It came. It is here. I was afraid to open it.. Cracked off the box it came in...
I am afraid to start reading.
I am afraid to start reading.
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Lucky you!It came. It is here. I am afraid to start reading.
BUMMMMMMMMMMPFor those of you who have finished the book, go post on The Other Side of the Prepareforrevival.com site. Spoil away, give your comments, tell Stephen what you think.
Oh, Flake... I'm way ahead of you. I've already been over to the other side (sounds kind of scary, doesn't it?) and left some comments. But i don't think the book is gonna change my way of life or anything.BUMMMMMMMMMMP
Absolutely ditto this... all of the moderators have now (Yar, I'm a slow reader ) finished reading REVIVAL and we urge you to come and share your thoughts on all of the themes in this story once you have completed the book.
Particularly those thoughts concerning The Other Side.
Give it to us straight, what did this story do (if anything?) to your core beliefs? Will the messages in this book have any impact on the way you live your life from here on out?
Oh, Flake... I'm way ahead of you. I've already been over to the other side (sounds kind of scary, doesn't it?) and left some comments. But i don't think the book is gonna change my way of life or anything.
I don't think it will mine, either. It was a good read IMO, but didn't seem to affect me like it has others.
I don't think it will mine, either. It was a good read IMO, but didn't seem to affect me like it has others.
Don't you think that has to do with it being a very american way of faith that is described? I think it affects people living in such a world differently.
Don't you think that has to do with it being a very american way of faith that is described? I think it affects people living in such a world differently.
I'm not sure how I posted this before... I wasn't ready for that!You might be right. I have never had any faith to speak and sweden is a very secular country faithwise so i just wondered since you too live outside US. Since therefore, for my sake at least, afterlife and such are out of the picture to begin with i can't be scared or cheated by a an image that is totally different than what i hope/expect will happen. But it was nevertheless a very scary book.
I'm not sure how I posted this before... I wasn't ready for that!
I don't think NZ has the same kind of fervent following of religion as the U.S, not to say that we don't have some.. just maybe not quite as widespread.
For some reason I wasn't scared by this book, I was worried for the characters (a few of them hooked me in and I was concerned about their fate--there were many parts that made me feel sad/nostalgic) but even the afterlife bit wasn't scary for me. I think perhaps it was because there wasn't much build up to that... I don't know?
I did wonder this at one point and perhaps it is, but maybe it is just more faith based in general? I have been of the belief for some time now, that once we die, all consciousness disappears and that we basically go back to being a part of the earth.
I don't have any preconceived ideas about there being an after-life, so don't feel like I have been cheated out of anything. Mostly though, (and perhaps this is a bit of self preservation and allows me to sleep at night after reading one of his stories) I just reminded myself that it is a work of Fiction and that Stephen is still on this side of the door and so cannot know... therefore, I am safe.
What scares me, to a point, is exactly how much does Steve's "muse" know as it spoke to him when writing this story. What does Steve's "minds eye" see and know what we do not?
Brought up in the Catholic faith- I've been taught what "may" come after death- purgatory, eventually heaven for the good souls, or hell for those who sinned. I know I;ve changed my thinking as I've age and no longer a practicing Catholic. I still believe - have faith- but also go with dust to dust- we become part of what we were before birth.
The way I've always felt about Steve and his muse is that it is entirely him, subconscious or not, he has a brilliant mind and I believe that the stories all come from within himself. I don't believe that he 'knows more than us about the things we cant see/know', just that he is better at conjuring a story about possibilities than the average person. But I don't for a minute believe that just because he can think it... it can make it so.
I understand about your upbringing and how it may have shaped your beliefs. I used to have faith and believe that there was a God (because I was taught that there was) but as time went by, my feelings changed. Partly from new (book) learning but also largely due to the experiences I'd had. I couldn't believe that somebody would be running the show and still be allowing the atrocities to take place--the whole free will thing felt like rubbish to me--things made up by humans, to help humans justify they crap they carried out.
I don't judge people for their beliefs, nobody actually knows what the real truth is... and so long as people let people (just) be--I'm cool with whatever anybody wants to believe.
I did wonder this at one point and perhaps it is, but maybe it is just more faith based in general? I have been of the belief for some time now, that once we die, all consciousness disappears and that we basically go back to being a part of the earth.
I don't have any preconceived ideas about there being an after-life, so don't feel like I have been cheated out of anything. Mostly though, (and perhaps this is a bit of self preservation and allows me to sleep at night after reading one of his stories) I just reminded myself that it is a work of Fiction and that Stephen is still on this side of the door and so cannot know... therefore, I am safe.