Mini Reviews: Revival || The Talented Mr. Ripley

Revival by Stephen King

Genre: Horror

Pages: 403

Publication date: November 2014

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, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister—feel the same about Reverend Jacobs. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond, based on their fascination with simple experiments in electricity.

Then tragedy strikes the Jacobs family; the preacher curses God, mocking all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. In his mid-thirties, he is living a nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll. Addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate, 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. Because for every cure there is a price . . . .

Likes: I don’t know why this book gets so much hate. I really liked it! It’s not perfect, but it’s entertaining and full of well-developed characters.

The minister, Charles Jacobs, is one of the most complicated characters I’ve come across in a horror story. I love that my feelings about him kept changing. I was unnerved by him at first because he’s very involved in the lives of his congregation. Then bad things happen to him, and I started to like him. His reactions to the problems in his life are believable. Then he becomes obsessed with electricity and completely terrifying! I wish there were more authors who could make my opinions of their characters swing from one extreme to another.

One of the reasons I put off reading this book is because the main character, Jamie Morton, is a drug addict. Drug addict characters are usually an automatic “no” from me. I would rather not read about them. I worried that there would be too much focus on drug use in Revival. Good news! There’s not. Jamie is only a heroin user for a few years, and the book covers the majority of his life. The drug use is only a small part of the story.

Like all King novels, the end of this one is nuts. I don’t want to spoil everything, but holy crap, it’s intense. Charles Jacobs thinks he can use electricity to open doors to Heaven. He does succeed in opening a door, but it definitely doesn’t lead to Heaven.

“This is how we bring about our own damnation, you know—by ignoring the voice that begs us to stop. To stop while there's still time.” – Revival

Dislikes: Stephen King is known for his slow-burn horror stories. His novels are usually longer and slower-paced than they need to be. Revival is no exception. It takes a very long time for scary things to start happening. Cutting 100+ pages out of the middle probably wouldn’t have hurt the story. I got a little bored whenever Charles wasn’t around. He’s a lot more interesting than Jamie.

The Bottom Line: The pacing is sluggish, but the crazy minister and the creepy ending make the book worth reading.

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Series: Ripley #1

Genre: Mystery/crime

Pages: 299

Publication date: 1955

In this first novel, we are introduced to suave, handsome Tom Ripley: a young striver, newly arrived in the heady world of Manhattan in the 1950s. A product of a broken home, branded a "sissy" by his dismissive Aunt Dottie, Ripley becomes enamored of the moneyed world of his new friend, Dickie Greenleaf. This fondness turns obsessive when Ripley is sent to Italy to bring back his libertine pal but grows enraged by Dickie's ambivalent feelings for Marge, a charming American dilettante.

Likes: Have you ever finished a book and immediately wanted to turn it over and start again from the beginning? That happened to me with this novel. I want to know all of the book’s secrets! How much research did the author do to create such an intricate plot? How did she make Tom Ripley so normal and so twisted at the same time? I badly want to go back and tear this book apart to see how it works.

The research must have been extensive. Tom Ripley is unhappy with his life, so when his friend’s father asks him to go to Italy and convince his friend to come back to the US, Tom eagerly agrees. In Italy, things don’t go as planned. Instead of bringing his friend home, Tom becomes his friend. Stealing someone’s identity and taking over their life is complicated. There are so many tiny details in this story that make Tom’s behavior believable. He’s always on the verge of getting caught. The suspense comes from watching him weave a tangled web and then frantically work to keep it from crashing down.

Tom is a warped dude. On the outside, he seems like a typical college kid, but inside, he has a wicked sense of entitlement. He’s a scarily believable character. I didn’t want him to get caught. That would be too easy. I wanted him to keep sinking deeper into the mess he made. I was completely fascinated by him, but I wanted him to suffer for being a selfish jerk.

“He remembered that right after that, he had stolen a loaf of bread from a delicatessen counter and had taken it home and devoured it, feeling that the world owed a loaf of bread to him, and more.” – The Talented Mr. Ripley

Dislikes: Once I got into this book, I was hooked, but it took me a long time to get invested in the story. The beginning is too directionless for me. For the majority of the book, I didn’t know where the plot was going or why I should care. I would have liked a shorter lead-in to the action. I’m not a very patient person!

I wouldn’t really call this a “dislike,” but I hated all of the characters. They’re fascinating, but they’re not good people. They’re spoiled, immature, materialistic, rich people. If you need likable characters in your books, you should probably skip this one.

The Bottom Line: I’m definitely going to reread this novel. I’ll probably pick up the sequels eventually, too.