Scan barcode
twotoes's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
The conversations of the other town folks are great.
ledimirnunez's review against another edition
5.0
Lester Ballard is unforgiving, weird, and amoral. I didn't know what to expect when I picked up Child of God, but this left me feeling how I felt when reading Lolita. Cormac McCarthy’s writing is so darn exquisite, but the story itself is demoralizing and scary.
McCarthy doesn’t use quotation marks, but you can still follow the dialogue and he somehow captures a vernacular that makes you feel you inhabit the world he creates, which if you did, be very careful around Lester Ballard.
Ballard, whom you hear about through hearsay, is labeled a sort of sociopathic outcast. You can tell he’s been through some things, and initially, I kind of wonder if I can trust the things people were saying about him. Sometimes people lie, they make up stories, and maybe he just went through some things. But what you see is how these stories about him begin to shatter the trust in a town, no one wants to be alone with him. His interactions are downright weird and spiral down to the grotesque. I’ll let you take the journey and meet Ballard for yourself, but what McCarthy did in this novel is nothing short of amazing.
It’s a short book, about 200 pages, total. I couldn’t put it down!
McCarthy doesn’t use quotation marks, but you can still follow the dialogue and he somehow captures a vernacular that makes you feel you inhabit the world he creates, which if you did, be very careful around Lester Ballard.
Ballard, whom you hear about through hearsay, is labeled a sort of sociopathic outcast. You can tell he’s been through some things, and initially, I kind of wonder if I can trust the things people were saying about him. Sometimes people lie, they make up stories, and maybe he just went through some things. But what you see is how these stories about him begin to shatter the trust in a town, no one wants to be alone with him. His interactions are downright weird and spiral down to the grotesque. I’ll let you take the journey and meet Ballard for yourself, but what McCarthy did in this novel is nothing short of amazing.
It’s a short book, about 200 pages, total. I couldn’t put it down!
kate_kd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
darthxduder's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
anders_t_powell's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
laerugo's review against another edition
4.0
chilling in its candidness and very interestingly written. read for my style in fiction class; there's a lot of curious narration choices. I'm not sure if I love it but it's definitely unforgettable.
daviesam's review against another edition
4.0
Being that it is a McCarthy piece, the writing is as good as to be expected. That being said, majority of the 4 star weight comes just from the fact it is a McCarthy work and writing something “bad” would be out of his wheelhouse.
This story was disturbing. Child of God highlights the worst of humanity while simultaneously making the reader gain some sort of sympathy for Ballard (?) (still unsure how that is possible/my feelings towards it).
If you like dark novels, not in a TikTok sense of the word where it just has a POS male love interest, then I guess I would recommend it. I would preface that with one of the biggest trigger warnings I’ve ever given, and a lot of introspection to see what you can handle.
Remarkable for it’s darkness, forgetful compared to other works of his like the Road.
Light light 4/5, probably more accurately a 3.75.
This story was disturbing. Child of God highlights the worst of humanity while simultaneously making the reader gain some sort of sympathy for Ballard (?) (still unsure how that is possible/my feelings towards it).
If you like dark novels, not in a TikTok sense of the word where it just has a POS male love interest, then I guess I would recommend it. I would preface that with one of the biggest trigger warnings I’ve ever given, and a lot of introspection to see what you can handle.
Remarkable for it’s darkness, forgetful compared to other works of his like the Road.
Light light 4/5, probably more accurately a 3.75.
uglyxkorean's review against another edition
4.0
James Franco directing the movie adaptation didn’t age well