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courtneyajw 's review for:
The Enchanted
by Rene Denfeld
I take issue with calling this magical realism. The narrator is delusional and that's not magic... That's just mental illness. Maybe I don't have a clear understanding of my favorite genre. Beside the point. I'm going to stand my ground on this one. That issue aside, it's a great, horrifying and sad story. The writing is wonderfully detached which I thought was perfect for the topics covered and the entire subject of prison life. The characters, minor and major, feel authentic.
The story focuses on the lives of a few characters. Mainly, York, a prisoner, and the investigator who we only know as the Lady. We get a bit of information on the Warden and a heartbreaking story on the Priest. Overall, I think it was a fantastic read. Some reviews felt like
As far as the magical realism goes, the horses are earthquakes, the hammerers and the little things that suck the warmth from the dead are all a part of his imagination. Yes, I understand that in some cases that is how fantasy works but magical realism needs to be integrated into the real world. It needs to be something that knocks the Earth just slightly off it's axis, barely noticeable, absolutely changing to the environment EVEN if it's only the narrators environment. This book was not that.
I did really enjoy learning that the Arden was the narrator. It seemed to prove the resounding idea in the book that the worst of the criminals were the most damaged. Early on, we're told that Arden did unspeakable things to end up there in the beginning. We know that he's on death row for smashing another inmates head in but still the warden has a soft spot for him. That's because he's so mentally damaged - or at least that was my take on it.
4/5 stars. Great read. I would absolutely recommend it.
The story focuses on the lives of a few characters. Mainly, York, a prisoner, and the investigator who we only know as the Lady. We get a bit of information on the Warden and a heartbreaking story on the Priest. Overall, I think it was a fantastic read. Some reviews felt like
Spoiler
never finding out the crimes was an issue. I see that more as a technique that allows the reader to generate our own absolute worst crime once we know a few minor facts - there was a wife, there was a child, there were little girls. It's just enough to allow us to create our own story about what might have happened. Learning that one of the inmates killed his own son also sets the bar extremely high.As far as the magical realism goes, the horses are earthquakes, the hammerers and the little things that suck the warmth from the dead are all a part of his imagination. Yes, I understand that in some cases that is how fantasy works but magical realism needs to be integrated into the real world. It needs to be something that knocks the Earth just slightly off it's axis, barely noticeable, absolutely changing to the environment EVEN if it's only the narrators environment. This book was not that.
I did really enjoy learning that the Arden was the narrator. It seemed to prove the resounding idea in the book that the worst of the criminals were the most damaged. Early on, we're told that Arden did unspeakable things to end up there in the beginning. We know that he's on death row for smashing another inmates head in but still the warden has a soft spot for him. That's because he's so mentally damaged - or at least that was my take on it.
4/5 stars. Great read. I would absolutely recommend it.