A review by acdupont
Long Live the Post Horn! by Vigdis Hjorth

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad

5.0

"There was no substance in my diary. It was all about nothing. But that was my life and here I was."

Long Live the Post Horn begins with a lost, depressing, and confused Ellinor, who seems to be regularly disassociating. She is so wrapped up in her negative self-talk and internal questioning that she regularly misses whole conversations. Not only is Ellinor unhappy, but she is unable to pinpoint why she is so unhappy. She feels like an empty human, unable to express emotion adequately. 

After a surprising event, she and her coworker take on a PR job with the postal service union, trying to shift votes and get the government not to adopt a postal directive that could put postal workers' livelihoods at risk. What seems like an impossible mission becomes an obsession for Elinor, who has a series of realizations along the way.

The story is painful because her vivid emotions made me feel like I was experiencing her highs and her many lows along with her. It was short but dense. Each sentence gives you something to consider. Hjorth doesn't waste a single word. Once you got into the flow of the story, it was hard to want to put it down. However, I recommend small doses if a character's emotions easily influence you. It almost felt like seasonal affective disorder in book form. In the end, it is spring; we have gotten through the winter, and along with our main character, our thoughts and feelings have changed. 

What I took from this story is that we should make it our mission to feel deeply, make bold choices, and choose to participate in society truly. You cannot spend all your time dwelling in your pointless melancholy, or you will waste your life away. 

"I knew now that no one is insignificant and that every day every one of us must choose whether to build civilization or the opposite, let the world fall apart, and that even the smallest things present each of us with a challenge."