‘McCarthy is a master stylist, perhaps without equal in American letters’ Village Voice
The Child of God (Picador Books)
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Book Description
By the author of the critically acclaimed Border Trilogy, Child of God is a taut, chilling novel that plumbs the depths of human degradation. Lester Ballard, a violent, solitary and introverted young backwoodsman dispossessed on his ancestral land, is released from jail and allowed to haunt the hill country of East Tennessee, preying on the population with his strange lusts. McCarthy transforms commonplace brushes with humanity - in homesteads, stores and in the woods - into stunning scenes of the comic and the grotesque, and as the story hurtles toward its unforgettable conclusion, depicts the most sordid aspects of life with dignity, humour, and characteristic lyrical brilliance. ‘A powerful and talented writer, able to elicit compassion for his protagonist however terrible his action’ Sunday Times ‘A reading experience so impressive, so “new”, so clearly well made that it seems almost to defy the easy aesthetic categories . . . Accomplished in rare, spare, precise yet poetic prose’ New Republic ‘McCarthy charts the terrible decline of Lester Ballard with passion, tenderness, eloquence, and a humour which, at its best, is attuned perfectly to the bitter wryness of the South’ Times Literary Supplement
About the Author
Cormac McCarthy is the author of ten acclaimed novels, most recently The Road. Among his honours are the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Inured to the ever-promised and never-delivered 'brilliance' and 'shockingly compelling' blurbs of UK crime fiction, I thought I would go in a completely different direction. I read four books by McCarthy, this one, 'Outer Dark', also 'The Orchard Keeper and 'Blood Meridian'. What a revelation! Entirely different and refreshing. Dark, brutal, unforgiving, actually compelling (such an over-used word, and so often applied to books that are about as 'compelling' as the proverbial paint-watching exercise), this was gripping and unputdownable from the very start. It takes a special kind of writer to not only deliver a great story, but also deliver it in language that is very much his/her own, and that makes you stop and view things differently. Can't recommend it highly enough!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There were points in this novel when I felt something akin to sympathy for McCarthys' antagonist - which is a fine achievement by the author considering Ballards' many heinous crimes.
Despite the subject matter - which is hardly light, we're in Ed Gein territory - as the other reviewers have alluded to this is a very easy novel to read as a result of McCarthys' writing.
I came to this novel via some of McCarthys' later work - "No Country for Old Men" and "The Road" - and the clarity of his writing stands up perfectly well in comparison to these two novels.
Despite the subject matter - which is hardly light, we're in Ed Gein territory - as the other reviewers have alluded to this is a very easy novel to read as a result of McCarthys' writing.
I came to this novel via some of McCarthys' later work - "No Country for Old Men" and "The Road" - and the clarity of his writing stands up perfectly well in comparison to these two novels.
28 of 31 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Lester Ballard, the main character in McCarthy's ominous Child of God, is not the most likable guy. He's an antisocial psychopath who lurks around the backwoods scaring and killing innocent people. We are drawn in, however, because despite his horrifying lifestyle we start to walk in his shoes. McCarthy's striking descriptions and perpetually foreboding tone lead us into a tangled world where loneliness leads to murderous extremes, and the woods become the playing ground for our demonical hero. At the end we feel unsettled: we like him.
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4.1 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterful.
This 'novella' is a work of pure art.I have read many short books in my life, Hemingways Old man and the sea and Steinbecks Of mice and men spring to mind but I have never read... Read more
Published 2 months ago by micky
5.0 out of 5 stars
McCarthy's Best
I have read all of McCarthy's book and this was the most recent read for me but I loved it. The story is disturbing and very bleak but you really feel for the main character... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Patrick Cheeld
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another McCarthy masterpiece.
A stunning book. The subject matter is not for the faint hearted but McCarthy never flinches. Even while describing the most brutal crimes you are carried away by his descriptive... Read more
Published 3 months ago by T. D. DICK
5.0 out of 5 stars
No Country For Old Men movie brought me to this man
I can honestly say I've never read anyone better when it comes to using the English language. Every sentence is a feast of evocative imagery and toe curling action.
Published 3 months ago by Mr. J. Alexander
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliantly Written
I had read most of Cormac McCarthy's other work by the time I got to this earlier novel, but it was still a pleasant surprise (if you can call it pleasant). Read more
Published 5 months ago by Guy
5.0 out of 5 stars
A simple man
Child of God is a dark, funny and moving novel about a serial killer. Like Mark Twain before him, McCarthy does an excellent job of painting a local landscape and people, finding... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jack Heslop
5.0 out of 5 stars
so powerful
Will stay with you for days. Somehow McCarthy has the ability to keep you just ouside the soul of his character - half confidante and accomplice, half horrified observer - yes a... Read more
Published 10 months ago by nickdavies
4.0 out of 5 stars
McCARTHY hits the spots -if it's your cup of tea!
A story written some 30 years ago by Cormac McCarthy
which includes some graphic and very unpleasant scenes,
hits the spots for those who seem him as a great writer on... Read more
which includes some graphic and very unpleasant scenes,
hits the spots for those who seem him as a great writer on... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Highmark Ltd
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Book
Typical McArthy - you canno stop reading this - I read it in one session. Very disturbing as are all his books but brilliantly written as always.
Published 14 months ago by D. R. Andrew
4.0 out of 5 stars
McCarthy again
Another thoroughly engaging book from McCarthy. Short, disturbing and challenging. A little lighter than The Road. Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2010 by D. Bury
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