A review by lachese
American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett
4.0
With regards to this book, I'm the living embodiment of the warring subconscious trope (the one with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other). I discovered this book from a list of Lovecraftian influenced novels. However, after reading the book, the essence of true Lovecraftian fiction seems to be missing.
The first half of the book was exactly what I look for in Lovecraftian fiction. The fragility of sanity? Check. unfathomable creatures? Check. Human insignificance? Semi-check. The most important tenant of cosmic horror: the incomprehensible unknown? - check.
I can pick out the exact moment when the cosmic horror/Lovecraftian elements slipped away from the novel's grasp. Before this particular moment, the book tossed us tempting bits of information. Enough to stave a bit of the reader's hunger for knowledge, but not enough to fully satiate. There are enough blank spaces in the story for the reader's imagination to take root. However, the particular moment previously mentioned completely destroyed any bit of mystery left in the novel, thereby removing the most important element of cosmic horror: the unknown. Worst of all, all of this background information and question answering was done in a massive narrative infodump of dialog. Not just any dialog, but a dialog produced by one of the supposedly unfathomable pandimensional creatures. NO. Just NO. Please stop. That scene in the book completely destroyed every single bit of mystery and horror more than half of the book had worked so hard to achieve (and had done so well).
From that point everything went downhill for me. The mystery was gone, the fear of the unknown was gone, but somehow it managed to get even worse. The monsters were *horrified gasp* relatable. I know, right? What sort of cosmic horror novel has relatable pandimensional creatures? I won't spoil everything for future readers, but look forward to themes of motherhood (heavy, heavy, themes of motherhood. In fact, an entire 30 page academic paper could be written on the theme of motherhood contained within American Elsewhere) and narcissism.
Maybe the complete wanton destruction of the cosmic horror trope was purposeful. Perhaps it was a social or philosophical commentary. Perhaps it was trying to point out that fear has no purpose and the unknown is not actually incomprehensible. Everything is relatable. Also themes of sacrificing to be a good mother (I'm sorry, the whole heavy motherhood thing I found a bit eye rolling, but I have zero maternal instinct and find babies and small children loud and irritating so take my opinion with a grain of salt.)
Despite my distaste of the breakdown of Lovecraftian themes, I cannot give this book a low score, mostly because I found the writing to be darn good. Along with the main character, I became lost in this strange little town. I became embroiled in the mystery of the lab on the mesa. I became charmed by the unusual residents and their quirky behavior. Some of the characterization of certain individuals was inconsistent, but I suppose I can attribute that to their personal growth. Descriptions of various locations along with "distortions" in reality were visceral and visual.
Overall, I'd recommend this novel to anyone who isn't looking for traditional cosmic horror, especially those looking for an introduction to the genre while still getting a desired story resolution.
Well done, Mr. Bennett. Just please leave some mystery next time.
The first half of the book was exactly what I look for in Lovecraftian fiction. The fragility of sanity? Check. unfathomable creatures? Check. Human insignificance? Semi-check. The most important tenant of cosmic horror: the incomprehensible unknown? - check.
I can pick out the exact moment when the cosmic horror/Lovecraftian elements slipped away from the novel's grasp. Before this particular moment, the book tossed us tempting bits of information. Enough to stave a bit of the reader's hunger for knowledge, but not enough to fully satiate. There are enough blank spaces in the story for the reader's imagination to take root. However, the particular moment previously mentioned completely destroyed any bit of mystery left in the novel, thereby removing the most important element of cosmic horror: the unknown. Worst of all, all of this background information and question answering was done in a massive narrative infodump of dialog. Not just any dialog, but a dialog produced by one of the supposedly unfathomable pandimensional creatures. NO. Just NO. Please stop. That scene in the book completely destroyed every single bit of mystery and horror more than half of the book had worked so hard to achieve (and had done so well).
From that point everything went downhill for me. The mystery was gone, the fear of the unknown was gone, but somehow it managed to get even worse. The monsters were *horrified gasp* relatable. I know, right? What sort of cosmic horror novel has relatable pandimensional creatures? I won't spoil everything for future readers, but look forward to themes of motherhood (heavy, heavy, themes of motherhood. In fact, an entire 30 page academic paper could be written on the theme of motherhood contained within American Elsewhere) and narcissism.
Maybe the complete wanton destruction of the cosmic horror trope was purposeful. Perhaps it was a social or philosophical commentary. Perhaps it was trying to point out that fear has no purpose and the unknown is not actually incomprehensible. Everything is relatable. Also themes of sacrificing to be a good mother (I'm sorry, the whole heavy motherhood thing I found a bit eye rolling, but I have zero maternal instinct and find babies and small children loud and irritating so take my opinion with a grain of salt.)
Despite my distaste of the breakdown of Lovecraftian themes, I cannot give this book a low score, mostly because I found the writing to be darn good. Along with the main character, I became lost in this strange little town. I became embroiled in the mystery of the lab on the mesa. I became charmed by the unusual residents and their quirky behavior. Some of the characterization of certain individuals was inconsistent, but I suppose I can attribute that to their personal growth. Descriptions of various locations along with "distortions" in reality were visceral and visual.
Overall, I'd recommend this novel to anyone who isn't looking for traditional cosmic horror, especially those looking for an introduction to the genre while still getting a desired story resolution.
Well done, Mr. Bennett. Just please leave some mystery next time.