Book Review
Nov. 8th, 2020 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariHorns
by Joe Hill
Ig Perrish has spent the last year miserably mourning his murdered girlfriend. Although he did not do it, he was never either charged with or cleared for the crime, and most people in his hometown seem to view him as a murderer who got away with it. After a drunken night he does not remember, Ig wakes up with horns growing from his head and soon discovers that the people around him seem compelled to reveal to him their sinful urges and desires.
While I overall enjoyed Horns, it fell short of the mark in a few ways. I really didn't buy the way the bit about breast cancer played out, but my own circumstances may have biased me against it. I wish Hill had dug a little deeper into the dividing line between sinfulness and evil. I also wish there had been a little more about why Ig grew horns and what the purpose of that may have been. I didn't necessarily want a definitive answer, just a little more to chew on.
On the other hand, there was a lot I liked. The characters and setting were really well done. Hill really captures life in a small New England suburb. The real villain is very horrific yet mundane. Hill also skillfully handles the way the narrative switches between the past and the present, handing out the right information at the right time.
by Joe Hill
Ig Perrish has spent the last year miserably mourning his murdered girlfriend. Although he did not do it, he was never either charged with or cleared for the crime, and most people in his hometown seem to view him as a murderer who got away with it. After a drunken night he does not remember, Ig wakes up with horns growing from his head and soon discovers that the people around him seem compelled to reveal to him their sinful urges and desires.
While I overall enjoyed Horns, it fell short of the mark in a few ways. I really didn't buy the way the bit about breast cancer played out, but my own circumstances may have biased me against it. I wish Hill had dug a little deeper into the dividing line between sinfulness and evil. I also wish there had been a little more about why Ig grew horns and what the purpose of that may have been. I didn't necessarily want a definitive answer, just a little more to chew on.
On the other hand, there was a lot I liked. The characters and setting were really well done. Hill really captures life in a small New England suburb. The real villain is very horrific yet mundane. Hill also skillfully handles the way the narrative switches between the past and the present, handing out the right information at the right time.
