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A Vagrant At The House Of Love
'Dying isn't the worst thing that can happen you.'
A ghost wanders a city, watching people's lives as the world goes on without him, sifting through his own past in an attempt to understand why he hasn't gone to heaven or hell. He becomes obsessed with a beautiful but damaged girl, Michelle, and fearing she is destined for the same fate as him, resolves to try and save her.
A Vagrant at the House of Love is a novel about love, obsession, memory, dreams, alienation, addiction and madness, a rage against the heavens shot through with pitch black humour.
A ghost wanders a city, watching people's lives as the world goes on without him, sifting through his own past in an attempt to understand why he hasn't gone to heaven or hell. He becomes obsessed with a beautiful but damaged girl, Michelle, and fearing she is destined for the same fate as him, resolves to try and save her.
A Vagrant at the House of Love is a novel about love, obsession, memory, dreams, alienation, addiction and madness, a rage against the heavens shot through with pitch black humour.
106 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 27, 2016
This story in a lot of ways is a no holds barred account of life. Not just the protagonists life, but the lives of those he haunts as well. Nothing is candy coated here. It’s utterly beautiful in its honesty.
Even though the story is told from Racine’s perspective, I still feel like I know only parts of him. The parts he either let leak out or purposefully showed. Even his name, Racine, is not his real one. It’s a bit of reality that he manipulated to create this image of who he wanted us to see.
His character feels very shallow to me. Which when I really think on it is odd. There is a pile of introspection throughout the book that should have made me sympathetic to his cause and in some ways I am. In others though, I feel a bit hesitant to take it at face value.
This is a complicated matter for me. When I initially finished the book I was frustrated. There is no clear explanation or closure of where Racine is trapped or if he gets out. There is loads on speculation throughout the story but nothing is concrete. That annoyed me initially and if I’m honest is what really keeps this book from being great. It’s a dang good book. Just a smidgen shy of being great.
The writing here if fantastic. The story flows well and as a reader I really got the sense of Racine’s listlessness.
I enjoyed the book. It’s not a light read by any means but I have no regrets after reading it. The only real complaints I have are the lack of closure, the unexplained world and the shallowness of the main character.
To view my full review, check out my blog AlliesOpinions on Wordpress!
Even though the story is told from Racine’s perspective, I still feel like I know only parts of him. The parts he either let leak out or purposefully showed. Even his name, Racine, is not his real one. It’s a bit of reality that he manipulated to create this image of who he wanted us to see.
His character feels very shallow to me. Which when I really think on it is odd. There is a pile of introspection throughout the book that should have made me sympathetic to his cause and in some ways I am. In others though, I feel a bit hesitant to take it at face value.
This is a complicated matter for me. When I initially finished the book I was frustrated. There is no clear explanation or closure of where Racine is trapped or if he gets out. There is loads on speculation throughout the story but nothing is concrete. That annoyed me initially and if I’m honest is what really keeps this book from being great. It’s a dang good book. Just a smidgen shy of being great.
The writing here if fantastic. The story flows well and as a reader I really got the sense of Racine’s listlessness.
I enjoyed the book. It’s not a light read by any means but I have no regrets after reading it. The only real complaints I have are the lack of closure, the unexplained world and the shallowness of the main character.
To view my full review, check out my blog AlliesOpinions on Wordpress!
June 2, 2015
Top Pick!!
Every now and then an unexpected book comes along and reminds you why you fell in love with reading. "A Vagrant at the House of Love" is one such book. The storyline is not complex with clever plot twists and surprises. Instead, its power comes from the author’s ability to pull readers completely inside the novel’s dark and curious world. In a remarkably pure and honest effort, John Horan creates a compelling account of what might happen when we die.
The novel starts with Racine staring down at his own dead body. He’d passed away while drunk, choking on his own vomit, “A bit of a rock star’s death.” He expects the proverbial tunnel of light to show up, but when it doesn’t, he wanders about the city where he encounters other “blues”— souls stuck in limbo with no idea what to do about it. Twelve of these lost souls gather nearly every night to discuss their enigmatic condition: “…to be and not to be at the same time.” A drunk, a junkie, a monk, a professor and an atheist are among the eclectic group that tries to theorize why they’re stuck between worlds and how they might move on...
...read more at UndergroundBookReviews(dot)com!
Every now and then an unexpected book comes along and reminds you why you fell in love with reading. "A Vagrant at the House of Love" is one such book. The storyline is not complex with clever plot twists and surprises. Instead, its power comes from the author’s ability to pull readers completely inside the novel’s dark and curious world. In a remarkably pure and honest effort, John Horan creates a compelling account of what might happen when we die.
The novel starts with Racine staring down at his own dead body. He’d passed away while drunk, choking on his own vomit, “A bit of a rock star’s death.” He expects the proverbial tunnel of light to show up, but when it doesn’t, he wanders about the city where he encounters other “blues”— souls stuck in limbo with no idea what to do about it. Twelve of these lost souls gather nearly every night to discuss their enigmatic condition: “…to be and not to be at the same time.” A drunk, a junkie, a monk, a professor and an atheist are among the eclectic group that tries to theorize why they’re stuck between worlds and how they might move on...
...read more at UndergroundBookReviews(dot)com!
March 30, 2016
Horan's voice and style is subdued and spare--cleanly measured breaths between sentences--reinforcing the elegiac tone of the novel. Not really plot-driven, Vagrant is a haunted, meditative reverie, its arc hinging on the protagonist's obsession with saving a young girl who is destroying herself through addiction and dark choices. His love for her, and inability to do anything to stop her downward spiral (he a ghost trapped in a purgatory) is the tortured heartbeat of the novel. An engaging and economically penned debut by Mr. Horan. I look forward to reading more of his work.
April 9, 2016
Poetic from beginning to end. This book had me engaged and wanting more! I hope to read more by John Horan.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews