This is the second novel in a proposed trilogy by the Swedish horror writer (the third and final instalment forthcoming) and is a sequel to I Am Behind You, which I reviewed here: https://bit.ly/2SVDh97
Whereas I Am Behind You was just surreal, I Always find you is really a very odd book. In fact, I would almost go as far as to describe it as experimental. For a start, the protagonist is called John Ajvide Lindqvist, and if that name sounds familiar, it’s because it is, it’s the name of the author. Secondly, the protagonist informs the reader that at the time of the events of this novel, he was an aspiring magician who often performed street magic in Stockholm, but that these events contributed to him becoming a horror writer. And yes, the real John Ajvide Lindqvist, the author of this novel, used to perform street magic in Stockholm and before writing horror was a magician. Is this novel autobiographical in any way? Certainly some reviewers on Amazon have asked this very question, what with the protagonist’s biographical similarities to the author. It’s undoubted the author has based his character on himself, but what of the events in the book? Well, whether the reader believes them to be based on true events will depend how much they give credence to the supernatural.
The story itself is straightforward enough. A young man (John Ajvide Lindqvist), trying to make it as a magician in the big city, moves into a crummy apartment. His neighbours are a diverse lot, albeit not the most charming of people. He’s lonely and struggling financially. There’s something very strange in the shower block, a black substance dripping from the ceiling and into the bathtub. It calls out to them all psychically. They have the urge to cut themselves and plunge their arms into it’s depths. When they do, it transports them to another world, an endless field of grass, where they take on the forms of their inner natures. Soon obsession builds as they each become preoccupied with this other world, to the extent that this world seems dull and lacklustre. What this obsession makes them do becomes more horrific over time.
I won’t say anymore for fear of divulging spoilers, but what I will say is that the plot of this novel could have been told in a more conventional way. Indeed, many of the author’s earlier works, such as his highly regarded vampire novel, Let The Right One In, were more conventional and yet extremely good. This time the author has opted for a much more experimental style and I have to say that for me it does not work. Quite apart from the protagonist’s similarities to the author, the writing itself is experimental. The narrator regularly talks to the reader. While this is normal to a certain extent in first person narratives, the author takes this further in I Always Find You, to the extent that I would categorise the writing as at times breaking the fourth wall. The fourth wall is a performance convention in television and theatre whereby actors don’t address the audience and thus break the illusion that they are unaware of being watched. One of the best examples from recent years of this rule being successfully broken is when Frank Underwood speaks to the viewer in Netflix’s House of Cards.
The fourth rules applies to novels as well and while all first person narratives break it to a certain degree, the John Ajvide Lindqvist of this novel (the character not the novelist) breaks it enough to be noteworthy. Whether in theatre, television, or the written page, when the fourth wall is broken well, such as in House of Cards, it is a very effective and compelling technique. Unfortunately, I felt it did not work in I Always Find You. Perhaps it was because the novel is just so weird generally, or perhaps it’s just the writing didn’t translate well from Swedish into English, but I found myself really noticing this as an issue. Personally, I think that when a reader finds themselves noticing how a novel is written, rather than what is written, there’s a problem. I found myself noticing, really noticing, how this novel was written, to the extent that it distracted me from the narrative.
I’m not sure I would have enjoyed this novel much anyway, it really didn’t do it for me as a story, but I have to say I nearly gave up at points with this book. It’s only because I quite enjoyed the first book in the series that I persevered. Some people laud experimental novels and criticise convention. But there’s a reason most novels are more conventional and it’s because, with a few honourable exceptions, more experimental writing just doesn’t work very well. And conventional doesn’t have to mean unoriginal or boring, John Ajvide Lindqvist’s own work proves that. Few horror readers would accuse Let The Right One In of being unoriginal or boring. It was a brilliant novel which met with well-deserved success, both with the critics and the reading public, and leading to not one, but two movie adaptations.
Personally, I hope the author writes a more traditional horror narrative for the third title of this trilogy.
2 out of 5 stars
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