ATTWN is so popular because it speaks to so many different desires and needs of human beings; motivations so deep in the meaning of what it means to be human that the novel will be timeless. Three of the more obvious motivations:
1. The need for justice: everyone wants the wicked to be punished. It speaks to a primary desire in us to be safe from those who would do us wrong. However, to punish the wicked in a way that is brutally satisfying requires the punisher to become wicked. ATTWN neatly solves this by saying that the wicked destroy the wicked, meaning that “crime never pays”, another deep-seated belief is acknowledged.
2. The need for recognition: everyone wants to be remembered. In ATTWN, the murderer holds onto this belief (he writes a confession in a bottle that he throws out to the sea before committing suicide). In this way,ATTWN shows how even the most twisted and distorted holds onto this desire. In this way, the reader is relieved of any guilt for having such a potentially-selfish desire because they are shown that it is natural for everyone to want this.
3. The need for superiority: everyone wants to feel good about themselves by comparison. The murderer wants this, the victims wanted this. ATTWN gives the reader what they want by letting them feel superior.
It doesn't really matter that this is fiction; it happens in real life.
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