A thought on the whiskey...

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AquinasMan

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Aug 9, 2015
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I just finished reading Revival and I have to say that with the exception of Joyland, this is my favorite recent King novel. He always does so well when he riffs on Lovecraft... :)

Anyway, several posters had asked about the whiskey in the car when Patsy and Morrie died and I had a thought. When Jacobs was talking with Jamie after the Terrible Sermon, he mentioned that the doctor in town (the one that had diagnosed Con) had come out to help Patsy with a "female problem". When I read this, I immediately thought "miscarriage," which might explain why Patsy was drinking (if she was even doing so). On a darker note, if Mother needs sacrifices, perhaps Jacobs (consciously or unconsciously) caused the miscarriage as part of his quest for the "secret electricity". I kept waiting for that particular thread to be tied up, but it never was. Perhaps Mr. King will return to this in a follow-up novel...
 

CrimsonKingAH

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Jun 8, 2015
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I don't think Patsy was drinking. It was a rumor of whiskey.. not proven. But it was the Rev that seemed to be the one who needed a few shots for courage later in the book, so if it was whiskey, I think it was his. Just my opinion on it tho. I should re-read it to make it fresh in my mind..
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
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I don't think it's anything deeper than she was possibly drunk when she crashed. End of story. Terrible any time, but especially bad for a pastor to deal with. Whether it was true or not, seeing the hypocrisy of his flock gave Charles the kick to leave behind the energy of religious faith in favor of playing God himself. I find this book hearkens heavily to Shelley's Frankenstein.
 

AquinasMan

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Aug 9, 2015
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I don't think Patsy was drinking. It was a rumor of whiskey.. not proven. But it was the Rev that seemed to be the one who needed a few shots for courage later in the book, so if it was whiskey, I think it was his. Just my opinion on it tho. I should re-read it to make it fresh in my mind..

The theoretical miscarriage might have led to the Reverend drinking as well (trust me when I say it can affect the father as well as the mother :( ). Either way, it's a tantalizing point that is never fully resolved...
 

AquinasMan

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Aug 9, 2015
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I don't think it's anything deeper than she was possibly drunk when she crashed. End of story. Terrible any time, but especially bad for a pastor to deal with. Whether it was true or not, seeing the hypocrisy of his flock gave Charles the kick to leave behind the energy of religious faith in favor of playing God himself. I find this book hearkens heavily to Shelley's Frankenstein.
Also quite true. However, given Mr. King's own experiences with alcohol, I guess I tend to expect him to deal with it more clearly when he brings it up.
 

blunthead

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Aug 2, 2006
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I think there was a bottle in the glove box but that it belonged to Jacobs. I don't think his wife had been drinking at all and that the crash disturbed the bottle, which spilled inside the car - Jacobs' car- which is why his wife smelled of liquor.

The mystery of Mrs Jacobs' "female problem" is intriguing, and I think there's no reason to assume what it was since it's meant to be a mystery.
The fact does perhaps serve to reinforce the idea of trouble in the marriage, though, which we begin perceiving as mostly due to Jacobs eccentricity which soon begins becoming a pathological obsession.
 
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AquinasMan

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Aug 9, 2015
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....he did, he used it consciously or not as a plot point which illustrates the ill fates of those who imbibe improperly...he will never go all "Carrie Nation" in any novel...

I certainly don't expect Carrie Nation (Mr. King certainly isnt preachy about this theme) but the whiskey was a detail that I thought he would explain at some point. Mr. King often makes these minor mentions early on (like the hat in Joyland) that become big deals by the end of the book, but that never materialized here. In any event, it was something that piqued my interest.
 

icarus

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Mar 30, 2011
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This is interesting as Im re-reading the Revival, and I too have picked up on whether Patsy was drunk when the accident happened...but my opinion is that she comes across in the book to be a nice respectful wife to Jacobs, and I just couldn't see her drinking while driving especially with her son in the car...but again its just my view...it is interesting that at the mass sermon where Jacobs looses his cool and blurts out all things wrong with faith and God that the congregation begin to use the alcohol as the reason for the crash...
 
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