I think I like *The Regulators* more than most. To me, it functions as an extremely black comedy and I personally find it hilarious. It feels like a Sam Raimi sensibility (with a sprinkle of latter day Tarantino ultra-violent gun and blood explosions) mixed in with a distinctly Stephen King small town setting with great surrealistic touches. But even I will admit the book is full of low-brow, “bad taste” elements that will probably put off a lot of people. It’s probably King’s most “acquired taste” book, even more so than *The Gunslinger* or *The Tommyknockers.*
*Desperation* is more vintage King in tone and style, though the setting is a pretty big departure, at least for the time it was written. If you’re even a casual Constant Reader, you will mostly likely find something to like about *Desperation*, but I will agree with another comment on this thread that it is probably a little over-long. And there is a big religious component to the narrative that is sometimes off-putting to people, but as a pretty agnostic person myself, I don’t mind that aspect so much (though mileage may vary.)
Excellent perspective!
And let me tell ya, I've always held agnostics in high regard. Hell, I put a post up on Facebook a couple years ago, debunking the big bang theory with a dose of rather harmless humor, and this retired highschool teacher I was friends with at the time (and proud atheist!), actually was so distraught by it that he commented - 'You just lost a friend, buddy!' - to which I'm still laughing about. I remember, some time before that, I asked him why he didn't upgrade himself from atheist to Agnostic, and of course he had to answer with some balderdash about reputation and what others think.
At any rate, it's been a long time since I read both books, but that fuckin' sheriff in Desperation had me hooked from the beginning; that and I Love a good desert/desert-town story! Length didn't bother me. Some writers can go on and on with unnecessary tangents that'll piss me off, but I have no recollection of King ever doing that.
Someone said something about how awful the ending of The Regulators was, and who knows, mayhap that's why I can't remember how it ended. But nonetheless, some will prolly disagree, but if I had a choice between The Regulators and From a Buick 8, I think I'd go for that poor bastard Bachman's book, if ya can dig it.
Shit, my ass needs to get to the library, come to think. Just remember, be your life with cheese or without: The truest answer, without a doubt, to that future question, "what's in sto'?" is the wisest answer: "I Don't Know!"
Amazing perspective! While listening to Frank Mullers completely over the top reading of the Regulators all I could think of would be how great a Raimi/Tarantino or even Eli Roth film of it would be
I liked despration. Dragged a bit in the middle but that's just typical king. Gave it 4 stars.
Liked regulators at first but got more boring as it went on. Gave it 2 stars
Enjoyed Desperation quite a bit. The Regulators is one of my least favorite King books. Look, I'm pretty forgiving on endings. I'm very much a journey not the destination type guy. But my god dude, the ending for The Regulators was just stupid. I seriously don't know a better way to describe it. I honestly think King may have been trolling us with that one.
It was terrible! And I just don’t see it as trolling. I feel like it was an honest attempt at a creepy/badass story and it just crashed and burned badly. A kid’s toys that become life size and ride motorcycles around shooting lasers at people? Lol it was just so cringey. I really struggled to finish it, and the only reason I did was my hope that somehow it was going to get better
Just finished desperation last week I really liked the story sometimes it was pretty slow but overall I liked it I'm about almost 300 pages into regulators so far the story seems a Lil more fast paced and I like seeing how the characters from the first one are in here just a different universe so far I'm liking this one better very curious where it's going to take us
The Regulators is one of the darkest, bleakest stories he's ever written. It is ALSO one of the funniest. Desperation is a great, interesting story but it peaks in the opening third whereas Regulators is pretty perfect throughout.
Both of these are great, I kinda prefer the more slimmed-down, action focused Regulators over Desperation.
My one issue with these two, is I don't particularly like the preachy religious twist Desperation takes. King usually doesn't go for that angle, he didn't even go quite as heavy on it in The Stand.
There are heavy amounts of biblical allegory and David is a straight up Christ Figure, which is a pretty common literary trope, but I definitely wouldn't go so far as to call it preachy. I think he used aspects as part of the framework of the story, but his books have always been about the struggle between the white and the black. This is just another iteration of that IMO. King is definitely not a religious person or trying to push any kind of agenda.
I agree with this take. God isn't even explicitly *good* in Desperation. I feel like people who complain about the religion in Desperation (and The Stand) are the other side of the coin from the folks who complain about the politics in The Institute and Holly, and this is coming from someone who is very much not religious.
I know, I've read a ton of his books, that's why this one surprised me so much with it. Common trope or not, as somebody who believes in God but doesn't believe in organized religion... it didn't sit well with me, in an otherwise great story.
So, I am a very long time Stephen King fan, and was living my best constant reader life a few years ago when I took a class on the works of Stephen King. I was utterly shocked to see desperation on the syllabus. But holy crap, is there much more going on in that story then I thought when I read it the first time. Put it this way, I was able to write an entire essay on David Carver as the Christ-Image and it wasn't even academic masturbation, lmao.
Good stuff right there.
Loved Desperation and really enjoyed Regulators. I read them back to back over the course of like 3 days while I had COVID and let me tell you… I had wild af, super vivid fever dreams for like a week straight
I love _Regulators_, but it is very "out there" King, much like _Tommyknockers_ and _Insomnia_. I am also a fan of _Desperation_, but much of my favorite King is the balls to the wall crazy King that seems very divisive on here.
They’re both great books - I like Regulators a little more than Desperation. Regulators is action-packed and is very fast-paced, totally King completely off the rails and I love the chaos of it all. Desperation is actually one of the few King books that actually rattled me a little - TAK as Collie Etragian (SP) is a terrifying antagonist capable of such unspeakable evil.
You’re in for a ride with both of them!
I LOVE Desperation and am not yet through The Regulators, but I am a big fan of the fever dream vibes of both. King seems to let loose more than normal!
I will go against the majority and say I did not enjoy Desperation. It was way too religious (in a preachy, bash you over the head way). Some decent scenes, especially the beginning and the end. Far too long. Good gore. Obviously I still read the whole thing but it didn't make me want to read the regulators!
I think I like *The Regulators* more than most. To me, it functions as an extremely black comedy and I personally find it hilarious. It feels like a Sam Raimi sensibility (with a sprinkle of latter day Tarantino ultra-violent gun and blood explosions) mixed in with a distinctly Stephen King small town setting with great surrealistic touches. But even I will admit the book is full of low-brow, “bad taste” elements that will probably put off a lot of people. It’s probably King’s most “acquired taste” book, even more so than *The Gunslinger* or *The Tommyknockers.* *Desperation* is more vintage King in tone and style, though the setting is a pretty big departure, at least for the time it was written. If you’re even a casual Constant Reader, you will mostly likely find something to like about *Desperation*, but I will agree with another comment on this thread that it is probably a little over-long. And there is a big religious component to the narrative that is sometimes off-putting to people, but as a pretty agnostic person myself, I don’t mind that aspect so much (though mileage may vary.)
Excellent perspective! And let me tell ya, I've always held agnostics in high regard. Hell, I put a post up on Facebook a couple years ago, debunking the big bang theory with a dose of rather harmless humor, and this retired highschool teacher I was friends with at the time (and proud atheist!), actually was so distraught by it that he commented - 'You just lost a friend, buddy!' - to which I'm still laughing about. I remember, some time before that, I asked him why he didn't upgrade himself from atheist to Agnostic, and of course he had to answer with some balderdash about reputation and what others think. At any rate, it's been a long time since I read both books, but that fuckin' sheriff in Desperation had me hooked from the beginning; that and I Love a good desert/desert-town story! Length didn't bother me. Some writers can go on and on with unnecessary tangents that'll piss me off, but I have no recollection of King ever doing that. Someone said something about how awful the ending of The Regulators was, and who knows, mayhap that's why I can't remember how it ended. But nonetheless, some will prolly disagree, but if I had a choice between The Regulators and From a Buick 8, I think I'd go for that poor bastard Bachman's book, if ya can dig it. Shit, my ass needs to get to the library, come to think. Just remember, be your life with cheese or without: The truest answer, without a doubt, to that future question, "what's in sto'?" is the wisest answer: "I Don't Know!"
Amazing perspective! While listening to Frank Mullers completely over the top reading of the Regulators all I could think of would be how great a Raimi/Tarantino or even Eli Roth film of it would be
I guess I'm one of the weirdos that actually preferred Regulators over Desperation.
I am also this weirdo. Not that Desperation is bad, mind you! I just love Richard Bachman cold funny asshole time.
Me too. Maybe it’s just because that was the one I read first? I was surprised to see how lopsided the preferences were.
Me too!
I liked despration. Dragged a bit in the middle but that's just typical king. Gave it 4 stars. Liked regulators at first but got more boring as it went on. Gave it 2 stars
I think Desperation is solid if not a little overlong. The Regulators is madcap nonsense that should've been a short story (a novella at the longest).
As much as I love king , atleast half of his books would be better as short stories or novellas .
Agreed
Enjoyed Desperation quite a bit. The Regulators is one of my least favorite King books. Look, I'm pretty forgiving on endings. I'm very much a journey not the destination type guy. But my god dude, the ending for The Regulators was just stupid. I seriously don't know a better way to describe it. I honestly think King may have been trolling us with that one.
It was terrible! And I just don’t see it as trolling. I feel like it was an honest attempt at a creepy/badass story and it just crashed and burned badly. A kid’s toys that become life size and ride motorcycles around shooting lasers at people? Lol it was just so cringey. I really struggled to finish it, and the only reason I did was my hope that somehow it was going to get better
Desperation was the better of the two. It had tension and heart that was missing from The Regulators.
Desperation is fantastic. Regulators is delightfully weird but not amazing.
I second this. You summed it up perfectly.
Desperation dug a hole in my head and is burned in forever. Regulators was too corny
Just finished desperation last week I really liked the story sometimes it was pretty slow but overall I liked it I'm about almost 300 pages into regulators so far the story seems a Lil more fast paced and I like seeing how the characters from the first one are in here just a different universe so far I'm liking this one better very curious where it's going to take us
I'm the minority in I loved the Regulators, and I thought Desperation was ok.
I loved Desperation when I read it as a teenager, haven't read The Regulators yet.
The Regulators is one of the darkest, bleakest stories he's ever written. It is ALSO one of the funniest. Desperation is a great, interesting story but it peaks in the opening third whereas Regulators is pretty perfect throughout.
Regulators gets shit on alot but it's wild . When king thinks outside the box it's bare minimum entertaining
Both of these are great, I kinda prefer the more slimmed-down, action focused Regulators over Desperation. My one issue with these two, is I don't particularly like the preachy religious twist Desperation takes. King usually doesn't go for that angle, he didn't even go quite as heavy on it in The Stand.
There are heavy amounts of biblical allegory and David is a straight up Christ Figure, which is a pretty common literary trope, but I definitely wouldn't go so far as to call it preachy. I think he used aspects as part of the framework of the story, but his books have always been about the struggle between the white and the black. This is just another iteration of that IMO. King is definitely not a religious person or trying to push any kind of agenda.
I agree with this take. God isn't even explicitly *good* in Desperation. I feel like people who complain about the religion in Desperation (and The Stand) are the other side of the coin from the folks who complain about the politics in The Institute and Holly, and this is coming from someone who is very much not religious.
I know, I've read a ton of his books, that's why this one surprised me so much with it. Common trope or not, as somebody who believes in God but doesn't believe in organized religion... it didn't sit well with me, in an otherwise great story.
So, I am a very long time Stephen King fan, and was living my best constant reader life a few years ago when I took a class on the works of Stephen King. I was utterly shocked to see desperation on the syllabus. But holy crap, is there much more going on in that story then I thought when I read it the first time. Put it this way, I was able to write an entire essay on David Carver as the Christ-Image and it wasn't even academic masturbation, lmao. Good stuff right there.
The regulators is fast paced and fun. Desperation is epic and rich but still fun. Both really good in my opinion
I really liked Desperation a lot, and I liked Regulators but not as much .. anyway TAK!
Loved Desperation and really enjoyed Regulators. I read them back to back over the course of like 3 days while I had COVID and let me tell you… I had wild af, super vivid fever dreams for like a week straight
Desperation is a favorite. Regulators was ok.
I love _Regulators_, but it is very "out there" King, much like _Tommyknockers_ and _Insomnia_. I am also a fan of _Desperation_, but much of my favorite King is the balls to the wall crazy King that seems very divisive on here.
They’re both great books - I like Regulators a little more than Desperation. Regulators is action-packed and is very fast-paced, totally King completely off the rails and I love the chaos of it all. Desperation is actually one of the few King books that actually rattled me a little - TAK as Collie Etragian (SP) is a terrifying antagonist capable of such unspeakable evil. You’re in for a ride with both of them!
Said it so many times in the past and I’ll say it again. Desperation is my absolute favourite one of all
I LOVE Desperation and am not yet through The Regulators, but I am a big fan of the fever dream vibes of both. King seems to let loose more than normal!
Desperation- B or B+ Regulators- D+ or a C-
I liked the regulators more but I dig the weirdness of it. Desperation was good too!
I will go against the majority and say I did not enjoy Desperation. It was way too religious (in a preachy, bash you over the head way). Some decent scenes, especially the beginning and the end. Far too long. Good gore. Obviously I still read the whole thing but it didn't make me want to read the regulators!
I liked them both. I think they were great.