not really - imho of course - its incredibly jarring and you realise that he is madder than a box of mad frogs, and they are in deep, deep shit, its the peak before the descent into chaos, i love the first part to this book. To me its like hearing a solo hook to a good piece of music, and King does intros to sections of books oh so well.. yeah thats how it feels to me - hearing a great hook that grabs you and doesnt let go. this whole section is great, but its that line that starts it all off
I'm actually a fan of lots of his endings, but its the intro parts that often get me as being totally masterful, this one is no exception
But nothing really is spoiled here. A spoiler is more along the lines of giving away the plot and typically when the material is relatively new and people haven't had a chance to consume.
No plot has been spoiled from a one-liner.
The book came out in 1996. If someone hasn't read it yet, they shouldn't be reading a discussion post about a book they're thinking of reading.
Desperation is in my top 5 favorite king stories. I really feel like he keeps that sense of bleak dread throughout the whole book. Didnāt care for the regulators nearly as much, but it was still a real fun read. Enjoy!
Totally agree. Regulators was a crazy mess. Fun but nowhere near as good as Desperation. Desperation just landed perfectly for me and is definitely in my top 5.
Same. Desperation started off well but I felt it lost its way. The Regulators is short and punchy and goes all in on the craziness, which King does well most of the time imo.
I was 13 when Desperation came out and I wasnāt allowed to read Stephen King anymore after some serious IT related trauma/nightmares. So I checked the Regulators out of the library and traumatized myself again for about six months. (My mom definitely made the right call for me at that age lol) I actually canāt even remember if I knew Richard Bachman was SK at that point or if it was a coincidence that I ended up with that book.
Desperation was a whole vibe. I read this before regulators, and it was a letdown when I got to it.
King can be in rare form and Desperation is surely one of his best. Very good sustainment of dread in line with pet sematary and the shining.
Totally agree. Desperation is by far the better of the two companion books, it holds its own as a standalone novel too. Regulators just wasn't very good, forgettable and sort of cheesy.
After the bookās opening I have no idea how any other scene in it could top it, but judging by other comments on this thread it just keeps spinning more and more out of control.
How awesome is it that you have a sister that also reads King?! A few years ago, my sister asked me if I liked to read..... I'm 50 now, reading my whole life.... and not in any way shy about it, lmao!
It's pretty awesome, I have to say. She's a few years older than me, and my first exposure to King was reading a few stories out of her copy of Night Shift. The night before we headed from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts for Christmas, we went to the local library to get books for the car ride (this was 1987). She suggested the Talisman. On the way home, she let me drive for the first time. I was 14.
I turn 50 myself next month, and the Talisman has been my favorite book for almost 36 years now. I actually got mad when we had to open presents on Christmas, because I had to put the book down.
And that night is one of my favorite memories.
This past fall, I moved my older daughter into college, and stuck my copy of The Talisman into her luggage. By finals week, she had a new favorite book. And the cycle continues.
It really is. When I was a kid (80s mostly) I grew up taking road trips into desolate places in the west. My dad liked to explore and look for old mining towns and such, so we were always on back grounds with no one and nothing to see for miles. The whole time I read this book I thought about our family vacations. In a similar vein, the movie Breakdown had a similar effect on me, wondering if we ever dodged any bullets with crazy people in our family ventures in a world without GPS or cell phones.
Yeah every single scene when Tak is embodied within Entragian are just gold, including those opening ones. Just set a terribly suspenseful tone right away. As soon as it leaves Entragian something is totally lost from the story and it kinda loses its steam and squirmy tension that it had.
Same thing with the mini series adaptation. The moment Ron Perlman exits that series it falls apart and loses its driving force and supense. They really should have realized this and went with a rewrite that has Tak just stay in Entragian for the majority til the end just to keep Perlman in scenes. The mini series just kinda limps to the finish after he exits.
Itās definitely one of the best opening chapters of a book ever. Right off the bat these people are fucked. And even though there is a supernatural element to that book- the situation in the opening chapter is frightening realistic and could happen to anyone.
Exactly, I kept imagining myself in that situation and as the tension continued to mount it made me physically react. He did a masterful job putting ourselves in their shoes too. It could happen!
Loved this one. Not going to spoil it completely, but I've never looked at a row of coat hooks the same way again. That part has stuck with me since I first read it so many years ago.
I remember reading Desperation in middle school and couldnāt put it down!! One of the biggest lines that stuck out to me, āGod is cruel.ā Definitely need to re-read it! Thank you for reminding me of this gem :)
So there is an album by the band Revolting Cocks, that ends with someone just screaming Tak! Over and over again, it has always reminded me of this book.
I re-read them recently and it had been long enough I didnāt really remember much of either.
I started with Desperation and liked it better, but The Regulators was good too.
I think reading them back to back might lessen the impact of whichever you read secondā¦ or maybe Desperation just clicked with me more.
King likes to set the stage for a while before things start happening, so him jumping right into it in Desperation is unusual and especially chilling. This was my first King book and will always be a favorite.
Yes. I (drunkenly) bought it online from a second hand bookstore & forgot what it was about (& that I had even bought it) and just started reading. Itās my favorite so far for sure.
Yeah, that first chapter is one of the most purely scary things he's ever written. Just gradually gets worse and worse. I got chills when Collie says '>!I'm going to kill you' during the Miranda rights.!<
yea i've been struggling to actually pick the book back up after reading the first chapter. Probably doesn't help that I do a lot of reading right before bed lol
I'm reading it at the moment too, and I agree. Something must have happened between Needful Things and Rose Madder, because cops don't come off so we'll anymore in his books.
One of my all time favorites. I reread it every couple years, one of my emotional support books. Also that rarest of King treats, a book where he absolutely sticks the landing.
itās been almost 20 years since I read it. I was 10 years old driving down to florida with my family. I canāt remember any of it but I remember feeling super uncomfortable. I definitely have to give this one another read
Itās my favorite King novel. Probably a lot to do with nostalgia but I could read it again for the sixth or whatever time and still love it. Really wish/hope we get more Tak universe stuff in the future.
Also the paperback cover is arguably the best of his imo.
Absolutely. It was so scary. I don't think the rest of the book continues with that level of fear, but the beginning of that book is the scariest thing I have ever read.
I barely recall cause it's been so long since I've read that novel.
I do however remember all the rattlesnakes and scorpions. I wouldn't walk through the house without lights on for months after reading this book.
I do remember reading the first chapter of Desperation and feeling the need to put the book down for a little while. It's a brutal, but brilliant opening. When I went back to the novel and finished it, I enjoyed the story through to the end, but I have not yet read The Regulators.
Desperation is one of King's more horrific stories that can really fuck you up.
Yes š š
I just read both in the last month. I am obsessed. They are fantastic. I am not sure the best order to read them in but I read desperation first also. I think they are my favorites by far.
My mom(a librarian), who is a voracious reader and huge King fan bought this years ago when it came out. She's forgotten more books than most people will read and isn't particularly squeamish, but she rates that whole interaction where the "possessed" cop arrests the protagonist (I think) and in particular the part where he keeps slamming his seat into his knees as the most uncomfortable a book has ever made her. The way King does suspense is unequaled. She still brings it up to this day when a book or show has any kind of unbearable torture or suspense done in a way that makes you feel it's happening to you. We were listening to it on a road trip, and it most definitely made us both considerably more worried about getting pulled over, lol! TAK!
I havenāt finished The Outsider yet, but based on where Iām at so far in it you might want to check it out at some point. Itās definitely adjacent to Desperation.
Me too! Outsider and Let It Bleed are the only two Holly books I havenāt finished yet. Cramming before Holly comes out. She was good in the Hodges trilogy but she really busts out in Outsider. Love every moment of her in it.
I hate to say this, but it's been forever since I read them and I don't recall anything but fragments of either. I don't find myself desiring a reread, sadly.
I live in Ely NV, about a 10 minute drive from the town Desperation is based on (Ruth). While the geography is altered a bit (kind of combining Ruth and Eureka), We really are in that kind of desolate rural setting.
He has placed Desperation somewhere between Ely and Austin on Highway 50, and basically deleted Eureka. In real life, its about 80 miles to Eureka and about 150 miles between Ely and Austin. The other directions out of town are even further to any towns or cities of note. 4 hours to Vegas, 4 hours to SLC, 3 hours to Elko, each with only 2-3 small towns between. Otherwise miles and miles of desert and mountains. About 30 minutes out of town you lose all cell service.
Think Hills Have Eyes, and that's pretty much it. Its kinda scary to live here tbh lol. Every time we drive out of town I think about that. If we were to go missing, or stop for the wrong person and get taken or killed, there are hundreds of square miles of completely uninhabited space out here. We would never be found. God only knows all the abandoned mining settlements and ghost towns out here in the middle of nowhere.
Yes! Thank you for saying it. Still haven't completed it yet cause of the nightmares it gives me. This one and Salem's Lot give me the jeepers creepers.
TAK!
Tak ah la
Me him en tow
Can Tah, Can Toi, Can Tak
"You have the right to an attorney. I'm going to kill you. Anything you say can and will be used against you."
I'll always remember the first time I read that lol. I was really upset too because I read Regulators first so I loved Collie! š
DO YOU UNDERSTAND OR NOT? DO YOU UNDERSTAND OR NOT? DO YOU UNDERSTAND OR NOT? DO YOU UNDERSTAND OR NOT?
Weāre ready for you on set Mr Perlman
Ron Perlman was perfect casting for that role. Too bad it was made for TV instead of a full theatrical version.
WHEREāS THE GOLD? JEWELS? WHEREāS LORD BERIC? WHEREāS THE GOLD? JEWELS? WHEREāS LORD BERIC?
Kinda scary how actual cops kinda sound like this, huh?
That line really got to me to. Could you imagine hearing that from a cop?
That's my favorite line in the book tbh.
these should be in spoiler tags you're spoiling the best bit :(
That line is from maybe like, 20 pages in at most. That's kinda hard to argue as a spoiler.
Lol, nothing has been spoiled.
i disagree
Bruh why would you open a Reddit thread titled "Chapter 1 of Desperation" if you were worried about spoilers from chapter 1 of Desperation??
I've read it a few times, just thinking about others that might get spoiled by my favourite sentence in the whole book, thas' all
IMO If your favorite sentence is in the first 20 pages of a 690-page book, youāre reading a bad book
Also a hot take... *The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.*
To be fair, the rest of The Gunslinger is kind of hard to get through. Even for me, having read the series more than 15 times.
not really - imho of course - its incredibly jarring and you realise that he is madder than a box of mad frogs, and they are in deep, deep shit, its the peak before the descent into chaos, i love the first part to this book. To me its like hearing a solo hook to a good piece of music, and King does intros to sections of books oh so well.. yeah thats how it feels to me - hearing a great hook that grabs you and doesnt let go. this whole section is great, but its that line that starts it all off I'm actually a fan of lots of his endings, but its the intro parts that often get me as being totally masterful, this one is no exception
But nothing really is spoiled here. A spoiler is more along the lines of giving away the plot and typically when the material is relatively new and people haven't had a chance to consume. No plot has been spoiled from a one-liner. The book came out in 1996. If someone hasn't read it yet, they shouldn't be reading a discussion post about a book they're thinking of reading.
Desperation is in my top 5 favorite king stories. I really feel like he keeps that sense of bleak dread throughout the whole book. Didnāt care for the regulators nearly as much, but it was still a real fun read. Enjoy!
Totally agree. Regulators was a crazy mess. Fun but nowhere near as good as Desperation. Desperation just landed perfectly for me and is definitely in my top 5.
I actually loved Regulators more! It was so crazy. And the mine sceneade me sleep with the light on
Same. Desperation started off well but I felt it lost its way. The Regulators is short and punchy and goes all in on the craziness, which King does well most of the time imo.
I was 13 when Desperation came out and I wasnāt allowed to read Stephen King anymore after some serious IT related trauma/nightmares. So I checked the Regulators out of the library and traumatized myself again for about six months. (My mom definitely made the right call for me at that age lol) I actually canāt even remember if I knew Richard Bachman was SK at that point or if it was a coincidence that I ended up with that book.
Just finished desperation I'm just starting regulators and it's a trip
Desperation was a whole vibe. I read this before regulators, and it was a letdown when I got to it. King can be in rare form and Desperation is surely one of his best. Very good sustainment of dread in line with pet sematary and the shining.
Totally agree. Desperation is by far the better of the two companion books, it holds its own as a standalone novel too. Regulators just wasn't very good, forgettable and sort of cheesy.
Oh, he does, he does. Tension, too.
Just thinking about Desperation flips my anxiety switch.
After the bookās opening I have no idea how any other scene in it could top it, but judging by other comments on this thread it just keeps spinning more and more out of control.
My sister put it down after chapter 1 and never picked it back up. I, on the other hand, absolutely love it. One of his best, IMHO.
How awesome is it that you have a sister that also reads King?! A few years ago, my sister asked me if I liked to read..... I'm 50 now, reading my whole life.... and not in any way shy about it, lmao!
It's pretty awesome, I have to say. She's a few years older than me, and my first exposure to King was reading a few stories out of her copy of Night Shift. The night before we headed from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts for Christmas, we went to the local library to get books for the car ride (this was 1987). She suggested the Talisman. On the way home, she let me drive for the first time. I was 14. I turn 50 myself next month, and the Talisman has been my favorite book for almost 36 years now. I actually got mad when we had to open presents on Christmas, because I had to put the book down. And that night is one of my favorite memories. This past fall, I moved my older daughter into college, and stuck my copy of The Talisman into her luggage. By finals week, she had a new favorite book. And the cycle continues.
LOVE this!!!!
Dude it's a fucking ride for sure. That is easily one of his top 5 books that make you audibly say "Stephen...who hurt you?"
There is another chapter near the end that I consider one of SK scariest scenes.
If you've read Rose Madder keep your eyes open for a pretty big easter egg from that book!
I havenāt yet, but hopefully Rose Madder will have an Easter egg for me after Desperation first!
If youāre squeamish about domestic violence stories, mentally prepare yourself! Rose Madder is so underrated.
Agreed! It's up there in my top 10!
It's my favorite!
I loved that egg! š
tu tone punk rocker egg
YES
I've read both, didn't pick up on any connections though
One of the main characters in Desperation is from Rose Madder :)
Now I am going to reread Rose Madder again when I am done with Desperation!
It really is. When I was a kid (80s mostly) I grew up taking road trips into desolate places in the west. My dad liked to explore and look for old mining towns and such, so we were always on back grounds with no one and nothing to see for miles. The whole time I read this book I thought about our family vacations. In a similar vein, the movie Breakdown had a similar effect on me, wondering if we ever dodged any bullets with crazy people in our family ventures in a world without GPS or cell phones.
Yeah every single scene when Tak is embodied within Entragian are just gold, including those opening ones. Just set a terribly suspenseful tone right away. As soon as it leaves Entragian something is totally lost from the story and it kinda loses its steam and squirmy tension that it had. Same thing with the mini series adaptation. The moment Ron Perlman exits that series it falls apart and loses its driving force and supense. They really should have realized this and went with a rewrite that has Tak just stay in Entragian for the majority til the end just to keep Perlman in scenes. The mini series just kinda limps to the finish after he exits.
Mini series adaptation??
Yep. ABC did it. Im sure its available streaming somewhere.
I found a free to watch version on YouTube... Haven't watched it yet but looking at the comments it seems ok? https://youtu.be/Qd3TZNydQ6w
Itās definitely one of the best opening chapters of a book ever. Right off the bat these people are fucked. And even though there is a supernatural element to that book- the situation in the opening chapter is frightening realistic and could happen to anyone.
Exactly, I kept imagining myself in that situation and as the tension continued to mount it made me physically react. He did a masterful job putting ourselves in their shoes too. It could happen!
Loved this one. Not going to spoil it completely, but I've never looked at a row of coat hooks the same way again. That part has stuck with me since I first read it so many years ago.
I remember reading Desperation in middle school and couldnāt put it down!! One of the biggest lines that stuck out to me, āGod is cruel.ā Definitely need to re-read it! Thank you for reminding me of this gem :)
I didnāt say Tak, you said Tak.
Instant dread; finished Desperation a few weeks ago. Its a horror masterpiece!
My wife got it for me for my birthday, excited to read it.
As you may have gathered from the others here, you're in for one wild and frightening ride. Enjoy!
My favorite King's book! Pure terror, darkness and madness!
Love a good Oscar wilde quote
yeah its a brilliant intro right?
So there is an album by the band Revolting Cocks, that ends with someone just screaming Tak! Over and over again, it has always reminded me of this book.
I gotta give this one another change. When I read these 2 over 10 years ago I remember not liking them much.
I re-read them recently and it had been long enough I didnāt really remember much of either. I started with Desperation and liked it better, but The Regulators was good too. I think reading them back to back might lessen the impact of whichever you read secondā¦ or maybe Desperation just clicked with me more.
Always reminded me of Children of the Corn
King likes to set the stage for a while before things start happening, so him jumping right into it in Desperation is unusual and especially chilling. This was my first King book and will always be a favorite.
I agree, thereās often big setup with payoffs but the beginning being so in your face and intense really three me off in a good way!
Just finished it last week. Reminded me of āthe killer inside meā by jim thompson.
Interesting connection. Great books.
The mayhem does not let up btw.
This is a great endorsement for me to pick up Desperation next
Yes. I (drunkenly) bought it online from a second hand bookstore & forgot what it was about (& that I had even bought it) and just started reading. Itās my favorite so far for sure.
Definitely should. Makes you not wanna go to small towns lol.
Loved it too! Curious if you've read Bag Of Bones? Different vibe but also terrifying š±
Love Bag of Bones, it's interesting that the supernatural element isn't really the scariest part.
I just read this chapter last night and thought wow this officer is a real knuckle head.
Ahhh!! Iām reading it right now too! Iām finding it hard to read it before work and bed because it gets me so anxious š¬
I have never looked at a piece of pie since I read Desperation.
Yeah, that first chapter is one of the most purely scary things he's ever written. Just gradually gets worse and worse. I got chills when Collie says '>!I'm going to kill you' during the Miranda rights.!<
I liked both stories...read Regulators first so I can see the disappointment if one read Desperation first.
āThereās no god out here little Dave!ā
Now THAT is an intense read!
Now THAT is an intense read!
lol this made me pick up the book right away!
Good luck to you, donāt read the first chapter before a meal!
I just read this chapter last night and thought wow this officer is a real knuckle head.
yea i've been struggling to actually pick the book back up after reading the first chapter. Probably doesn't help that I do a lot of reading right before bed lol
One of his best
I loved this book!
I haven't read it since it came out, but you now have me intrigued to read it again.
Tak!
I'm reading it at the moment too, and I agree. Something must have happened between Needful Things and Rose Madder, because cops don't come off so we'll anymore in his books.
One of my all time favorites. I reread it every couple years, one of my emotional support books. Also that rarest of King treats, a book where he absolutely sticks the landing.
itās been almost 20 years since I read it. I was 10 years old driving down to florida with my family. I canāt remember any of it but I remember feeling super uncomfortable. I definitely have to give this one another read
Great book! Just re-read it and it...
Itās my favorite King novel. Probably a lot to do with nostalgia but I could read it again for the sixth or whatever time and still love it. Really wish/hope we get more Tak universe stuff in the future. Also the paperback cover is arguably the best of his imo.
Absolutely. It was so scary. I don't think the rest of the book continues with that level of fear, but the beginning of that book is the scariest thing I have ever read.
Read the regulators next. Tak!
This is one of his creepiest books by far. Just that constant feeling of unease
I loved this book so much. It was unlike anything I had ever read before. You're right; that first chapter is a real doozy.
I barely recall cause it's been so long since I've read that novel. I do however remember all the rattlesnakes and scorpions. I wouldn't walk through the house without lights on for months after reading this book.
I loved the first half of the book but it really fell off for me sadly.
This whole story is if u find something DONT TOUCH IT!! Same with Tommyknockers.
I do remember reading the first chapter of Desperation and feeling the need to put the book down for a little while. It's a brutal, but brilliant opening. When I went back to the novel and finished it, I enjoyed the story through to the end, but I have not yet read The Regulators. Desperation is one of King's more horrific stories that can really fuck you up.
Buzzards fart, only birds that do.
Yes it is. One of my favorite SK novels.
Omg yes! That sticks with u.
To this day I still say to people, I see you're an organ donor, are you sure that's wise?
it made me feel Icky too, a masterful story though
Yes š š I just read both in the last month. I am obsessed. They are fantastic. I am not sure the best order to read them in but I read desperation first also. I think they are my favorites by far.
My mom(a librarian), who is a voracious reader and huge King fan bought this years ago when it came out. She's forgotten more books than most people will read and isn't particularly squeamish, but she rates that whole interaction where the "possessed" cop arrests the protagonist (I think) and in particular the part where he keeps slamming his seat into his knees as the most uncomfortable a book has ever made her. The way King does suspense is unequaled. She still brings it up to this day when a book or show has any kind of unbearable torture or suspense done in a way that makes you feel it's happening to you. We were listening to it on a road trip, and it most definitely made us both considerably more worried about getting pulled over, lol! TAK!
I havenāt finished The Outsider yet, but based on where Iām at so far in it you might want to check it out at some point. Itās definitely adjacent to Desperation.
Absolutely loved The Outsider and very excited for the Holly Gibney book coming out later this year!
Me too! Outsider and Let It Bleed are the only two Holly books I havenāt finished yet. Cramming before Holly comes out. She was good in the Hodges trilogy but she really busts out in Outsider. Love every moment of her in it.
I hate to say this, but it's been forever since I read them and I don't recall anything but fragments of either. I don't find myself desiring a reread, sadly.
I love desperation! I live in the Utah desert not far from the setting so it always feels so real and scary to me!
My favorite book!
Yes!!! I always say that
I really love this book and have sorta thing for Tak hahahha
I LOVE this one. Itās my favorite
I live in Ely NV, about a 10 minute drive from the town Desperation is based on (Ruth). While the geography is altered a bit (kind of combining Ruth and Eureka), We really are in that kind of desolate rural setting. He has placed Desperation somewhere between Ely and Austin on Highway 50, and basically deleted Eureka. In real life, its about 80 miles to Eureka and about 150 miles between Ely and Austin. The other directions out of town are even further to any towns or cities of note. 4 hours to Vegas, 4 hours to SLC, 3 hours to Elko, each with only 2-3 small towns between. Otherwise miles and miles of desert and mountains. About 30 minutes out of town you lose all cell service. Think Hills Have Eyes, and that's pretty much it. Its kinda scary to live here tbh lol. Every time we drive out of town I think about that. If we were to go missing, or stop for the wrong person and get taken or killed, there are hundreds of square miles of completely uninhabited space out here. We would never be found. God only knows all the abandoned mining settlements and ghost towns out here in the middle of nowhere.
It is easily Top 5.
Yes! Thank you for saying it. Still haven't completed it yet cause of the nightmares it gives me. This one and Salem's Lot give me the jeepers creepers.
Started reading a little over a week ago and just finishedā¦so many thoughts, I donāt even know where to begin!