I’m a huge fan of The
Crow; just the fundamental idea alone pleases me on a primordial level. I
love the idea of an entity with the power to return a dead person to the world
of the living to seek their revenge against those who wronged them. Gives me
shivers, you know? So when I stumbled upon a whole book full of fiction based
on the idea of The Crow, I could
hardly contain myself!
The Crow: Shattered Lives & Broken Dreams
is a book of fiction and poetry based around James O’Barr’s The Crow. All the stories within the
book are one-shots and have no connection to one another but all have something
to do with the themes of The Crow
(death, rebirth, revenge, etc etc). The particular story I’m reviewing today,
written by A. A. Attanasio, is about a couple of demons, Dren (the liar demon)
and Nergal (the flayer demon) that begin to hear the voice of an angel from
deep within the depths of Hell. The angel promises salvation from Hell and Dren
and Nergal have to either ignore it, and stay in Hell’s eternal torment, or
trust it and hope it isn’t a trick.
The location for 99% of this story is Hell. Not a
metaphorical Hell, or a Hell-like place, actual Hell; and amazingly the author
describes it beautifully. It’s a barren landscape, icy cold and bleak but
within the bleakness, there is incredible beauty. It speaks to the talent of
Attanasio that he is able to create splendour out of the depths of Hell.
The themes present within this short story are that of hope,
repentance and the idea that you really can change. Unlike other Crow based stories, this is about inner
change and not external change (like slaying your enemies for what they did to
you, as an example). Dren hears the voice of an angel and suddenly even the
lowliest demon in Hell has something to hope for. The voice is offering him a
second chance and, although it may be a horrible trick, Dren trusts it and
within that trust, and his own willingness to change, he finds salvation from
the pit of Hell. It gives me comfort to think that if a demon can find hope
from his bleak surroundings, that I can find hope in anything as well.
Hellbent is such a
breath of fresh air. Some short stories are about as clear as mud (anyone who
took English lit. in university will know that) but Hellbent lays all its cards on the table right away. It’s a story
about a soul who has suffered long and hard in Hell and is granted a second
chance; it’s a hard story to pull off but Attanasio does with his beautifully
written prose. Honestly, if you read this story for one thing, and one thing
alone, read it for the prose. Attanasio writes in such a way as to make you
feel empathetic for the main character–a demon!–as he struggles to escape Hell–which
is bleak and beautiful all at the same time.
My final thoughts on Hellbent
are that Attanasio makes Hell beautiful and that is no easy feat! Plot, characters,
prose, they all interweave to become a great short story. Of course, what drew
me so deeply into this story is that Attanasio took something ugly and made it
beautiful and that’s the same thing that James O’Barr did with The Crow (and I’m connected at the soul
to The Crow!). Hellbent is truly beautiful and, whether you believe in Hell,
demons, or the afterlife at all, it’s a story that should resonate deeply
within you because doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance: a chance to repent
and grow and change? I think so, and Hellbent
has given me the hope that it’s possible for anyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment