Hang Him When He Is Not There by Nicholas John Turner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sympathy & Confusion

Sympathy and confusion are parallel themes throughout Hang Him When He Is Not There. The two words appear frequently in each of the episodes which constitute the book. And I suspect, given my own reaction to the text, that sympathy and confusion are precisely the responses that Turner intends from his reader.

Sympathy for the disturbed, disabled, and sometimes demented characters who populate his fictional world. And confusion as a consequence of the un-chronological structure of the story and its largely anonymous narrators, each with a unique voice.

It would be improper (as well as barbaric) to reveal anything other than that, except perhaps one central idea which is required for the reader to keep in mind: “All substances have memories. All are scarred. None forget.” Books are especially prone to such a condition, which is highly infectious.

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