schymek 's review for:

Henry Henry by Allen Bratton

4.0

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Maybe I'm just my father, and he's just his father, and on and on, all the way back to Adam, so no one has ever really died, and no has ever really lived.

Henry "Hal" Lancaster is a posh 22-year-old druggie fag with daddy issues, living life. After a shooting accident, he embarks on a romantic stint with a childhood friend. As his faith, familial bonds, and life choices are being tested, Hal desperately tries to cling to his idea of 'self'.

To be fair, I haven't read the henriad so I cannot talk much about that parallel, but if it's as much fun as this novel, then I should get on it. Parts of this novel are cruel (spoilers: the childhood abuse and grooming exhibited by hal's father, e.g.) but serve the overline character study of Hal. Where, let's say, A Little Life centres its queer character in a trauma porno, this novel, while erotic in parts, clearly distinguishes the abuse hal suffers from as something that's literally ruined the trajectory of his life. Which i can appreciate.

I devoured this in one go. Loved.