HORNS - JOE HILL
I’ve been in the reading doldrums of late and my Mount TBR is getting larger by the day. I’m falling behind in my bookcrossing rings and rays and have stopped entering for new ones as I can’t seem to get around to read these books within a month and move ‘em on. I have more than a year’s reading lurking on my shelves and it’s actually stressing me out. I looked at my shelves this morning and thought of wild releasing some out of sheer desperation, but as I pulled them out one by one I thought “No, not this one, I’ve been meaning to read this for ages", and I slip them back for another day. I did release two books, but they were ones I bought for ♥ girl that’s she’s finished with. I let them go at the Melville Information Centre that seems to be swamped with visitors for the Soccer World Cup. To be honest I’m getting a little bit sick of this momentous event that is at present an all consuming interest in South Africa.
I bought Joe Hill’s “Horns” a week ago and thought I’ll put it away to read later in the year when I’ve caught up on my bookcrossing schedule (all those rings and rays waiting) but had a peek before I shelved it....and was grabbed by the throat by the tragic story of Ig Perrish and the love of his life Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered with Ig the only suspect. He was never tried for the crime, but in the eyes of the public he is guilty.
Ig wakes up one morning, close to the anniversary of Merrin’s death and found himself sprouting horns and with it comes a terrible gift that goes with his terrible new look. He knows the worst secrets and the darkest desires of everyone he meets. He sets out to using his new powers to find out who really killed Merrin and destroyed his life and also the young lovers illusive Tree House of the Mind.
“It’s time for a little revenge; it’s time the devil had his due”
It must be hard for Joe Hill to be an author in the shadow of his famous father Stephen King and even harder to write in the same genre. With both “Heart Shaped Box” and now with “Horns” he has proven that he’s a great author in his own right but there is an uncanny similarity in their writing. They both have the same deceptive easy style that draws characters so deftly and even succeed in making the most bizarre plots becoming almost believable.
“Horns” had me rooting for the Devil, which is in essence what Ig becomes. In one scene he sermonizes hundred of snakes that he attracted with his strange powers;
“I see God now as an unimaginative writer of popular fictions, someone who build stories around sadistic and graceless plots, narratives that exists only to express His terror of a woman’s power to choose who and how she loves, to redefine love as she seems fit, not as God thinks it should be. The author is unworthy of His own characters. The devil is first a literary critic, who delivers this untalented scribbler the public flaying He deserves.”
“And where does this leave God? God loves man, we are told, but love must be proven by facts, not reasons. If you were in a boat and did not save a drowning man, you would burn in Hell for certain; yet God, in His wisdom, feels no need to use His power to save anyone from a single moment of suffering, and in spite of his inaction He is celebrated and revered. Show me the moral logic in it. You can’t. There is none. Only the devil operates with any reason, promising to punish those who would make earth itself Hell for those who dare to love and feel.
I do not claim that God is dead. I tell you He is alive and well but in no position to offer salvation, being dammed Himself for His criminal indifference. He was lost the moment He demanded fealty and worship before He would offer His protection. The unmistakable bargain of a gangster. Whereas the devil is anything but indifferent. The devil is always there to help those who are ready to sin, which is another word for ‘live’. His phone lines are open. Operators are standing by.”
Reading this out of context might distract from the essence of the novel which is ultimately about the power of good over evil, but in this case in a somewhat unfamiliar disguise.
The last part of “Horns” is titled “The Gospel according To Mick and Keith” and it takes no stretch of the imagination to know the this refers to the Rolling Stones song; “Sympathy for the Devil”
Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and faith
And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate
“Horns” will definitely not be for everyone. For me it was a rollercoaster, very humane and sad read about love and loss, with many a bizarre twist in the tail. (Pun intended) I can pay Joe Hill no greater compliment than to state that I’ve read “Horns” before I even bothered to buy Stephen King’s latest book “Under the Dome” and I usually purchase The Man's books in hardback as soon as they hit the shelves.