Molly Foust reviewed The witch of Hebron by James Howard Kunstler
Review of 'The witch of Hebron' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This out-with-a-whimper dystopia takes place in our near future in upstate New York. The plot moves around an eleven year old boy who runs away from home after the untimely death of his dog. His innocence quickly unravels when he is joined by a psychopath and we are shuttled away from an insular, stalwart community to a world harsh by necessity. Yet this future is not without kindness, magic and beauty.
The Witch of Hebron is an exceptional portrait of a world gone to ruin. Unlike the usual scene of muscled heroes with endless ammo saving big-breasted former school teachers and their children from bands of lawless ruffians, The Witch of Hebron reads like literature. It carries an underlying theme that is a dirge for lost progress rather than that lesser dystopian trope: the trumpeting, smug defeat of a world that got its just desserts and waits to be plundered …
This out-with-a-whimper dystopia takes place in our near future in upstate New York. The plot moves around an eleven year old boy who runs away from home after the untimely death of his dog. His innocence quickly unravels when he is joined by a psychopath and we are shuttled away from an insular, stalwart community to a world harsh by necessity. Yet this future is not without kindness, magic and beauty.
The Witch of Hebron is an exceptional portrait of a world gone to ruin. Unlike the usual scene of muscled heroes with endless ammo saving big-breasted former school teachers and their children from bands of lawless ruffians, The Witch of Hebron reads like literature. It carries an underlying theme that is a dirge for lost progress rather than that lesser dystopian trope: the trumpeting, smug defeat of a world that got its just desserts and waits to be plundered by the hot and clever in an action-packed, zombie/vampire/lunatic packed- plot.
