The Revenants

by Geoffrey Farrington

The ghoulish misdeeds and conflicted psychology of the undead are memorably explored in this classic supernatural thriller, published in England in 1983 and previously unavailable in the US.¨¨In the terse, atmospheric opening pages, an unnamed narrator finds a partially charred manuscript in the vicinity of an abandoned country house in Cornwall that has mysteriously burned to the ground. It's the "Narrative of John Richard Le Perrowne," born in 1830 to middle-agedparents, sickly and reclusive throughout a lonely childhood?and the chosen victim of his ancestress Helena, a vampire whose seductive presence leads¨John into a thrilling new anti-world of empowerment and glamour. But the initiate vampire retains a conscience, and Farrington expertly contrasts his reluctant surrender to the lure of the night with the amoral Helena, a coven of inordinately bloodthirsty fellow creatures, and the young farm girl (Elizabeth) who becomes John's creation, far outdistancing him in calculated villainy. The story is exactly as baroque and lurid as it needs to be, and its most effective set pieces (John awakening in bed to find Helena lying beside him; a feverish dream that's prelude to an equally appalling reality) have a truly cinematic intensity. Farrington's prose is¨pitched agreeably high, and his protagonist's increasingly fearful intuitions are expressed with vivid emotion and mordant irony ("Death . . . seems much sweeter when you know you cannot have it"). And the closing¨sequences build impressively, as Perrowne discovers the truth of the ancestral secret that has shaped his fate, travels to Ireland in search of the "Master Revenant" rumored to be the father of them all, undertakes a¨climactic "journey to Hell," and experiences a grotesque parody of theResurrection. Thus summarized, it sounds egregiously flamboyant; in fact, it's smashingly effective.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Gothic, Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural, Historical Fiction

100 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's nice to revisit a book and find that it is better than you remember.
Opening in the early Victorian period, The Revenants follows the unhappy career of John LePerrowne from his initiation into the ranks of vampiredom by his alluring undead ancestor, Helene, through to modern times and his encounter with the ultimate force of evil. He's full of existential angst, pondering the meaning of life, death & a disaffected immortality. The ending didn't quite work for me, but I have the original 1983 edition which was later revised and (I assume from the page count) expanded, so the later edition may end somewhat differently. I enjoyed rereading it enough to want to track down the updated version and find out. A Gothically respectable 4.5 🌟

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one I found while sorting, I remember being astounded by this book when I first read it. Written in 1983 (though this 2001 copy is marketed as revised, in what way it is, I'm not sure), this book is a vampire story set before Dracula, Anne Rice, and Buffy, and reads brilliantly as such, as if it was written in the early 1800's, not showing much of a hint of its latter progeny. John LePerrowne is cursed from the day he is born, the family he is born into, to unknowingly become a vampire-before vampire's exactly know what they are. Falling in at first with vampires that call themselves revenants, deeming themselves higher than humanity, LePerrowne is the anguished humanity realizing the inhuman creature he has become. Striving to not only resist his new being but to find out what his species place is in the world, the story is ultimately one vampire searching the world to answer the question of what is a vampire's origin, its meaning for being in the world? Replace vampire with human, and you get what every writer has sought since letters first were put to a surface. A huge influence in my own idea for a vampire novel. Read this, and then read Octavia Butler's Fledgling.

[Daniel Stainback]

I really tried to like this and I did for a good while, so much so that I made it 58% of the way through, but ultimately the excessive thoughts of the main character killed it for me.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was close to giving this a five-star rating, but the ending was not as strong as the rest of the book. Ill give it a 4.5.

[Missberet · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unknown man finds a manuscript on a cold Autumn day and begins to read the Narrative of John Richard LePerrowne who starts by telling of his childhood as a sickly boy who has strange dream that leaves him feeling isolated and alone as he will be for a long amount of his life. Strange sensations plage him as do dark forms in his other dreams, cold , cold that leads him to shaking and uncomfortably physical. His family is all gone now and Helena is all he has. The woman who chose to spend her vast eternal life with him as Revenants. He hunts to kill at first, but is then taught by Helena not to kill, but leave the humans the rest of their life. Compassion and wisdom are lost though when he finds a beautiful blonde woman, Elizabeth,he frees with a bite. She wanted to be saved from her brother and Father, though now he has made a mistake in wanting her. It leads them into an ancient darkness.... Untouched by time.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Victorian Cornwall, a lonely introvert has visions of an ethereal presence in his home, is transformed into a vampire (or 'revenant' as they refer to themselves in the book) only to find his new existence problematic as he grapples with all the usual issues of humanity and meaning. Sounds familiar? This book follows Anne Rice's Interview by about 7 years, but to be honest, I liked this book far better. The unique factor this book brings is it's style: at times I genuinely forgot I was reading something written in 1983, it could of been Poe or Auden. That ending paragraph! Just fabulous. There's also a big nod to Blake along the way, with recurrent themes reflecting on hell and evil and passion, and some really lovely (and very gothic) introspective monologues.

[Christine Pietz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceedingly readable, with a few odd jolting moments (most specifically- the ending encounter).

[Kathleen D V · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐

Interesting storyline.

John Le Perrowne is a loner. His parents were very protective over him and John stayed at home most of his life. After his parents died, John has been turned into a vampire by Helena. Together they travel through different cities. Unfortunately a tragedy happens and John struggles to find his purpose in his undead life.

I personally found the ending of the book great.

[Susan Howson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable yet… not very readable. I was glad to be done.

[Lara Hermanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vampire is too emo

[Tayy Swift · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is exceptional, his way of writing is different from the rest.

[Dick Van Dyke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book should've been about Elizabeth and not this fucking loser

[Katherine León · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro fue el que escogimos, después de tanto buscar y buscar en la librería, como premio en nuestra celebración del primer aniversario de nuestro club de lectura mediante la lectura conjunta que organizamos y no me aguante las ganas de saber de que iba el libro así que me hice con él y empece su lectura.

Los redivivos es un libro de terror que nos narra un poco de la vida de John LePerrowne, el cual sufría de un padecimiento constante, y que con el paso del tiempo termino obteniendo una vida inmortal dominada por sus distintos instintos y atormentado por anterior vida humana de manera constante, esta inmortalidad la obtiene al convertirse en un vampiro y vemos las cosas que tiene que hacer para sobrevivir y adaptarse.

No he leído muchas historias de vampiros pero creo que no seria mentira el decir que esta no es la típica historia que se lee hoy en día sobre ellos ya que se presenta de una ,manera mas real y de como tiene que vivir y de las cosas que tiene que hacer para alimentarse, nos presentan de una manera clara como sus costumbres y la manera en la que viven, así mismo de las cosas que son capaz de llegar a hacer.

Siento que el libro muestra en parte la degradación a la que puede llegar el ser humano al dejarse llevar por sus instintos incontrolados, eso lo podemos ver en varios de los personas y principalmente en John, ver como tiene una lucha interior constante entre las cosas que le dicen, las que el siente y lo que considera que debería hacer.

Me gustó mucho la manera en la que esta presentada la historia ya que al principio nos presentan a una persona que encuentra un manuscrito y luego empezamos a conocer toda la historia relacionada con la existencia de John, de cada una de las cosas que aprendió y los descubrimientos que hizo a lo largo de los tiempos, así mismo la manera en la que esta narrada cada uno de los sucesos que te permiten conectar con cada uno de ellos y sentir esa sensación extraña relacionada con lo que se esta leyendo.

Es un libro que recomiendo un resto si son de aquellas personas a las que les gustan las historias de terror y un poco sombrías ya que encontraran ese tipo de contenido en este libro, que a pesar de ser de vampiros tiene un toque de misterios que en algunos momentos te sorprenderá y en otros te dejará pasmado.

[Carina Vulcan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely forgot to add this book to my lists. Read, liked, and im only guessing around what time i did it...