I'm not sure whether this deserves 4 stars or 3, but it definitely merits at least one second reading. This review may change as I think about this book more (and maybe figure things out about it more).Just a little background on the author: Egolf was born in Spain, his family moved to the U.S., he lived in Washington and Kentucky as a child, then in Philadelphia, Paris (where he claimed was the best place to write about Kentucky), and Lancaster, PA as an adult. In addition to writing, he played in a punk rock band, and was a political activist, supposedly joining several others in laying on a road traveled by George W. Bush in 2004, stripped down to nothing but a thong.In 2005, after completing Kornwolf, Egolf killed himself with a shotgun. He had been living in Lancaster at the time, where much of the book is set. This indicates that Egolf likely suffered from severe mental problems, which seems even more likely from reading this book.Based on descriptions and reviews, his other works sound just as warped. Not only is the content of Kornwolf disturbing, the writing style and structure are somewhat strange as well - not necessarily in a postmodern, self-conscious, well-crafted way. The unfolding of the narrative is jarring, if not disjointed. Divided into five parts, the first, called "Introductions," is very simply that - chapters of character introductions, without any seeming connection, although those do come in later. But the characters, odd themselves, seem very disparate from each other, so it's hard to see how they can be part of a unified story. We have:- "The Blue Ball Devil," a mysterious creature said to haunt the town of Stepford (a small town in Amish country, based for the most part on Lancaster) - no one seems to know what it is or even be able to accurately describe it, other than having a vaguely canine and/or apelike appearance, and an uncanny resemblance to Richard Nixon- Ephraim Bontrager, a mute and tortured Amish 18-year old who causes mischief and listens to Slayer and George Jones- Benedictus Bontrager, Ephraim's father, a self-serving and cruel man who seems to paradoxically embody Old Order Amish values as well as secular materialistic greed- Owen Brymmor, a vagabond reporter/wannabe boxer who (grudgingly) returns to his hometown, seemingly simulatenously blessed with luck and a constant draw to danger- Jack Stumpf, gruff boxing coach somehow involved with the Blue Ball Devil- Fannie Hostler - Ephraim's cousin, one of the more innocent characters, an Amish girl who tries to live out her order's values while not being afraid to defy them for the sake of compassionThere are other characters as well, but you get the idea.Gradually, these characters - a mix of Amish, ex-Amish, and eccentric non-Amish ("English" as opposed to "Pennsyltucky Dutch") - come together in a complicated, bizarre culmination of events that involve the mysterious Blue Ball Devil and mass hysteria.We never really find out what the Blue Ball Devil is – a werewolf? a Devil-possessed shapeshifter? some kind of genetic mutant? - though Egolf does, via Brymmor's investigations, go into theorizing about various cryptozoological creatures and werewolf myths. It seems to be something straight out of Medeival folklore, purely malicious and beyond human reason. The town takes on Medeival witch-hunt lunacy as well. Just as much horror comes from the very human inhabitants of Stepford as the Blue Ball Devil – vandalism, arson, assault, and murder. The cycles of the moon play into this, affecting them as much as the creature.Enough information is pieced together to give the story coherence, yet not enough to give full understanding of everything that happens. I’m not sure whether this is intentional – which seems unlikely, given the intricate explications Egolf goes into – or whether this is a consequence of Egolf having killed himself shortly after finishing the book, and thus not being able to revise it – which doesn’t necessarily explain it either, as he clearly wanted things to be bizarre and mysterious. It’s probably a mix of both intentional and unintentional ambiguity.Most of the time, the writing is fairly straightforward. The only exceptions are a few stream-of-consciousness passages. However, there is also often an edge to the writing. He jumps from character to character, in a series of third-person limited vignettes, and yet Egolf seems to be able to maintain a distinct voice when focusing on each character. The wording and sentence structure reflects the character’s personality to a degree. Brymmor’s is intellectual and sarcastic, for example, while Stumpf’s is terse and tough, and Ephraim’s is confused and angry. This indicates Egolf’s talent, a potential perhaps not fully realized, at least for this novel.The ending does not really resolve much. It seems to be left open for a sequel. Yet, whatever follows the events depicted here would probably be anticlimactic. A litany of injured and murdered characters – shot, run over, decapitated, mauled to death. In one scene, one unfortunate man ends up suspended from a roof, flogged, beaten with a sack of potatoes, and a candle shoved in his rectum. A 13-car pileup, a riot of scared, angry townspeople setting the fields on fire to flush out the monster….An indication of redemption, if extremely painful and not fully guaranteed….I had difficulty getting into this at first, even considered putting it down after the first 50 pages seemed to lack any sense of cohesion or compelling reason to go on. Yet, the glimpses of strangeness I got – murky pictures of the Blue Ball Devil, this Amish teenager who listens to heavy metal – made me push myself to investigate further. If it hadn’t picked up, I may have abandoned it, but soon I became enthralled by its tangled, abnormally beautiful tapestry. Also, I was interested in reading a book set in rural Pennsylvania, especially one involving the Amish. (Egolf thinly veils his satire of Pennsylvania, which he calls “Pennsyltucky” – Philadelphia is Philth Town, Pittsburgh is Pittburg, Harrisburg is Horaceburg, etc. Many of the characters behave as luckless hillbillies – some of the characters, though white themselves, call them “honkies.” The Amish are not caricatured into being either pure, isolated holy people, or fanatical bumpkin hypocrites – they are depicted with as much variation of good and bad as the non-Amish.) This was what made me pick this up in the first place, from seeing it on a library display and reading the back cover. This is one of the few books I had I read and enjoyed without any prior knowledge of the author or book, and no recommendations by others.This deserves a second reading, though I think there’s a 50-50 chance I’ll either like it more or less.
Ugh.First off, I always commend people that can write books, because I know it's a task, and I hate to be critical, and I myself haven't written one, so who am I to say?The premise was awesome, the execution, was frankly, confusing.I ditched the book at page 164, almost halfway through, and a full 64 pages past when I had lost interest. I kept wondering when the werewolf would actually show up, and when it would be relevant?Problems I had:-The story was disjointed, disorienting, and frankly the plot was only moved along by completely uninteresting, and irrelevant information. I often felt the story was standing completely still spinning it's wheels. -I didn't attach to most of the characters because they were too gruff and, telling it from no clear narration only made it more detachable. - I felt myself constantly asking: why do I need to know this? Why do I care? Why is it relevant to the story? ...and not being able to answer it almost every time.- There was so much random slang and abbreviations that I got so annoyed I didn't even want to look up what I didn't understand. I felt like I was part of a joke I didn't get.- I hated the constant abbreviation of "Py. Dutch". Who abbreviates in a book?There were a ton of typos, and spots were information was just not present (i.e. a date as 19___, yes it was written like that) but I attribute that problem to it being a not for resale proof that still needed to be edited (picked up at a thrift store).Maybe this book was tons better after the editor got a hold of it? Maybe I was just asking too much from it? It's been years since I've ditched a book without struggling through (I think this is only the second time, to be honest), but I felt like it was, for once in my life, sucking my desire to read away. I found myself playing games on my phone in bed instead of reading.
What do You think about Kornwolf (2005)?
In the small Lancaster County town of Blue Ball, there have been reports of livestock carnage, property damage, and sightings of an odd creature variously described as animalistic, hairy, and strangely resembling Richard Nixon. The events that unfold encompass a large cast of characters, but focus mainly on Ephraim Bontrager, a mute Amish teenager; Jack Stumpf, the owner of a boxing gym; and Owen Brynmor, a junior reporter who just returned to the town where he grew up. Many parts are violent and disturbing, but there is a wicked gleam of satiric humor that keeps the novel from being a regular horror story.
—Julie
An intriguing work hampered by some imprecise wording and a general sense of not being fully refined. The premise is original and the attention to detail helps to flesh out some of the scenes, but overall it feels too loosely connected to really carry the impact it’s seeking.It was nice to see a return to the werewolf-as-embodiment-of-community-tensions-trope; it seems like most recent works go straight for the cheap horror route, and it was nice to see hints of something deeper here. It was also great to see the (view spoiler)[Stubbe Peter (hide spoiler)]
—Duckie
um, yea.....amish werewolf doth not Harry Crews make.it's sort of like watching an episode of Fantasy Island. i wasn't bored but am i really a better person because of it?actually, that might be a little harsh on Fantasy Island. i like fantasy island. Especially the one where Annette Funicello is trying to separate her personality from the ventriloquist doll she uses in her Vegas act so Mr. Rourke makes the doll a real person and anything she does, Annette can feel, including the time the sexy ventriloquist doll/woman sleeps with Annette Funicello's love interest. she could feel it (down there). that was a good episode.the author does not use a single ventriloquist doll in this book.Or mention Annette Funicello.too bad.
—Paul
