Last Days
Last Days
I have to admit I probably never would have read any of Brian Evenson’s books if it wasn’t for a recommendation from my good friend Louis, as reading the descriptions of his books they always sounded like they contained a level of violence that frankly made me feel uncomfortable. Last Days is no exception, consisting of Evenson’s 2003 novella The Brotherhood of Mutilation and an additional novella titled Last Days to expand it into a complete novel, it tells the story of a former undercover detective, Kline, who after having his hand cut off while undercover gets dragged into investigating a murder in a religious compound where they have taken to cutting off the hand should it offend them, and any other appendages they feel like losing. With the promise of more dismemberment I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy Last Days at all.
The novel begins with Kline in his apartment after he loses his hand, depressed, but also wealthy thanks to the bag of money he grabbed on his way out of the door after his injury, which he sees as fair game as compensation for the loss. Despite wanting to be left alone, he constantly receives phone calls from two strange men, who he refers to as “lisp” and “low voice” on account of their voices, that have an offer for him. Not being interested, he eventually unplugs his phone leading to a visit from the pair who reveal themselves to be Ramse and Gous, members of a religious sect that measures devotion to God by the number of amputations, who drag him off to their compound to solve a mystery on the grounds that his lack of a hand makes him similar to them, much to his disagreement. Upon arrival, he becomes involved in an absurd investigation, followed by the classic noir betrayal, and the novel descends to its only logical conclusion, a violent, bloody, climax.
I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with Last Days, as despite its grim premise, it is treated in a very mature way by an author who clearly knows what he is doing. Everson’s depictions of acts of violence are usually very stark, matter-of-fact, never embellished or treated as grotesqueries. This sort of an almost reductive minimalism is very effective late in the novel as a mirror of the dehumanization Kline undergoes when he is forced to go to war against the sect armed with a handgun and a cleaver. One of my favourite depictions of a death is simply “Whereupon Kline killed him with the cleaver.”
The novel also has a great deal of absurdity in it. Kline is expected to solve the murder case without access to the body, the murder scene, or without being allowed to interview any potential witnesses or suspects. Ramse and Gous are at times reminiscent of Vladimir and Estragon from Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, one particular favourite exchange being when Ramse says he can could count the number of people who had self-cauterized their own amputations on one finger on one hand, and Gous helpfully reminds him he could if he still had a hand. Due to the absurdity of certain situations, the novel is often quite funny when it really shouldn’t be, making the effect even more disturbing.
At the heart of Last Days are unsettling questions about religion and belief. The nature of zealotry, ritualism, and fetishism. The disturbing system of counting amputations that the sect uses to measure piety, and the continuing discussions as to whether a whole arm should have more worth than a finger or a hand. The idea of schism, and the separate group who all call themselves Paul, both after the apostle and Wittgenstein’s brother who was a one armed pianist. The Paul’s believe Kline to be an avenging angel sent by God to destroy their former brothers for their false beliefs, armed not with the olive branch, but with the sword. From here there can only be one logical conclusion, and in Kline’s acceptance of an absolute, that he must kill all the members of the brotherhood or they will never stop following him, the novel submits to an unavoidable sense of fatalism. In the end, Kline is left to come to terms with what he has done and we are left to wonder if he can ever be human again, whether he is merely a detective, Barabbas, Judas Iscariot, or the Messiah. Highly recommended for those who can stomach it.
BRIAN EVENSON is the author of ten books of fiction, most recently the limited edition novella Baby Leg, published by New York Tyrant Press in 2009. In 2009 he also published the novel Last Days (which won the American Library Association’s award for Best Horror Novel of 2009) and the story collection Fugue State, both of which were on Time Out New York‘s top books of 2009. His novel The Open Curtain (Coffee House Press) was a finalist for an Edgar Award and an IHG Award. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Slovenian. He lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island, where he directs Brown University’s Literary Arts Program. Other books include The Wavering Knife (which won the IHG Award for best story collection), Dark Property, and Altmann’s Tongue. He has translated work by Christian Gailly, Jean Frémon, Claro, Jacques Jouet, Eric Chevillard, Antoine Volodine, and others. He is the recipient of an O. Henry Prize as well as an NEA fellowship.
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