Last Days

Product Information

eres impresionable, avisado quedas…la novela no se trata de un paseo por el bosque una mañana de primavera 😬.

After learning this, I went back and reread the conclusion to the Brotherhood section, and I must admit that would have made for one hell of a powerful novella. Rudely usher into their car and driven to their compound, he’s forced into the role of reluctant detective. Especially if we read them as alien and grotesque, and I would suggest that Kline’s encounter with the Brotherhood, at least in part, can and should be read as an overreaction by someone fundamentally alienated by what he regards as Other.Evenson occupies a special place in contemporary fiction because he’s a giant of the literary realm who loves to produce genre fiction. I understand that Evenson is a voluntarily ex-communicated Mormon, something I am quite familiar with as my wife took the same route. This was my first Evenson and I picked it up originally because one of my favorite authors, Peter Straub, wrote the introduction for it. There is obviously a lot of anger directed towards organized religion in LAST DAYS, but there is a lot more to it. You can’t have your arm amputated at the shoulder and claim to have amputated seven limbs: five fingers, one hand, one arm.

The Brotherhood of Mutilation” is about Kline’s introduction to a sect which practices the voluntary amputation of limbs and the more limbs you’ve amputated, the higher you are in the hierarchy of the sect. I could picture this being made into a movie and have it penned by Frank Miller and have it directed by Zack Snyder! And then evil, evil Borchert gives Kline just enough to compel him, as a PI, to address the itch of curiousness. Last Days is one of those brilliant narratives that seem very simple and straightforward and then end up having more layers than a truck full of onions.Evenson takes the essence of this celluloid horror and transforms it into something grittier and more nuanced.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say I wasted my time, but… There was nothing beneath the shallow surface. a mutilation cult, that believes knowledge and enlightenment comes with the more parts one severs from their body. The novel received mostly positive reviews, with many critics noting the story's unique tonal blend of body and psychological horror with black humor.

The curious power structure in the compound, where the man who has the least means of moving is the most powerful, is another. In contrast to many noir detectives such as Philip Marlowe, Kline isn’t likely, either, to be verbally abusive, snarky or clever.