An Enjoyable Thrill Ride - Nothing More "The Regulators" is more of a carnival ride than a novel. Richard Bachman (King) has spilled a stream of consciousness story onto the pages and created something more akin to a summer blockbuster film. The premise is slightly silly and most of the characters lack depth, but the action has high energy leaving the reader breathless even if it offers nothing more than a thrill ride.
Bachman swiftly creates a stereotypical suburban neighborhood that is blown apart by television characters come to life from an autistic six year olds imagination gone horribly wrong. Tak, an evil spirit that inhabits the boy's mind, bends innocent imaginative fantasy into deadly mayhem and makes for an interesting protagonist that is never fully explored or explained. In fact character development of any kind would presumably only get in the way of the action, so Bachman relies on stock character cut-outs that we relate to through shared stereotypes (i.e. washed-up hippie, spoiled mother, ex jock...). However, the characters don't really matter much (except for Seth and Audrey) to enjoy the story and are only there to drive the plot, action and violence.
I must admit that for everything wrong with this book I breezed through it and enjoyed every minute (except for some of the passages that told a weak back-story and interrupted the action). "The Regulators" will not be remembered as anything special except that you will remember having a great time reading it.
Meh I just reread this work, the strange companion novel to Stephen King's release "Desperation". Certainly not my favourite Stephen King/Bachman book, but not my least favourite, either.
In high school, we actually read a Stephen King novel in AP English class. My professor's theory is that in the future, King may be an actually famous author, not so much for his works per se, but for the introspection into late 20th-Century life that his characters offer. King's characters are real, normal, human people tossed into unimaginable situations by powers outside their will, and react to them in a typical, mortal way. Cabot (the teacher) maintained it was this fundamental humanity that would eventually lead to King's immortality as a writer: his glimpses into the banal of everyday life, punctuated with the insane.
"The Regulators" is no different in that sense; most of the main characters in this work are indistinguishable from people you could find in any city or town in the United States today, placed in a development beyond what any of us are capable of imagining. Personally, I found some of the side pieces; the scripts and such tossed in between chapters-- more distracting than enlightening, but other than that, the work is solid. My overall rating, in one word, is "meh."
Unique even for SK I read this a few years back when I wasn't reading very often and this one was a pure joy as I recall. I know nothing about the sister novel or whatever, just that this one I found intriguing and entertaining and highly imaginative in the best sense of the word. It's one of King's very unsubtle novels as I remember, not quite as sledgehammer like as Cell but still...
King Satirizes Himself through Bachman I think this King satirizing his own writing style.
All of the things for which the haters criticize him are in this book: gore, ultra-violence, pop references, TV sensibility, shallow characterizations and literally 2D stage sets are here on display.
It's a blast watching King flatten and toy with his own style.
After reading The Regulators, the companion novel Desperation shows what King's full writing is capable of evoking. Together they create a wonderful juxtaposition of styles.
Reading The Regulators and Desperation back to back offers a commentary on two very different perspectives of horror story writing that is entertaining and illuminating.
Desperation Lite The lesser evil twin of "Desperation," a novel I deeply enjoyed in spite of the bad rap it gets from other King fans. Since both novels are steeped in the same mythos, right down to the cast of heroes and villains, they're best enjoyed in close succession. "Desperation" should probably be read first; this novel, although compelling enough in its own right, depends heavily on its twin brother for the unsettling poignancy King's readers expect.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
