίσει το γιατί. Είναι οι ήρωες του, ο τρόπος που τους περιγράφει. Είναι σαν στέκονται εκεί μπροστά σου. Φοβερό το πώς μπαίνει έτσι εύκολα στις σκέψεις ενός παιδιού και πάντα υπάρχουν παιδιά στα βιβλία του και πάντα ακολουθεί η εφηβεία και η ενηλικίωση μέσα από τόσο αληθινές περιγραφές. Καλά ίσως όχι πάντα, δεν έχω διαβάσει ακόμα τόσα πολλά βιβλία του για να το επιβεβαιώσω, όμως παρότι θα μπορούσε να θεωρηθεί μανιέρα κάτι τέτοιο εγώ ποτέ δεν θα βαρεθώ να διαβάζω τις ιστορίες του κυρίου Κινγκ για παιδιά που μεγάλωσαν. Και που στη πορεία τα έβαλαν με τους φόβους τους. Σε πολλά σημεία σου θυμίζει πώς ήταν να είσαι παιδί και ξέρω ότι ακούγεται περίεργο αυτό όταν μιλάμε για βιβλία τρόμου αλλά ας μην συγχέουμε πράγματα, ε;
Τρόμος λοιπόν, συνεχής αίσθηση ότι πωπω κάτι πολύ άσχημο θα συμβεί σύντομα, αγωνία και γρήγορο γύρισμα σελίδων και ένα εφιαλτικό φινάλε με πολλούς κεραυνούς μέσα από ένα βιβλίο του Κινγκ που πραγματεύεται τη θρησκεία, την πίστη, το θάνατο ή για την ακρίβεια το τι συμβαίνει μετά από αυτόν. Μπρρρ. Μυρμήγκια.
Τρόμος λοιπόν, συνεχής αίσθηση ότι πωπω κάτι πολύ άσχημο θα συμβεί σύντομα, αγωνία και γρήγορο γύρισμα σελίδων και ένα εφιαλτικό φινάλε με πολλούς κεραυνούς μέσα από ένα βιβλίο του Κινγκ που πραγματεύεται τη θρησκεία, την πίστη, το θάνατο ή για την ακρίβεια το τι συμβαίνει μετά από αυτόν. Μπρρρ. Μυρμήγκια.
December 26, 2014
Definitely not King's finest work, more like a short story that's been stretched into a novel. A lot of it doesn't really come to much, particularly the main character's musical talents, which I thought might have actually been important, but really he could have been anything at all. And, weirdly for a Stephen King novel, there's a strange lack of conflict; it's only towards the end of the book that there's really any kind of actual distinction between the aims of the protagonist and antagonist. I've seen some people complaining about the copious and clumsy foreshadowing, which is a fair complaint, but I'd have liked a bit MORE foreshadowing when it came to the climax, it really came out of nowhere. And I expected a Mary Shelley pastiche, but instead it was HP Lovecraft being riffed on. Still, you can't deny the King's amazing ability to write immensely readable prose, and I devoured the book in just a few days. From anyone else, I think it would have been a great book, but from the master himself, it's merely a good one.
December 3, 2016
Este es uno de los libros más traumantes que he leído de King, especialmente porque se toma hojas y hojas y hojas para contar la vida del protagonista, Jamie. Y mas que una desventaja o problema, creo que es un recurso muy bueno y que me ayudó a imaginarme al personaje como un ser REAL, a pesar de ser ficticio. Claro, habían páginas demás pero se le perdona por la gran historia de esta novela. Sin duda, un buen tributo a Lovecraft y que, si uno no sabe este detalle, no se imagina hasta la página 300 apróximadamente a donde te quiere llevar todo esto, y sí que vale la pena esperar por ese clímax y desenlace. Traumante.
November 19, 2015
Well the only other book of Stephen King I read was The Shining and that might be the reason for 4 stars instead of 5.
Otherwise, this is a fantastic novel. A typical page turner with one of the best finishes for a book of this genre. The suspense is so well maintained throughout the book and it keeps the readers guessing about the true nature of Charlie Jacobs a.k.a. Pastor Danny and his secret electricity till the very end.
Personally, I felt there were few parts initially which bored with unimportant details. The story kind of made sense later on. But overall, loved it!!
Do read it, but not for the faint hearted!!
Otherwise, this is a fantastic novel. A typical page turner with one of the best finishes for a book of this genre. The suspense is so well maintained throughout the book and it keeps the readers guessing about the true nature of Charlie Jacobs a.k.a. Pastor Danny and his secret electricity till the very end.
Personally, I felt there were few parts initially which bored with unimportant details. The story kind of made sense later on. But overall, loved it!!
Do read it, but not for the faint hearted!!
January 6, 2016
As a six year old boy, Jamie Morton meets the Rev Charles Jacobs - a charismatic, benevolent preacher with a dark curiosity that turns him into something else entirely. To Jamie, he becomes his "fifth business" or change agent, unleashing in Jamie's life an inescapable and torturous chain of events. Whilst slow to start, the third act of this novel is worth the wait. Whilst characterisation sometimes suffers, and cliche occasionally raises its ugly head, King's enviable imagination pays an interesting homage to Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein', amongst other gothic/sci-fi works, with added layers of the supernatural. Not one of his best novels, but entertaining regardless.
February 29, 2016
Like many of King's later works, "Revival" is quite introspective and reads almost like a memoir in some parts, (to the point of being a leetle bit wordy) but boy, when he brings the horror in this one - BAM! This is one book where I thought I knew what was going on, and how it would end, simply because as a Constant Reader I know his style, but I was so wrong on both counts! Dare I say it? This is King with a twist, (or two, and some damn good ones too), and a King that has much more in common with his earlier work than I ever realised - and it's up there amongst his absolute best work in my opinion.
October 1, 2024
Another womb to tomb tale from Stephen King doing what he does best: exploring the ins and outs of the relationships that make us human with a liberal dose of spooky. A comforting and welcome balm for autumn and an easy five star read.
The nods to some of the horror greats that preceded King - Mary Shelley, M.R. James, Arthur Machen, and, of course, H.P. Lovecraft - gave me the warm fuzzies, and the references to the X-Files and The Wicker Man made me grin from ear to ear like a wean. Loved it.
The nods to some of the horror greats that preceded King - Mary Shelley, M.R. James, Arthur Machen, and, of course, H.P. Lovecraft - gave me the warm fuzzies, and the references to the X-Files and The Wicker Man made me grin from ear to ear like a wean. Loved it.
March 18, 2026
DNF 44%
I previously read this book when I was in high school, and I wondered why I barely remembered it... Now I know why.
The book goes on, and on, and on.
The pacing is all over the place.
There isn't much of a plot, just the story of Jaimie's life which I personally don't find all that interesting.
However, I really liked the character of Charles Jacobs and his fascination with electricity. I feel if the book focused more on him and his descent after *the incident* it would be much more entertaining.
I previously read this book when I was in high school, and I wondered why I barely remembered it... Now I know why.
The book goes on, and on, and on.
The pacing is all over the place.
There isn't much of a plot, just the story of Jaimie's life which I personally don't find all that interesting.
However, I really liked the character of Charles Jacobs and his fascination with electricity. I feel if the book focused more on him and his descent after *the incident* it would be much more entertaining.
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