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A review by erinys
Come Closer by Sara Gran
5.0
This was a quick, perfect little novel about demonic possession. (I'm hiding this review because even that description is a spoiler to some degree.)
The plot is too simple to go over it exhaustively. It's honestly the same sequence of events that you see in any demonic possession narrative; it follows the playbook of The Exorcist almost perfectly, especially in the beginning. The writing is skillful enough that this becomes a strength rather than a weakness, though; we are given to understand that there ARE books which contain real facts about demons, and it's possible to find real information that might help you fight them.
But if the demon is dug in too deep, she won't let you READ those books. Sucks to be you.
One of the most horrifying sequences for me was actually the scene where the protagonist realizes suddenly to find that her nemesis has been going all over town, tracking down every copy of an important book to destroy them. Our heroine suddenly wakes up and finds herself sitting next to the fireplace while the last five copies in the cities burn. That's right, THE DEMON IS MESSING WITH YOUR RESEARCH.
*runs for the hills screaming at the thought*
What made the book really interesting to me, what makes it WORK, is the viewpoint. Instead of the protagonist being a family member or loved one trying to save the possessed person, the whole story is told first-person from the victim's point of view.
This approach is really interesting to me, because by default you don't ever really get to see the Big Gore. There are at least three gruesome murders in the text, as well as one or two other attempted slayings. But the reader only gets to see these events in fragmentary glimpses, snatches of detail. The reason being, of course, that when the demon has full control of the victim's body, the human host is shuffled off-stage. She doesn't get to witness what her tenant is up to. She's locked out, fighting to get any information even as a spectator.
A lot of the symptoms of demonic possession, other than the classic Exorcist "tapping on the walls of your dimension before I move in" bit, are scary because they are also common experiences for the mentally ill and the addicted.
Black-outs. Lost time. Irritability. Intrusive thoughts. Hearing voices. Feeling "psychic". Urges to harm animals and/or people.
Eventually becoming a threat to yourself and your loved ones.
I also found it fascinating that the book took a left turn toward the end, in positing not only the existence of other demons, but their collaboration and collusion in the real world. The struggle between the victim and her intruder is a deeply personal one, and tales of demonic possession are usually very focused on the battle for a single soul--you're up against one demon, and that's more than enough.
In this book, it's understood that many people have already fought this battle and lost. We're surrounded by them on a daily basis. Your family doctor could be a demon. Your psychiatrist could be a demon.
Naamah, the she-devil in this novel, isn't particularly social or chatty with other demons, so far as we can tell. But other demons are fascinated with and seem to care about HER. When the protagonist runs into other possessed people, she finds the demons have formed networks of support and that they subtly conspire to make her more vulnerable and less able to fight for possession of her body and consciousness. All while pretending to be human.
In general, there were two things I found most chilling about this one.
One, the fact that this demon crawled into the protagonist's life when she was just a child, longing for a mother or an older sister who would care about her. The crack in her soul was a child's longing to be loved and cared about, not some terrible sin.
Two, the fact that most of the battle was lost before the protagonist was even aware she was fighting it. The voice of the demon in her head was very subtle for months, gently nudging her to be her Worst Self. It took its time, and eroded her sense of self and her support system like an abusive partner. It's most thrilling victory was the day it got her husband to finally walk out on her.
It's the way she slowly rots that horrified me. She goes back to smoking, even though she had quit years ago. Picks a fight with her husband, even though they never fight. Lets herself be a little late for work, and then more and more irresponsible and unreliable in her work. Becomes more and more indulgent in her shopping, her eating, her drinking. Stops at a bar for a quick tequila, ends up staying for several.
She keeps listening to the dark little voice in her head that countermands her superego by saying, "Just do it."
The demon has a crowbar wedged into a narrow crack in her mind, and these petty indulgences become more and more catastrophic as she works it back and forth. With every wrench of the crowbar, the demon forces the crack wider and wider...and seizes more and more control.
The thing is, though--a lot of people have that Just Do It voice. I know I do. And while I can't recall having an imaginary friend / older sister as a child, I certainly went through many years of really deep loneliness and neglect.
I could probably try to figure out the homoerotic or auto-erotic aspects of this book, as well, but honestly to me they are more subtext than a text, and as aspect they're pretty homophobic. The demon is definitely hot, and on film the visuals of this movie would be wildly queer. But on the page, it's flat and unsexy: the demon is obsessed with banging strange dudes, the protagonist is obsessed with her male husband, and the implied homosexual passion of their connection....doesn't really have any Sapphic teeth.
Instead, like a lot of books in this genre, the implied homosexuality is just used as a gross-out. Because of COURSE the devil is kinda gay--in much the same way that she has no boundaries between sex and violence.
Anyway. If buried sexual desire is part of the equation, it stays buried. The protagonist doesn't have to face it; the demon signs off on the crime of murdering her husband with "I win" like a triumphant abuser, but there is no sexual consummation of her control. Naamah seems happy to rule as queen of her ward in the mental hospital and screw an orderly, in the end--and for a Demon Queen nearly as old as Adam, her ambitions seem pretty pathetic. Especially given that other members of her tribe are filthy rich and flouncing around Manhattan as respected doctors and psychiatrists! As demons go, she comes across as a bit of an under-achiever. Shouldn't all the really powerful demons go into politics?
The plot is too simple to go over it exhaustively. It's honestly the same sequence of events that you see in any demonic possession narrative; it follows the playbook of The Exorcist almost perfectly, especially in the beginning. The writing is skillful enough that this becomes a strength rather than a weakness, though; we are given to understand that there ARE books which contain real facts about demons, and it's possible to find real information that might help you fight them.
But if the demon is dug in too deep, she won't let you READ those books. Sucks to be you.
One of the most horrifying sequences for me was actually the scene where the protagonist realizes suddenly to find that her nemesis has been going all over town, tracking down every copy of an important book to destroy them. Our heroine suddenly wakes up and finds herself sitting next to the fireplace while the last five copies in the cities burn. That's right, THE DEMON IS MESSING WITH YOUR RESEARCH.
*runs for the hills screaming at the thought*
What made the book really interesting to me, what makes it WORK, is the viewpoint. Instead of the protagonist being a family member or loved one trying to save the possessed person, the whole story is told first-person from the victim's point of view.
This approach is really interesting to me, because by default you don't ever really get to see the Big Gore. There are at least three gruesome murders in the text, as well as one or two other attempted slayings. But the reader only gets to see these events in fragmentary glimpses, snatches of detail. The reason being, of course, that when the demon has full control of the victim's body, the human host is shuffled off-stage. She doesn't get to witness what her tenant is up to. She's locked out, fighting to get any information even as a spectator.
A lot of the symptoms of demonic possession, other than the classic Exorcist "tapping on the walls of your dimension before I move in" bit, are scary because they are also common experiences for the mentally ill and the addicted.
Black-outs. Lost time. Irritability. Intrusive thoughts. Hearing voices. Feeling "psychic". Urges to harm animals and/or people.
Eventually becoming a threat to yourself and your loved ones.
I also found it fascinating that the book took a left turn toward the end, in positing not only the existence of other demons, but their collaboration and collusion in the real world. The struggle between the victim and her intruder is a deeply personal one, and tales of demonic possession are usually very focused on the battle for a single soul--you're up against one demon, and that's more than enough.
In this book, it's understood that many people have already fought this battle and lost. We're surrounded by them on a daily basis. Your family doctor could be a demon. Your psychiatrist could be a demon.
Naamah, the she-devil in this novel, isn't particularly social or chatty with other demons, so far as we can tell. But other demons are fascinated with and seem to care about HER. When the protagonist runs into other possessed people, she finds the demons have formed networks of support and that they subtly conspire to make her more vulnerable and less able to fight for possession of her body and consciousness. All while pretending to be human.
In general, there were two things I found most chilling about this one.
One, the fact that this demon crawled into the protagonist's life when she was just a child, longing for a mother or an older sister who would care about her. The crack in her soul was a child's longing to be loved and cared about, not some terrible sin.
Two, the fact that most of the battle was lost before the protagonist was even aware she was fighting it. The voice of the demon in her head was very subtle for months, gently nudging her to be her Worst Self. It took its time, and eroded her sense of self and her support system like an abusive partner. It's most thrilling victory was the day it got her husband to finally walk out on her.
It's the way she slowly rots that horrified me. She goes back to smoking, even though she had quit years ago. Picks a fight with her husband, even though they never fight. Lets herself be a little late for work, and then more and more irresponsible and unreliable in her work. Becomes more and more indulgent in her shopping, her eating, her drinking. Stops at a bar for a quick tequila, ends up staying for several.
She keeps listening to the dark little voice in her head that countermands her superego by saying, "Just do it."
The demon has a crowbar wedged into a narrow crack in her mind, and these petty indulgences become more and more catastrophic as she works it back and forth. With every wrench of the crowbar, the demon forces the crack wider and wider...and seizes more and more control.
The thing is, though--a lot of people have that Just Do It voice. I know I do. And while I can't recall having an imaginary friend / older sister as a child, I certainly went through many years of really deep loneliness and neglect.
I could probably try to figure out the homoerotic or auto-erotic aspects of this book, as well, but honestly to me they are more subtext than a text, and as aspect they're pretty homophobic. The demon is definitely hot, and on film the visuals of this movie would be wildly queer. But on the page, it's flat and unsexy: the demon is obsessed with banging strange dudes, the protagonist is obsessed with her male husband, and the implied homosexual passion of their connection....doesn't really have any Sapphic teeth.
Instead, like a lot of books in this genre, the implied homosexuality is just used as a gross-out. Because of COURSE the devil is kinda gay--in much the same way that she has no boundaries between sex and violence.
Anyway. If buried sexual desire is part of the equation, it stays buried. The protagonist doesn't have to face it; the demon signs off on the crime of murdering her husband with "I win" like a triumphant abuser, but there is no sexual consummation of her control. Naamah seems happy to rule as queen of her ward in the mental hospital and screw an orderly, in the end--and for a Demon Queen nearly as old as Adam, her ambitions seem pretty pathetic. Especially given that other members of her tribe are filthy rich and flouncing around Manhattan as respected doctors and psychiatrists! As demons go, she comes across as a bit of an under-achiever. Shouldn't all the really powerful demons go into politics?