Carl Ryan Stemple

Almost a Classic

Revisado: 11-13-14

Hill's freshman novel does something that countless aspiring horror novelists dream of doing and yet so frequently come just short of accomplishing - it channels the spirit of his father, while speaking in a voice all its own.

At the book's strongest moments, that voice is the gravely baritone of Judas Coyne as he slowly changes from a grizzled and septic ex-rock-god into a grizzled yet tendered ex-rock-god. It's a slow and trudging arc, and it costs Judas and his loved-ones more than most would be able to bear, but it's a fulfilling evolution from someone we immediately disdain to someone we can at least be happy for. That he is spiritually redeemed (so to speak) by the strength and will of two women he learns he's loved too little is also a slow, quiet thing that at times ventures into the realm of objectification, though that's just another hurtle that Judas must confront in his fight for salvation from his haunting - both by his literal ghost and by his own inner ghosts. It's also worth noting that those women don't need Judas to save them from anything, even though he couldn't save them even though he wants to.

I wouldn't say that the book was at any point "frightening." More like "unnerving" and "uncomfortable," which is a fine thing for a horror novel to be, especially when, as is the case with Heart-Shaped Box, the foul things that are most unnerving are not paranormal in nature, but horrifically human. Abuse. Deceit. Deep, plummeting regret and the fear of harming another unwittingly. These are repugnant and all-too real in our world, and they pull at our gut just as they pull at Judas'.

What brings this particular presentation of Hill down a peg for me is purely in the narration. Not that Lang doesn't do a satisfactory job at reading the general prose - I found his voice quite soothing and level, actually. That was part of the problem in parts, though - he was far too level, especially when the story calls for the characters to be terrified, or in reeling pain, or an inch from death. He picked a voice for each character, and then stuck to it unflinchingly, in all but one case. His voice of the ghost Craddock is all over the place, beginning as a low, rumbling Right-Wing Televangelist's Georgia-drawl and ending with a wispy, old prospector's bark. Again, it's a slow transition, but one that was never warranted or earned. It felt like he simply forgot how he began recording that particular voice by the end of the novel.

There are other minor quirks I have that keep this from being a full-fledged classic in my heart - the too-neatly-wrapped-up ending, the reasoning behind the survival of a particular character, a few inconsistencies of paranormal rules and expectations - but on the whole, a book that is almost a classic is far and away better than most books published.

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As Odd and Dispiriting as it is Capitvating

Revisado: 11-08-14

If you could sum up The Book of Strange New Things in three words, what would they be?

Lonely, cosmic heartbreak.

What did you like best about this story?

The fantastical elements of the book either creep up on you so slow or are thrust upon you so fast that you're as genuinely jarred as the main character upon realizing that the world you're visiting is unlike anything you'd expected or experienced. This happens because of how believable and grounded so much of the story is in the things we understand and can relate to - loneliness, crisis of faith, determination of will and the inability to communicate with a far away loved one, among others.

What does Josh Cohen bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I wouldn't necessarily say that Faber's story doesn't stand well enough on simply the merits of his words, because he's crafted something that's at once both thrillingly alien and resonantly human at the core. But having experienced his novel through Josh Cohen's mammoth range of raw, realized characterizations, I couldn't possibly fathom the story divorced of him.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The third-to-last and second-to-last chapters - in the infirmary with Jesus Lover 5 and in Peter's Church with him speaking in all Oassan - are both equally crushing.

Any additional comments?

On top of his skillful handling of international accents that are individually crafted for every single character so that you know that person intimately the moment they appear and reappear in the story, Cohen's unique and jaw-dropping representation of the Oassans' gargling, guttural dialect is something masterful to behold.

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