The Night Country
Stewart O’Nan
Picador
2003
Ms. Hen decided to read this because she loves Halloween
books, and she wanted to discover new ones. She did a search online and most didn’t interest her, but she had read another book by
Stewart O’Nan, LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER, about working at a restaurant, and
she enjoys his writing, so she bought THE NIGHT COUNTRY.
She didn’t read that much about the book before she got into
it, but when she first started, she didn’t understand what was happening. She
had to read a little bit get into it. The novel is about a group of friends,
three of whom died in a car crash on Halloween: Danielle, Toe and Marco. The novel
takes place on Halloween the next year, and the three kids who died are
haunting different people in the town: their friend Tim, who didn’t die in the
crash; the police officer Brooks, who first arrived on the scene; Kyle’s mom, the mother of their friend who didn’t die, but became brain damaged; and
their other friends, Greg and Travis.
Brooks feels guilty about the crash; he was chasing the kids
and they crashed into a tree. His wife left him with the house, which he is
trying to sell, but nobody is offering the price he wants. Kyle’s mom is devastated
that she has to take care of her son like he’s a child for the rest of his
life. Greg and Travis are angry that their friends died. The ghosts follow the
people around, and they know what they’re thinking, and they try to do things
to influence them, but it doesn’t always work.
This is reviewed as a horror novel, but Ms. Hen doesn’t think it is. It’s a literary novel about ghosts. Ms. Hen thinks it’s a
realistic novel about what ghosts could really be like. When she was reading
this, Ms. Hen couldn’t help but wonder if there are any ghosts following her;
if there is anyone she has known who could be stalking her, and watching her.
She doesn’t know if she believes in angels, but ghosts could be more realistic.
Angels are considered benevolent, and want to help people, but ghosts are just
there, watching, knowing, and possibly judging.
One thing Ms. Hen loves about this novel is the writing,
which is very clean and descriptive and original. The author knows how to put a
sentence together; his writing is tight and crisp, and every word is perfect.
Ms. Hen admires that.
There are two mentions of chickens on the same page, which
Ms. Hen doesn’t count as being chickens. The kids were in the car, “From the
backseat you can’t see the tree, or only at the last minute, if you happen to
be backseat driving, chickenshit.” And then after being chased, “It is a game
of chicken.” Ms. Hen doesn’t consider these chickens, because she considers
chickens brave, but she is only a purse. But this is an important part of the
novel, because it’s where the story begins.
Other than the lack of real chickens, Ms. Hen thinks this is
an exceptional book. She has her favorite Halloween books, and this one might now be esteemed in their company. This isn’t spooky, but it’s a perfect for Halloween, right for autumn days with the leaves falling and pumpkin spice
in the air.
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