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A review by steveatwaywords
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Jones is much praised in the horror community, and I can understand why. This grisly novel, about an elk spirit seeking revenge, is built upon one of the simplest of plot ideas, but along the way, Jones opens up dozens of insights into the politics and habits of Indian thought (the choice of "Indian" here is Jones's). These alone, for me, were worth the read.
And frankly, I'm glad they were there. In much the style of Tommy Orange, Jones creates hard characters made grittier (and more fragile) by their experiences. I loved the development of these folks, their tortured thinking, their cynical eye to what success looks like. And, if anything, I wanted more of it.
And that's because the horror story itself, a well-trod vengeance-monster plot tracking down characters one at a time (hence the title!), has been done so often I was almost put off by it. We look, then, for what Jones does differently with the idea.
First, he has a real capacity for gore. For horror fans, this novel will not disappoint in that way. But this is insufficient on its own to sustain story. Better, he offers the most important nuance possible: how much of this creature is real and how much of it is a mere metaphor for their own cultural identity struggles? Certainly in the first half of the book, this ambiguity is played upon and could potentially become a real shocker to imagine explanations for Indian domestic violence and alcoholism and the like. But, a great disappointment, he seems to drop this idea as the story progresses.
But Jones's best opportunity for a hella novel comes at the end with a young basketball player. I don't want to spoil this extended scene at the story's climax, but I will say that I have rarely felt so anxious for a character over a sports game, and Jones's pacing and description is phenomenal. Here, too, however, I felt that Jones abandons an incredible moment with a few Deus ex machina interventions and about 40 pages of material afterwards just to bring us to a moral which--I think--he established far better without the closing melodrama.
I know he has written several other books, and I will try more of him. In every case here, Jones has a power of narration that--if unleashed from the requisite tropes of the genre--could release him to greater storytelling. I hope to find it.
And frankly, I'm glad they were there. In much the style of Tommy Orange, Jones creates hard characters made grittier (and more fragile) by their experiences. I loved the development of these folks, their tortured thinking, their cynical eye to what success looks like. And, if anything, I wanted more of it.
And that's because the horror story itself, a well-trod vengeance-monster plot tracking down characters one at a time (hence the title!), has been done so often I was almost put off by it. We look, then, for what Jones does differently with the idea.
First, he has a real capacity for gore. For horror fans, this novel will not disappoint in that way. But this is insufficient on its own to sustain story. Better, he offers the most important nuance possible: how much of this creature is real and how much of it is a mere metaphor for their own cultural identity struggles? Certainly in the first half of the book, this ambiguity is played upon and could potentially become a real shocker to imagine explanations for Indian domestic violence and alcoholism and the like. But, a great disappointment, he seems to drop this idea as the story progresses.
But Jones's best opportunity for a hella novel comes at the end with a young basketball player. I don't want to spoil this extended scene at the story's climax, but I will say that I have rarely felt so anxious for a character over a sports game, and Jones's pacing and description is phenomenal. Here, too, however, I felt that Jones abandons an incredible moment with a few Deus ex machina interventions and about 40 pages of material afterwards just to bring us to a moral which--I think--he established far better without the closing melodrama.
I know he has written several other books, and I will try more of him. In every case here, Jones has a power of narration that--if unleashed from the requisite tropes of the genre--could release him to greater storytelling. I hope to find it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, and Violence