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The Revelations Paperback – 2 Feb 2012

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Alex Preston (Author)
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Alex Preston (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars 22 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Faber & Faber; Main edition (2 Feb. 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0571277586
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571277582
  • Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 2.5 x 23.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,008,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Alex Preston's debut novel, This Bleeding City, was published to high acclaim in 2010. It was the first really successful credit crunch novel ... the creepy mindset of David Nightingale, who sets out to dominate a group of young and middle-aged people like an American cult leader, makes for a very gripping story ... compulsively readable ... I was electrified by the oddity of all the characters. At times especially when they are all together on the retreat I thought of Iris Murdoch's 1958 novel The Bell, about a collection of religious weirdos, and wondered whether Preston would do for the evangelicals of 2012 what Murdoch had done for the tormented high church homosexuals.' --A.N. Wilson, Financial Times

'This is a cleverly conceived novel, pitched between commercial and literary. It's intensely readable and feels honest and authentic in its intentions and execution ... Preston's characters may be preachy (although they have serious misgivings about whether they believe in what they're saying) but the novelist himself is not. He lets us form our own conclusions about who is to blame for what. This book is intelligently questioning and analytical about religion generally and Christianity specifically.' Viv Groskop, Observer --Viv Groskop, Observer

'This is a dark, enticing story with echoes of Donna Tartt's The Secret History. It is well paced and gripping throughout, even in the difficult middle where a lot of books falter. This is the work of a talented writer with much more to come.' --Bookmunch.co.uk

Book Description

The new novel from the author of the critically acclaimed This Bleeding City

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 starsBanal
By Devlin Mitchell on 5 Feb. 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This sounded like a really interesting idea for a book in the reviews I read. It sounded like an interesting read. (I am not religious, which is irrelevant to this review other than to note that I have no axe to grind in any direction in this review).

However this has to be one of the poorest books I have read in recent years. The characters are flat, lifeless and predictable. The scenes are flat, lifeless and predictable - and extended by many tedious flashbacks which drain yet more immediacy from the action.

Two thirds of the way through, no discernible plot had been uncovered. When the plot did finally come lumbering into view it was totally predictable. At a number of points I felt I must have been reading John Crace's Digested Read version in the Guardian, such was the parodic weight of the writing - but if only I had been, it all would have been over so much sooner!
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1.0 out of 5 starsIncompetent?
By John Lacy on 5 May 2012
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Perhaps his first novel was a lot better. I do hope so, otherwise I shall lose whatever respect I still have for those who bestow literary awards. If this author was selected for Waterstones New Voices 2010, then I shall stick to reading the works of the "old voices" and continue to buy my books from Amazon!
I thought this novel was so bad that it was almost incompetent.From page one onwards I was embarrassed by the author's lack of imagination and originality in terms of descriptive style, narrative and, most of all, character observation. Apart from the women, every character in this book wore chinos and a white shirt (or maybe a blue one!). Every character smoked and "flicked" his cigarette stub out of the window, into the river etc etc (descriptive device endlessly repeated throughout the book). Every character seemed to get drunk with every other character at every spare moment and/or was having sex. Promiscuous sexual behaviour was central in the development of the character of Lee who, for me, turned out to be the only character with any depth in the book. However, the contrived and repetitious, and sometimes gratuitous, nature of the sex scenes actually detracted from the importance of this theme in the novel. Likewise, the endlessly repeated rounds of drinking and smoking left me, at the end of the novel, with a sense of despair at the superficiality and meaninglessness of the lives of these characters, which, of course, made such a mockery of their so called "faith".

Or am I missing the point? Did our author deliberately parody the empty, banal, faithless lives of the pitiably flat characters of his novel?Read more ›
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1.0 out of 5 starsNot very revealing
By Mlungu on 14 Mar. 2012
Format: Kindle Edition
This was a very dissapointing book, which takes its premise from a conspiratorial theme, hinged (or rather unhinged) around a power hungry priest and a very dodgy mafia like sponsor, who manipulates a group of (Alpha) Course leaders and leads them down a destructive path. A rather bland and one sided story of a christian marketing lie. When compared against the best of spiritual literature, where earnest searching for truth or an authentic inner life (with all its doubts, struggles and human frailties) is explored, this book fails miserably; even more so given the rich pickings the church or any institutionalised religion offers. Give it a miss and read something intellectually honest and substantial.
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2.0 out of 5 starsUnrealistic
By R. Carvel on 6 Dec. 2012
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
If you think that all Christians are hypocrites and the Alpha Course is a cult, then this is the book for you. However, if you are more realistic in your outlook then the shortcomings of this book will probably annoy you as much as they annoyed me.

The book follows the lives of four young (late 20s) Christians who are helping run 'The Course' for the first time. They are all musicians and the band they play in (at The Course) is known as 'The Revelations', hence the title of the book. The Course itself is clearly a fictionalised and exaggerated version of the Alpha Course, a popular introduction to Christianity course run by many churches in the UK and beyond. However, in the book, 'The Course' is clearly much more of a cult-like entity rather than being merely an entry point into mainstream evangelical Christianity. Indeed, one of the characters in the book refers to The Course as being a cult.

The book is clearly written by someone who is not a Christian and has issues with Christianity. I've been through an Alpha Course, and been involved with leadership in other similar courses, and as a consequence, the behind-the-scenes bits in this book simply do not ring true at all. Course leaders do not behave like this, talk like that, pray like that or sing worship songs like that. Basically, the Course in the book is so much of a caricature that it is unreal.

I know that not all Christians are perfect and honourable, but I can't believe in the scenario given here where all four characters leading the Course are hypocrites, liars, sexually promiscuous (with course attendees) and get drunk (again with course attendees) all the time. While you do get people like that in Churches, generally they are not invited to lead worship or evangelism groups.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsKind but sharp-eyed view of pietistic religiosity

Good read - we feel the appeal of the course, especially to people formed in an elitist world view, but we also see its limitations from the inside out

Published 13 months ago by A. Wilson
1.0 out of 5 starsDreadful

Dreadful nonsense. I am only bothering to give this one star because I did manage to finish it!!! In the first two thirds of the book nothing g of any moment happens and there is... Read more

Published 20 months ago by Richie
3.0 out of 5 starsNot As Exciting As The Reviews Made Out

I read this one when on holidays. I like a book that I find difficult to put down but this was not one of those. Read more

Published on 26 Oct. 2013 by Enda McLarnon
3.0 out of 5 starsSTRUGGLE TO COMPLETE

I found this novel rather boring,for me it never seemed to get going.I could not identify with the characters,and I did not really see the point of what they were doing-religion on... Read more

Published on 15 April 2013 by bibliophile
1.0 out of 5 starsA missed opportunity

Was intrigued by the premise of this book and was hopeful that it would provide a helpful insight into the challenge of living out a faith centred life in the 21st century. Read more

Published on 3 April 2013 by Paul Stokes
1.0 out of 5 starsBored

Got this for 99p, glad I didn't pay more. Too long, predictable, get something else. I didn't care about any of the characters. The writer, apparently is a critic, hmm....

Published on 16 Mar. 2013 by paj
2.0 out of 5 starsUnbelievable characters, dull plot and an axe to grind.

I used to be a part of HTB and indeed work for Alpha, so when I heard about this book I thought it looked like a really interesting read, perhaps a little glimpse into how some... Read more

Published on 19 Feb. 2013 by N Walsh
2.0 out of 5 starsDull

Poorly written characters with no depth and slow plot line. Sounded good but was very disappointing. Do not recommend to anyone.

Published on 18 Dec. 2012 by Slim
3.0 out of 5 starsmusings on faith and evangelical belief

I was hooked into this by the mention of the London based Christian course that is corrupted by sex, drugs, violence and money. Read more

Published on 30 Jun. 2012 by J.F.Penn
3.0 out of 5 starsway off the mark

I assume this novel is a thinly disguised description of the Alpha course, in which case it is theologically and ecclesiastically way off the mark because:

* The... Read more

Published on 17 Jun. 2012 by Mr. D. P. Jay

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