The Enchanted

This post first published May 10, 2014.

Author: Rene Denfield
First Published: March 2014
Publisher: Harper
256 pages (hardcover)
 
The Enchanted is about a prison. You’re never too sure about the exact time or place this prison is located in, but it’s clear that it is a rundown and old prison, the kind that’s still using old fashioned keys and locks rather than electronic swipe cards. Our narrator, an inmate, calls this prison an enchanted place.

However, it’s clear that this prison is anything but enchanting, in the traditional sense of the word. This prison is full of tortured souls, and it’s not just the prisoners. We have a woman known as The Lady who is an investigator for attorneys in trying to get men who are sentenced to die off death row. We have a priest who feels he has fallen and cannot help himself, much less these helpless prisoners. We have York, a man who is eagerly awaiting for his death day and does not want The Lady to save his life. And we also have the narrator, who is unnamed until the end of the book.

This book is written beautifully and the entire time I am reading it, I can’t help but feel that this book, this story, is like a poem. However, with the ambiguity of where this prison is located, or what year we are in, and even most of the characters’ names, I felt like an observer of the story; I never really felt like I was IN the story because of this. It was as if I was offered to look at a new world, but was not invited to come in.

This book emphasizes how the prison tortures and corrupts the souls of everyone involved, not just the prisoners, but the priest, the warden, the lady, the guards, etc. The book makes you feel very sad, as you only ever get to know the sad things about all the characters. It certainly sets a grim mood and atmosphere for the book, and it does a very good job of it. At the same time, I just felt so distant from the characters, like I could never connect with them and their eternal sadness.

Perhaps my feeling of distance from the story and the characters is intended. But that seems less pleasurable of a read to me.

I had trouble understanding some of the more “magical” elements of this book. I was not sure if the narrator hallucinates or what, with the description of little men in the walls and golden horses running underground through the prison. I thought it was him just imagining these things, but later, it became apparent to me that the golden horses, at least, really do have an effect on the prison. I thought maybe the golden horses running underground means earthquake … ? I don’t know. These magical elements really threw me off, to be honest.

I think this book is beautifully written and it reads like a tragic poem (I mean that in a good way!) The grim atmosphere in the book is artfully created. Most people on Goodreads seem to really love this book, but I guess it just wasn’t for me. I really did want to like it, but I just couldn’t feel connected.

My Rating: 2/5