You might have heard of this novel, even if you haven’t read it or even if you don’t read horror. That’s because it recently won the Pulitzer Prize, the first horror novel to ever do so. And given the stature of the Pulitzer Prize, that’s quite the accomplishment (though as my friend and colleague Kevin Wetmore noted while hosting the Bram Stoker Awards last month, “a horror novel wins the Bram Stoker award every year”). Recognizing what a big deal this is, I decided to check it out and got the audio book. After all, what kind of horror novel wins the Pulitzer Prize?
Well, a rather unusual novel, as it turns out.
Taking place during the Meuse-Argonne offensive in WWI, Angel Down follows Private Cyril Bagger, a con artist who was tricked into enlisting and can’t wait to rooking inexperienced gamblers back in the States. He is commanded by Major General Reis, the commander in the offensive, to go and find the source of an unearthly shrieking that is causing the men to go insane. If it turns out to be a soldier dying slowly, they are to put him out of his misery. Bagger is joined by four other soldiers; Private Louis Arno, an illiterate teenager who lied about his age to enlist and has attached himself to Bagger like a koala to its mother; Private Hugh Popkin, a violent meathead with no brains, a raging case of the clap, and an even stronger raging case for a girl back home; Private Vincent Goodspeed, a twitchy graverobber who steals from the bodies of the dead to sell to both sides; and Private Ben Veck, the group’s only black soldier, who is suffering from PTSD and wants to believe he’s been chosen for a greater purpose.
Upon finding the source of the shrieking, they discover it’s an angel in the form of a human woman. One that resembles someone each of the men know. Realizing that the ambitious Reis would use the angel for his own purposes, they go AWOL and take the angel with them, leading to an unavoidable chain of events that will not only change their lives, but maybe even change the world.
So, like I said, this is a rather unusual novel. Angel Down is apparently written in the style of a single, continuous sentence (as I had the audio book, I could only half tell), so every tenth word is an “and” or a “so.” This is nothing new in literature, as plenty of novels, most famously The Waves by Virginia Woolf, has been written this way. I’m assuming Kraus wrote it this way because stream-of-consciousness style writing like this was popular among Modernist writers post-WWI, and he’s paying tribute to that. Plus, it makes the novel stand out.
However, I did hear from plenty of fellow horror fans who find the writing style grating. And honestly, I understood; I could only listen to the audio book during certain moods, like when I was driving or cooking. Otherwise, the style would get under my skin in a bad way. (And the narrator, bless him, narrated the book so that it at least sounded like it had normal sentences.)
All that aside, most of the characters are fully realized, especially Bagger. He’s the son of a preacher who doesn’t believe in anything except himself and controlling his life. At the same time, he’s also perturbed that he likes Arno and protect the kid, and the events of the novel set him on a path of transformation. Arno and Veck are also quite sympathetic, especiallyt he latter after you learn more about him. And Reis and Popkin are easy to hate (especially Popkin).
As for the angel…she’s an enigma. She sets things in motion and for most of the novel is a MacGuffin that motivates the characters. However, later on, she does start to affect the story and the characters more, and it’s…it’s hard to tell how I should feel about her. To like her or hate her. To consider her hero or villain. Or maybe she’s just the bringer of revelations? I guess any and all of those opinions work, given that she’s an angel, and therefore beyond our ordinary comprehensions. But still, she’s a lot and it makes it hard to pin down your feelings about her.
Finally, I will say that the book does a great job of getting the horrors of war through to the reader. Just like All Quiet on the Western Front did nearly a full century ago, it does not hold back. From descriptions of the bodies covered in clay and blood, to the fear each soldier feels when German bullets or mortar fire flies overhead, to the abstract depictions of the “engines of war,” it is enough to dissuade some readers that any good can come of war. (Something some of our current crop of leaders could learn from.)
Overall, I think I will give Angel Down by Daniel Kraus a 3.8 out of 5. The narration style may not be to everyone’s tastes, but the story, characters, and themes are engaging and make you want to keep going. I can see why this book won the Pulitzer Prize. And if you decide to read it, perhaps you will, too.
Also, Happy Fourth of July, my Followers of Fear. Whatever you’re doing this Independence Day, stay safe and have fun!
Rami Ungar The Writer 