Give Up The Ghost By p.c.m. christ

A Book Review By J.R. Dunmore

I was completely and totally unaware of what lay behind the cover of p.c.m. christ’s debut publication. Frankly, when I first heard of the book I wasn’t particularly impressed. Not because I had read it—in fact, I had never even heard of its author—but rather because I’ve seen many self-published books generated by anonymous online authors fall flat. So, needless to say, as the book first started circulating on the internet I didn’t think much of it. That was at least until I began to see trusted friends of mine describing the book using words akin to life-changing or incredible. As such, with my curiosity peaked, I procured a copy for myself, and let me tell you what…

Behind the strange cover art and mysterious pseudonym, I found a unique experience that is far greater than anything any contemporary author I have read has been able to deliver. You may be thinking that I am puffing up the book or overstating its merits to make this review more interesting, but I can assure you I am not. Give Up The Ghost is a psychedelic journey through hell and Southern Appalachia that leaves your innocence sullied and your perception of reality shattered.

Plot

The book follows the exploits of a young man named Atticus Remington Scutt as he wanders the South in search of his cousin’s murderer. All the while dealing with the demons that plague him and his family. In the interest of preserving the power of the narrative and not spoiling the story as it is written. I will stop my summary of the plot here.

Themes

Thematically, this book is a murder mystery with a strong touch of the wyrd. However, merely saying that would be an insufficient explanation at best and a disingenuous one at worst. What I came to realize in reading Give Up The Ghost, is that at its core it is equal parts manifesto and narrative. The underlying philosophy (and at times theology) is that of the heretical author, poet, and painter William Blake. Especially the notion that suffering is an integral part of a fully complete being. However, at times I found the book diverging from Blake, especially in its conception of evil as a reality and not just an experience necessary for development. Whether that was the intention of the author or not, I was unable to discern.

While Blake’s influence is very strong in the book, it seldom if ever felt preachy. As I finished the first chapter I realized that whether or not Blake’s insights into the metaphysical were true or not, in the world of AR Scutt they were more than just truth, but the bedrock of all perceivable and imperceivable reality. p.c.m. christ’s ability to manifest the world of Give Up The Ghost at times felt less like fiction and more like some kind of divination.

p.c.m. christ’s ability to manifest the world of Give Up The Ghost at times felt less like fiction and more like some kind of divination.

Upon reflection, there was no other way to write the narrative. The story demands this interaction with the fringes of reality and perception. It can’t exist without it. In a very real way, it is the story of a man’s descent into madness, while simultaneously being a story of that same man’s ascent to transcendence. A dirty and painful transcendence, but transcendence nonetheless.

Style

As far as style is concerned, the book does a number of experimental things. The most obvious is the use of red ink to denote the words of William Blake, regardless of which character is speaking them. While I am aware that this practice could be off-putting to my fellow Christians, it is my impression that it was done not as a slight against Christ, but rather to put emphasis on Blake’s words. In addition to this, there are micro-narratives that present themselves as experiences with hyper-reality or the supernatural at various points, these experiences at first caught me off guard, as they seemed to appear out of nowhere. I initially thought it was a bad practice from an inexperienced writer, but then I realized that the sudden slip into the realms of chaos was intentional. That revelation came early on as I realized that these jarring experiences were being perceived by the reader at the same time as the protagonist and in the same way. Not knowing if what you see before you is a supernatural vision, a bout of psychosis, or a tangible reality. Seemingly Incoherent in the moment, yet totally coherent with the story and, most impressively, coherent technically as good writing.

In a more technical sense, the book has respectable prose. I often enjoyed the conversations and thoughts of the characters. The plot is structured well, and even though there is some foreshadowing, it never was enough to definitively reveal the conclusion of the story. The characters are well-developed and lively. I feel as though they have been written by someone who has lived the life associated with his subjects. Frankly, I consider this much of a feat for a novella that is only 170 pages in length. A pitfall I often see writers from the city fall prey to, is struggling to write a convincing farmer, likewise, I often find people from the heartland find it difficult to write a convincing metropolitan. p.c.m. christ didn’t fall into any of these traps so far as I could tell. That is to say, he knows what he is writing because he has lived it. If not then he has me fooled.

There were a handful of potential typos that I noticed, but being that there are strange experiences in the book, I wasn’t sure if they were placed intentionally or not. I read the book in two sittings. So, if I overlooked or mistook something it was only because the story was so captivating that my focus was elsewhere (this is the mark of a great narrative). Generally, the pacing of the book was excellent. I think you should read it in four sittings at the most, and one at the least. This story isn’t a stifling slog, it is a chaotic and brutal dream. A final thought on pace, the last chapters were great, but I felt like the climax and conclusion of the story came too fast. That isn’t to say that it was bad, I believe he did a great job of tying things together, but I found myself wanting more. Another five to ten pages would have been enough to flesh everything out in a manner that still maintained the brevity of a novella without sacrificing the fullness of the story.

Final Thoughts

A wonderful thing about the book is his insights and their delivery, there were many times I had to physically put the book down because a single line grabbed me so thoroughly. I felt as though this Southern Gothic was possessed by the disembodied spirit of Fredrick Nietzsche doing “philosophy with a sledgehammer” (as Jordan Peterson once said of Nietzsche). It was the words of the author and not the red letters of Blake that had most affected me. For all of its faults mentioned and forgotten, I have never read a better debut from a modern author. It would seem that p.c.m. christ was able to revive a breed of tormented genius that is seldom seen in this day and age.

Finally, the most impressive thing about the book was its ability to be subversive while simultaneously being life-affirming. Subversive material is almost always heavy-handed parody and the quality of the work suffers for it. When subversive work isn’t an explicit parody, it is usually almost every single time gauche and vulgar. He was able to critique religious symbolism, Blakean philosophy, and modern Southern culture without demeaning or degrading them. In fact, I would go so far as to say that in his celebration of these things, they are critiqued (a critique being an appraisal of something) from a place of endearment and not a place of loathing, like most books by so-called “bitter Southerners.”

If you are interested in psychological thrillers, murder mysteries, Blakean philosophy, or good writing, I would highly recommend this book. You can find it for sale here. If you want to read any of his other work published online, you can find his Substack here. Finally, if you would like to follow him on Twitter/X you can find his account here.

---

I would like to make a disclaimer about the book, it deals with very mature topics, is explicitly violent, and can be heretical. Reader discretion is advised.

I would also like to make a disclaimer about the review, if you read this book and you find the experience very different from what I described, I apologize. That is not the fault of the book’s author, but of its reviewer. I wanted to give a concise account of a great book, I hope I have delivered that. However, I know your fault won’t be with the efforts of the author, but rather my understanding of what he intended. For that, I apologize in advance. If you read it, love it, and think my review hits the mark. You’re welcome.

Thank you so much for reading this review. If anyone who reads the book would like to comment about their thoughts below, I would encourage you to do so. Have a great week everyone. Deo Vindice. — J.R.