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Dark Property: An Affliction
A woman carries a dying baby across a desert waste, moving toward a fortress harboring a mysterious resurrection cult. Menaced by scavengers, she nevertheless begins to suspect that the reality within the fortress may be even more unsettling than the blasted environment outside. As she slips unobtrusively towards the city of the dead, she is pursued by a bounty hunter who cuts a bloody swath after her. On one level, Dark Property is an exploration of religious fanaticism. Although Evenson's characters owe more to the Book of Mormon than the Koran, their frightening intensity will spark recognition in both reviewers and readers. This brooding tale is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and J. G. Ballard's more disturbing works of fiction. "I admire Evenson's writing and respect his courage." Andrew Vachss
132 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 2002
2 people are currently reading
952 people want to read
About the author
Brian Evenson
264 books1,510 followersBrian Evenson is an American academic and writer of both literary fiction and popular fiction, some of the latter being published under B. K. Evenson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
February 1, 2013
Even those brave readers familiar with Brian Evenson's often-macabre work will discover new depths of shadow in the pages of Dark Property. This may well be his most chilling book to date - not in the sense of stock horror, but as a more sophisticated frisson, an existential mix of confusion, anticipation, and stark cruelty.
The narrative follows a cadre of ruthless loners across a post-apocalyptic wasteland as they seek to possess and dominate one another's most cherished properties: their bodies. Evenson takes his notoriously clinical approach to brutality one step further into the experimental realm by employing a Lewis Carroll-esque mutation of the English tongue. He twists adjectives into verbs (and vice-versa), for example, injecting layers of meaning into single, loaded words. The result evokes a Dr. Seuss caught in the grip of some penumbral nightmare.
Not only is Dark Property a carefully stirred stew of language, but the plot also churns, boiling back in on itself as a series of rough characters chase, capture, abuse, kill, and sometimes resurrect one another in a seemingly endless factory line of violence. the main character, Kline, is an unemotional brute of a man who kills with as much passion as one might feel when doing the laundry or taking out the trash. Only Eckels, who refuses to stay dead for any length of time, effectively acts as Kline's foil. Eckels is a peaceful antagonist (one might argue that he is actually the protagonist, but this would be a moral decision, not a literary edict) whose purpose is to come back from the dead and question the murderer on his lack of conscience. The many deaths and returns of Eckels make the tale a clockwork of brutality, forgiving, fall, and redemption - wheels of words within wheels of character within wheels of plot. Indeed, Evenson may have been influenced by James Joyce in writing this novel; one might, in the tradition of Finnegans Wake, open Dark Property to any page and begin reading until the story loops back in on itself.
Simultaneously confusing, vivid, surreal, and clear, Dark Property is a challenging work - but one that, for readers who can lose themselves in its world and then pay careful attention to the surroundings once therein, yields a melange of beautifully stark, never-ending terror.
The narrative follows a cadre of ruthless loners across a post-apocalyptic wasteland as they seek to possess and dominate one another's most cherished properties: their bodies. Evenson takes his notoriously clinical approach to brutality one step further into the experimental realm by employing a Lewis Carroll-esque mutation of the English tongue. He twists adjectives into verbs (and vice-versa), for example, injecting layers of meaning into single, loaded words. The result evokes a Dr. Seuss caught in the grip of some penumbral nightmare.
Not only is Dark Property a carefully stirred stew of language, but the plot also churns, boiling back in on itself as a series of rough characters chase, capture, abuse, kill, and sometimes resurrect one another in a seemingly endless factory line of violence. the main character, Kline, is an unemotional brute of a man who kills with as much passion as one might feel when doing the laundry or taking out the trash. Only Eckels, who refuses to stay dead for any length of time, effectively acts as Kline's foil. Eckels is a peaceful antagonist (one might argue that he is actually the protagonist, but this would be a moral decision, not a literary edict) whose purpose is to come back from the dead and question the murderer on his lack of conscience. The many deaths and returns of Eckels make the tale a clockwork of brutality, forgiving, fall, and redemption - wheels of words within wheels of character within wheels of plot. Indeed, Evenson may have been influenced by James Joyce in writing this novel; one might, in the tradition of Finnegans Wake, open Dark Property to any page and begin reading until the story loops back in on itself.
Simultaneously confusing, vivid, surreal, and clear, Dark Property is a challenging work - but one that, for readers who can lose themselves in its world and then pay careful attention to the surroundings once therein, yields a melange of beautifully stark, never-ending terror.
July 30, 2011
This is the story of a woman and a man. The woman is traveling through a bleak and disturbing setting. The man is purposeful and determined. I cannot say anything more about this book, as doing so would give too much away. I bought my copy without reading a single blurb but I am a huge fan of the author's and am confident in forever doing so.
Evenson makes me awestruck. His writing is as if from another time, at least so far as Dark Property is concerned. The story was surreal and painful to read. And though I am in awe of this book, I can not rate it the 5 stars it might deserve. I became lost in the setting and confusion over what was happening. I had no idea what was going on, where the characters were, why they were doing what they were doing, until at least half way into the book. I'm sure this was intentional, but it did detract from my immersion. For a 128 page book, this is not good. Yet, for a 128 page book, it was difficult to read, the words Evenson chose extremely specific. He did not waste a single word. Zero frivolous explanations ordescriptions or even what he seems to have considered as frivolous a single feeling expressed by the characters. Everything was action and reaction.
Some readers may claim the book, the writing, the choice of words, to be pretentious. I feel the purpose which Evenson wrote overshadows that observation. The beauty of his words sharply contrasted with the actions of his characters. When I first started, I imagined Evenson wrote the book, ending included, and then consulted his handy-dandy thesaurus and replaced the majority of common place words with obscuure, old-fashioned choices. This is a large part of why I experienced such a difficult time loosing myself within the story at the start.
But the last half worked. And once I realized what was happening I could not help but love the book and appreciate what the author did here.
I realize few people have read this, which I find sad, but I can not resist some comments about the end, which happens to be one of my favorite endings ever. SO please, please, please do not click on the spoiler unless you have read this book.
I suggest not reading this unless you have read Last Days. I am still debating whether or not the character of Kline in Last Days is the character of Kline in Dark Property. I think he is and the change is frightening.
Evenson makes me awestruck. His writing is as if from another time, at least so far as Dark Property is concerned. The story was surreal and painful to read. And though I am in awe of this book, I can not rate it the 5 stars it might deserve. I became lost in the setting and confusion over what was happening. I had no idea what was going on, where the characters were, why they were doing what they were doing, until at least half way into the book. I'm sure this was intentional, but it did detract from my immersion. For a 128 page book, this is not good. Yet, for a 128 page book, it was difficult to read, the words Evenson chose extremely specific. He did not waste a single word. Zero frivolous explanations ordescriptions or even what he seems to have considered as frivolous a single feeling expressed by the characters. Everything was action and reaction.
Some readers may claim the book, the writing, the choice of words, to be pretentious. I feel the purpose which Evenson wrote overshadows that observation. The beauty of his words sharply contrasted with the actions of his characters. When I first started, I imagined Evenson wrote the book, ending included, and then consulted his handy-dandy thesaurus and replaced the majority of common place words with obscuure, old-fashioned choices. This is a large part of why I experienced such a difficult time loosing myself within the story at the start.
But the last half worked. And once I realized what was happening I could not help but love the book and appreciate what the author did here.
I realize few people have read this, which I find sad, but I can not resist some comments about the end, which happens to be one of my favorite endings ever. SO please, please, please do not click on the spoiler unless you have read this book.
I suggest not reading this unless you have read Last Days. I am still debating whether or not the character of Kline in Last Days is the character of Kline in Dark Property. I think he is and the change is frightening.
October 14, 2010
Evenson’s Dark Property is described as post-apocalyptic but it is one of the abstract and bizarre examples of said genre pushed into a new category. A linguistic journey like Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian (its been wondered if this was an influence on The Road, which if it wasn’t a trunk novel is possible) and Gene Wolfe’s New Sun books, but its descriptions odd rituals, strange behaviors, and odd dialogues brings it closer to Beckett, with some twitching monstrosities worthy of Brothers Quay or Guy Maddin film. Mad and beautiful in equal measures.
March 28, 2010
I'm not sure how, but I'd somehow missed this one despite being told that it was not to be missed by more than one fellow Evenson fan. (Happy to report that I've since rectified the problem.) The language used in this short but intense book is quite archaic and creates a very interesting effect. Evenson has said in one of his interviews that he was resurrecting words and expressions that had long been out of use, and indeed there are many strange phrases throughout. This just adds to the sense of displaced anxiety one feels in the world Evenson has herein created. Take, for example, such simple statements as: "The boy fremented as he ran." Or: "Her fingers crossed into the dripple." Or take the following (partial) description of a corpse (p. 41):
"The head lolled, swung forward, the flesh atop the slit throat slupping over the flesh below. The loop of rope ticked over each rib, dragged upward into the armpits. The stiff arms lifted, as if in slow benediction."
There is, as is to be expected in any work by Evenson, a lot of violent imagery described in a very matter-of-fact fashion, devoid of didacticism or judgment. Those familiar with Last Days will no doubt recognize the name Kline (who seems to be the "same" character as in that novel mainly in spirit; both have "blood on their hands," lots of it, and a sort of God-complex). In terms of plot, well yes... There is indeed a plot, but it seems secondary to the style and the imagery and the decidedly bleak atmosphere, so I won't summarize or give any of the action away. As others have mentioned, the narrative describes a dystopia reminiscent of some of Cormac McCarthy's work, but it is, ultimately, pure Evenson.
Consider the following interaction (p. 107) between Kline and a man he encounters late in the novel who goes by the name Eckels:
"Women are not property," said the man.
"All are property," said Kline.
The man leaned in.
"Then you too are property. To whom do you belong?"
Later in the exchange:
"Truth cannot be imparted," said Kline. "It must be inflicted."
Can you guess what follows?
Though perhaps not as accessible as some of Evenson's more recent work, such as the excellent Fugue State, this will appeal to fans of dark dystopic literature full of rich language and imagery. Though it is short, it is worth several close readings. If you already a fan of Evenson's other work, this one should be added to your list. If not, start with Last Days or one of the short story collections such as The Wavering Knife or Contagion, and then check this out.
"The head lolled, swung forward, the flesh atop the slit throat slupping over the flesh below. The loop of rope ticked over each rib, dragged upward into the armpits. The stiff arms lifted, as if in slow benediction."
There is, as is to be expected in any work by Evenson, a lot of violent imagery described in a very matter-of-fact fashion, devoid of didacticism or judgment. Those familiar with Last Days will no doubt recognize the name Kline (who seems to be the "same" character as in that novel mainly in spirit; both have "blood on their hands," lots of it, and a sort of God-complex). In terms of plot, well yes... There is indeed a plot, but it seems secondary to the style and the imagery and the decidedly bleak atmosphere, so I won't summarize or give any of the action away. As others have mentioned, the narrative describes a dystopia reminiscent of some of Cormac McCarthy's work, but it is, ultimately, pure Evenson.
Consider the following interaction (p. 107) between Kline and a man he encounters late in the novel who goes by the name Eckels:
"Women are not property," said the man.
"All are property," said Kline.
The man leaned in.
"Then you too are property. To whom do you belong?"
Later in the exchange:
"Truth cannot be imparted," said Kline. "It must be inflicted."
Can you guess what follows?
Though perhaps not as accessible as some of Evenson's more recent work, such as the excellent Fugue State, this will appeal to fans of dark dystopic literature full of rich language and imagery. Though it is short, it is worth several close readings. If you already a fan of Evenson's other work, this one should be added to your list. If not, start with Last Days or one of the short story collections such as The Wavering Knife or Contagion, and then check this out.
Read
December 12, 2025that guy kline was one bad hombre but history proved him right
January 11, 2013
What do you say when a book is a book like you've never seen before? Any comparison as metaphor will be too hollow, any author connection not loud enough. This is an incredible book. This book does everything with language. This book is a book to make other books cower.
October 4, 2007
In Dark Property, Brian Evenson invents a world where violent acts are not only second nature to the people in it, but they are their first thought. Violence replaces good manners. Whereas in our world two people meeting for the first time might shake hands or exchange kisses, Evenson's people stab and bludgeon each other, steal from each other, take fleshy trophies and more often than not, make meals of one another. The violence, as depicted by Evenson, is not sensational. It is work-a-day violence, graphic and mundane at the same time, and as seemingly necessary to his people as water or air. In fact, his people hardly even need water or air. They prefer the nourishment of pain, taken or given. But more interesting to me is what Evenson does with our language. He makes old verbs do new things. He broadens when it's best and narrows, too, when he finds it fit. And he manufactures! I only wish that some of the words (fremulous, strampled, flitch, vortic) Evenson created for his world would bleed into our own. He sets our language afire and bends the flames to his will, making even the ashes his own. He savages our tongue and sweetens it; eviscerates it while enlivening it. Dark Property is a minor work of mad-genius.
February 8, 2015
Probably Evenson's most unrelentingly brutal book. The whole thing is uniformly bleak, cruel, with eventual hints of occultism. (Which is probably where there have been so many comparisons to the Road even if this book is technically older.) Evenson's absurdist dialogue and vertiginous landscapes are in full force, but what especially surprised me was how stylized this book is. The geography of the sentences reminded me a little of Dhalgren-era Delany, maybe the clipped sentences Joyce used in Ulysses: intensely lean, percussive, verb driven writing in a language mostly like English but transformed in very peculiar ways. The use of archaisms and strange vocabulary was (thankfully) more subdued than Clockwork Orange, Cloud Atlas, or that ridiculous first section from Alan Moore's "Voices of the Fire," and reminded me a little of Wolfe's Book of the New Sun with how alien but simultaneously familiar it was. I especially appreciated the strange, incomprehensible rituals that made up so much of the late novel, and how impermanent the death that filled every level of the novel really seemed to be.
December 6, 2007
Bleak, violent, surreal, and so so good. You learn to speak and comprehend a new language specifically designed to describe violence, kinda like *A Clockwork Orange*. Evenson is a writer that people should become familiar with.
November 30, 2007
A better version of Cormac McCarthy's The Road--with creepy post-apocalyptic MORMONS! And it was written FIVE years before McCarthy's book..I smell a lawsuit...
August 28, 2009
I may give this book five stars in the future, but I need more time to fully understand what I've read. This is so out of my normal range of literary fiction, I feel a bit lost. What I can say: this book is approaching language in intriguing ways.
Let's say your novel's set in some vague apocalyptic landscape. All of the usual signifiers of country, colloquialism, and culture are gone. What is to constitute your third-person voice? You could go the biblical route, a la Cormac McCarthy in The Road, though this implies connotations you may prefer to avoid. What if, like Beckett, you used exact diction that acts as if all connotations were voided, leaving only the original denotation? Wouldn't that be a "truer" method, and a way to shirk the trappings of early-aught years writing styles? (As a metaphor, one could say it's akin to removing all those bellbottoms from 1970s scifi movies.)
Evenson writes in this style. It's challenging, and slowgoing, but so damn rewarding. Dark Property reveals its world in small steps, allowing the reader room to breathe, to cough, and get a little nervous. Once you realize why the young protagonist is carrying a dead baby in a backpack across a ruined landscape, well, you'll be glad the author gave you time to prepare yourself. And like the best novels of ideas, the questions raised here continue to develop in your head long after the last page.
Let's say your novel's set in some vague apocalyptic landscape. All of the usual signifiers of country, colloquialism, and culture are gone. What is to constitute your third-person voice? You could go the biblical route, a la Cormac McCarthy in The Road, though this implies connotations you may prefer to avoid. What if, like Beckett, you used exact diction that acts as if all connotations were voided, leaving only the original denotation? Wouldn't that be a "truer" method, and a way to shirk the trappings of early-aught years writing styles? (As a metaphor, one could say it's akin to removing all those bellbottoms from 1970s scifi movies.)
Evenson writes in this style. It's challenging, and slowgoing, but so damn rewarding. Dark Property reveals its world in small steps, allowing the reader room to breathe, to cough, and get a little nervous. Once you realize why the young protagonist is carrying a dead baby in a backpack across a ruined landscape, well, you'll be glad the author gave you time to prepare yourself. And like the best novels of ideas, the questions raised here continue to develop in your head long after the last page.
February 7, 2025
Full on dark, intense, disturbing and bleak. I found the writing style to be challenging but a rewarding experience.
Brian Evenson is brilliant and continues to astound me. So happy to have added this Evenson gem into my growing collection :)
Brian Evenson is brilliant and continues to astound me. So happy to have added this Evenson gem into my growing collection :)
July 14, 2025
It’s like if Dr. Seuss wrote Mad Max.
“HE LEVERJACKED THE LOCKS, cracked the hinges, grenched the gates ajar by sheer force.”
Dark Property reminded me of Clockwork Orange, ambitious in terms of language, style, and brutality. Also left me feeling puzzled and downright clueless at times, sometimes rereading a passage helped, other times it didn’t.
I wanted something to latch onto, I wanted to sink my teeth into a character or action sequence but it was like attempting to chomp down on a big double-decker sandwich only to have it yanked away at the last second so you bite down on your own teeth like a Scooby Doo cartoon.
Watching the movie Mad God by Phil Tippett was a very similar experience. I’m left with more questions than answers.
On a lighter note I like how he recycles words, almost like a tic, in what I’ve read so far. Some of my favorites that I picked up on in this book were ‘knife’, ‘worried’, ‘ruined’, and ‘collapse(d)’.
“HE LEVERJACKED THE LOCKS, cracked the hinges, grenched the gates ajar by sheer force.”
Dark Property reminded me of Clockwork Orange, ambitious in terms of language, style, and brutality. Also left me feeling puzzled and downright clueless at times, sometimes rereading a passage helped, other times it didn’t.
I wanted something to latch onto, I wanted to sink my teeth into a character or action sequence but it was like attempting to chomp down on a big double-decker sandwich only to have it yanked away at the last second so you bite down on your own teeth like a Scooby Doo cartoon.
Watching the movie Mad God by Phil Tippett was a very similar experience. I’m left with more questions than answers.
On a lighter note I like how he recycles words, almost like a tic, in what I’ve read so far. Some of my favorites that I picked up on in this book were ‘knife’, ‘worried’, ‘ruined’, and ‘collapse(d)’.
June 13, 2010
I'm missing something here. Readers enthuse about Evenson's prose, but I found this unreadable and stopped halfway through. I have learned from other reviewers that Evenson wanted to resurrect archaic language and words, but I just found the syntax peculiar and the words often seemed like those you would like have handy when playing Scrabble. Then there are the untranslated epigraphs from Heidegger, although I guess Google can take care of that now. But the blurb from Gilles Deleuze is ridiculous and pretentious .I don't know that I would trust Gilles Deleuze to recommend horror fiction.
October 31, 2007
I think I let this slip off my lap in the bus aisle once during a soused post-gig bus trip, and a kindly gent handed it back to me: "hey HEY, keep your LITTrature on your person!" [laugh]. This was a squalorous time for me, and I think the squalid book and I just kept mocking each other until I was saved by a Mother's Day Butchies gig at the Dinkytowner a couple weeks later (but then I was almost killed by some bus tires later that night).
I should probably reread it.
I should probably reread it.
February 22, 2013
Take a poorly fleshed out story and then, on rewrite, get out your thesaurus to replace every 5th word with a never-used sort-of synonym just to give the story even less meaning. Writing shouldn't be about finding the most obscure words or the most complicated words. It should be about finding the right words. Besides, this book was so graphically violent and dirty I felt like scrubbing myself with bleach afterwards.
November 8, 2010
The answer to the unasked question "what would you get if you merged Cormac McCarthy, Samuel Beckett, and The Brother's Quay?"
May 3, 2012
one of my favorite novels
September 9, 2021
The most brutal book I've ever read. Every page is a lesson in taxidermy and persistence and violence and determination. I was uncomfortably entertained from start to finish.
September 24, 2022
I’m pretty sure this is Evenson’s BLOOD MERIDIAN. Brutality on display.
March 24, 2023
Wild wild, giving Molloy and Jodorowsky, w straightforward narrative and syntax but Super psychedelic diction. Like, words that don’t show up in the dictionary.
October 21, 2025
The long-awaited return of Brian Evenson’s early novella DARK PROPERTY confirms its place as a central work in the canon of one of America's most vital authors. Evenson effortlessly fuses form and content: a stark, Cormac McCarthy-esque narrative, dense philosophy, and challenging style combine for an almost comically heavy book at times. I think Evenson is what people wish George Saunders was - an incredible literary talent that does their best work in the genre trenches.
The novella stands as yet another testimony to Brian Evenson's uncompromising artistic vision. Evenson requires effort and layers in friction at many points. What’s in the sac? What happened to the world these strangers are travelling in? As the book moves, Evenson always rewards the effort by writing something totally fucked. Evenson is a master at deep, philosophical horror. It is a "clockwork of brutality." The novella interrogates the nature of faith, violence, and ownership with clinical and terrifying precision. Brian Evenson is a writer willing to weaponize language itself in the service of exploring human cruelty, religious absolutism, and existential dread, and we love it.
Fully in the camp of “I will read anything with Brian Evenson” as the author, he’s yet to dissappoint.
The novella stands as yet another testimony to Brian Evenson's uncompromising artistic vision. Evenson requires effort and layers in friction at many points. What’s in the sac? What happened to the world these strangers are travelling in? As the book moves, Evenson always rewards the effort by writing something totally fucked. Evenson is a master at deep, philosophical horror. It is a "clockwork of brutality." The novella interrogates the nature of faith, violence, and ownership with clinical and terrifying precision. Brian Evenson is a writer willing to weaponize language itself in the service of exploring human cruelty, religious absolutism, and existential dread, and we love it.
Fully in the camp of “I will read anything with Brian Evenson” as the author, he’s yet to dissappoint.
August 17, 2022
It should maybe be a four? I’be read a lot of his stuff recently and I could be a little burnt out.
People draw parallels between this and The Road for good reason, but there is not as clear of a point or purpose here as there is in the latter.
That isn’t always a bad thing, and in Evenson’s work it often seems to open things up and really let you explore the ideas. In this case it felt a little more like there was a limited scope that was left up to the reader even though there wasn’t much of anywhere to go.
It was not boring, it was very entertaining at times. It just didn’t have that extra layer I want from Evenson, the gore and brutality covering up an absence of much else going on. That does discount the religious criticism, but every instance of that feels like a lesser version of what he does in the future (I guess it kind if is).
It definitely isn’t bad, but it didn’t manage to strike me the way most of his other work does.
People draw parallels between this and The Road for good reason, but there is not as clear of a point or purpose here as there is in the latter.
That isn’t always a bad thing, and in Evenson’s work it often seems to open things up and really let you explore the ideas. In this case it felt a little more like there was a limited scope that was left up to the reader even though there wasn’t much of anywhere to go.
It was not boring, it was very entertaining at times. It just didn’t have that extra layer I want from Evenson, the gore and brutality covering up an absence of much else going on. That does discount the religious criticism, but every instance of that feels like a lesser version of what he does in the future (I guess it kind if is).
It definitely isn’t bad, but it didn’t manage to strike me the way most of his other work does.
December 4, 2024
This small Evenson book carries a helluva punch.. But don't worry after you've fallen to the ground and been broken, the book will wire you back together to endure just a little bit more suffering. The brutality of this book is written with such a distance that the dismembering of a person is treated with the same weight as a branch being broken for a fire, or a sandwich bag being crumpled and thrown into the trash. Do I think I understand what I've read fully. No. The fanaticism and single-mindedness of some of the characters echos throughout most of Evenson's fiction I've come across. No rage, just dry, crumbling horror combined with wonder at the world that exists inside of Brian's brain.
April 28, 2023
2.5/5
The writing style is SO interesting, not in a way I think most people would like but it reminds me of Sorcerer of the Wildeeps in the way that it's purposefully difficult. I kind of enjoyed it, honestly. That was mostly the only thing I liked, though.
The writing style is SO interesting, not in a way I think most people would like but it reminds me of Sorcerer of the Wildeeps in the way that it's purposefully difficult. I kind of enjoyed it, honestly. That was mostly the only thing I liked, though.
July 9, 2024
I am having a hard time deciding if this is four or five stars. This was dark dark dark and very disturbing. I actually flinched a few times while reading it. I would recommend it, but be aware that it is bleak and brutal.
August 8, 2023
Near no fathoms.
January 1, 2025
Brian Evenson is someone I wish I knew in person.
Read
September 5, 2025An affliction nightmare best describes what I just read, and I am grateful for it.
August 24, 2013
I got turned on to Evenson's work via his short story collection "Fugue State," which I really enjoyed. It was dark, it was well written, and kept me thoroughly engaged throughout.
"Dark Property," however, is a different animal altogether. One can only compare it to the darkest parts of Cormac McCarthy's oeuvre, both in use of sparse language and intentionally incorrect words whose intentional meaning is immediately obvious. A quick read at just 134 pages, I first believed the story to be about the initial woman carrying her dead child through the wilderness while avoiding several men who were more inclined to attack and rape her rather than help her along her way.
Then Evenson directs his attention to Kline, one of these men who is so unbelievably dark and sociopathic as to be genuinely frightening. Kline is some kind of (unexplained) bounty hunter of sorts, bringing kidnapped and violated women to a strange commune on the outskirts of the land. What they do to the bodies of these women (and also to the infant) is both grotesque and fascinating in its imaginative scope.
While I loved Evenson's use of language, I really wanted more explication of plot. All the moving pieces found within the pages are fantastic and more than interesting, but I was left wondering "what is everyone's purpose?" at the end. I didn't quite understand Kline's role in relation to the commune, a place that was also unfortunately devoid of any real explanation and more clarification on both of these points would've really fleshed out the story in some amazing ways.
Regardless, I've got more Evenson on my shelf to read and I'm super stoked to get into them all.
"Dark Property," however, is a different animal altogether. One can only compare it to the darkest parts of Cormac McCarthy's oeuvre, both in use of sparse language and intentionally incorrect words whose intentional meaning is immediately obvious. A quick read at just 134 pages, I first believed the story to be about the initial woman carrying her dead child through the wilderness while avoiding several men who were more inclined to attack and rape her rather than help her along her way.
Then Evenson directs his attention to Kline, one of these men who is so unbelievably dark and sociopathic as to be genuinely frightening. Kline is some kind of (unexplained) bounty hunter of sorts, bringing kidnapped and violated women to a strange commune on the outskirts of the land. What they do to the bodies of these women (and also to the infant) is both grotesque and fascinating in its imaginative scope.
While I loved Evenson's use of language, I really wanted more explication of plot. All the moving pieces found within the pages are fantastic and more than interesting, but I was left wondering "what is everyone's purpose?" at the end. I didn't quite understand Kline's role in relation to the commune, a place that was also unfortunately devoid of any real explanation and more clarification on both of these points would've really fleshed out the story in some amazing ways.
Regardless, I've got more Evenson on my shelf to read and I'm super stoked to get into them all.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews