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Child of God

by Cormac McCarthy

3.83 · rating details · 4,722 ratings · 584 reviews

In this taut, chilling novel, Lester Ballard--a violent, dispossessed man falsely accused of rape--haunts the hill country of East Tennessee when he is released from jail. While telling his story, Cormac McCarthy depicts the most sordid aspects of life with dignity, humor, and characteristic lyrical brilliance.

Paperback, 208 pages

Published August 11th 2010 by Vintage (first published 1974)

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Feb 08, 2012

Shan Jago rated it

· review of another edition

As the title suggests Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God is a rosy, heartwarming (heck, smoldering) tale to read aloud on a winter’s eve. Sit the children by the fire (no no, not in the fire) and wrap them up real cozy while they sip their marshmallowed cocoa – because Child of God is a treat the entire family can enjoy. Each chapter is short so have some fun while you take turns reading. And after the kids are tucked away in dreamland, well, perhaps you and the lovely Missus can reenact some of the...more

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Aug 28, 2008

Matt rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone that thinks the public school system is unimportant.

Shelves: 2008, cpl, uncle-cormac

'Child of God' is the third McCarthy book that I have read over the past few weeks. I usually try to stay away from any kind of review or description of a book just prior to reading, but I had recently come across the fact that this was supposed to be McCarthy's darkest work.

Boy, I'll say.

This book will make you feel like you need a long shower afterwards. I believe that this was the same affect that Ellis was going for in 'American Psycho', but I think that McCarthy out-...more'Child of God' is the third McCarthy book that I have read over the past few weeks. I usually try to stay away from any kind of review or description of a book just prior to reading, but I had recently come across the fact that this was supposed to be McCarthy's darkest work.

Boy, I'll say.

This book will make you feel like you need a long shower afterwards. I believe that this was the same affect that Ellis was going for in 'American Psycho', but I think that McCarthy out-Batemaned him on this one. This book caused many more squirmy moments for me than 'American Psycho' did. The reason for the four stars is because of McCarthy's writing style. He intrigues me as a writer because his prose seems to be very sparse, yet at the same time oddly descriptive. In any given scene he seems to focus on the things that no other writer would focus on, and this gives his work a certain eerieness.

'Child of God' evidently falls into what is known as McCarthy's "Appalachian Period". What this means as far as this book is that we get to witness the ugliness of life that is brought about by extreme poverty and ignorance with little possibility of a reprieve from either. Leading the charge is main character Lester Ballard, who is on a real redneck rampage. Imagine the character of Ernest T. Bass from the Andy Griffith show and Buffalo Bill from 'Silence of the Lambs' having a love child. Then imagine this child having all of the charm and warmth of the toothless fellow that defiled Ned Beatty and his tighty whities in 'Deliverance' and you pretty much have a composite sketch of Lester Ballard.

The tone of the story reminded me of 'No Country For Old Men' in that it is basically McCarthy saying "here's a disturbing story, let's take a closer look...". The sheriff in this one is not as fleshed out as a character as the one in 'No Country', so I didn't even pick up on any higher moral messages that may have been afoot.

Basically, if you like McCarthy beyond the sphere of Oprah, you have probably already read this book. If you like that squirmy feeling that arises during off-kilter scenes of violence and sex, by all means give this one a try.

Now it's time for a couple of tangents for my own amusement...

First, does anyone else have a fixed mental image of a writer when reading a literary work? The most obvious example of this would be the one picture everyone has seen of Poe or Emily Dickinson. My mental image of McCarthy was always that of the wisened old guy of amazing reproductive prowess. If you don't know the one I speak of, go to the quotes section and type in his name. However, I learned from the back cover of this book that back in the Seventies he was the John Holmes of reclusive, literary types. If you care to see for yourself, here's a link...
http://www.cormacmccarthy.com/images/Chi...

Second and more seriously, I am intrigued by the potential history of a book. If it's used or from the library I always wonder who else has held this book and what did it mean to them? Of course at the same time I am hoping against hope that it was not a nose-picker or chronic pimple-popper, and so it goes. The reason for bringing this up is because I checked this book out from the same library that I often frequented as a small child. The copyright is 1973 and the library stamp is 1974, so the book has been there almost as long as i've been alive. I'm just curious how many times I may have tottered past the shelf on my way to play with the puppets or check out 'The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins' for the twenty-seventh time completely unaware of this little seething slab of darkness that awaited. Also, this town is the epitome of conservatism and fundamentalism (rush limbaugh grew up here, if that gives you a clue) so what the heck is this book doing in our library? The only other McCarthy books that they have in stock are the "Big Three" from the last few years. Was the person in charge of ordering books in '74 simply unaware, or was it all a part of a plan to throw a monkey wrench in the system? Alas, some questions can never be answered and all self-indulgences (including this one) must come to an end. (less)

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Jan 22, 2011

Paul rated it

Shelves: hidden-gems, novels

ME AND CORMAC, WE GO BACK A LONG WAY.

This was a re-read, my first for years, and once again I loved Cormac's outrageous, daring style. I gave it five stars all those years ago and I give it five now. I felt again that I was in the presence of a writer who could dip all the other American writers in his Weetabix and mush em all together and eat em up and go for another bowl of em. This guy is the real deal. Well allright! So how come I didn't like any other CMcC book if he's such a wo...moreME AND CORMAC, WE GO BACK A LONG WAY.

This was a re-read, my first for years, and once again I loved Cormac's outrageous, daring style. I gave it five stars all those years ago and I give it five now. I felt again that I was in the presence of a writer who could dip all the other American writers in his Weetabix and mush em all together and eat em up and go for another bowl of em. This guy is the real deal. Well allright! So how come I didn't like any other CMcC book if he's such a wow? Good question, you know. I had a go at "Blood Meridian", and as everyone knows, that's like reading the Bible if God was Sam Peckinpah. Beautiful beautiful writing completely squandered on an endurance-test Western with zero story and zero character. So I failed there. "All the Pretty Horses" - well, that was better, and I did finish it, but by now Cormac's style has got ever more outre, he's much more deeply in love with the conjunction and and by then he'd got too mythtastic for my taste. I still like my soap-opera, thank you, I’m just this suburban gentleman in a semi-detatched house with a cat and a bottle of real ale and a High Llamas cd. Myths? Not so much. So I think Cormac and me had a parting of the ways. But if I recall right, before we bade farewell and he took the road west, we shook hands cordially. It felt cordial, that is, although his face betrayed no expression.

THIS WILL MELT YOUR FACE

As to "Child of God" - this book is a total treat, but I got to warn you, the main character is a little unsavoury. Lester Ballard, our grisly necrophile protagonist, has quite a bit of the old Ed Gein about him. Which if so would make him the fourth fictional incarnation of Ed, so inspirational was he, and that is leaving aside the biopic about him, which is called "Ed Gein". There was Hitchcock's Psycho, there was ol' Leatherface in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (was ever a film so aptly titled - it was in Texas, there was a massacre, it was done with a chainsaw) and there was the regrettable Buffalo Bill in "The Silence of the Tiny Little Baa-Lambs" with his human skin dresses. Now Barbara Gowdy, in her arresting story "We So Seldom Look On Love", makes a case that there are indeed true necrophiles, people that only love people if they're dead. (Imagine the fate of a necrophile who's looking for commitment! I guess the only solution there would be taxidermy.) But I argue that the great majority of necrophiles wind up with the dead through poor lifestyle choice and low self esteem. They are just lonely. But in a special way. You and me, we may have been through lonely times, you may still be going through those times, and I only wish I could reach my hand through this screen and give your shoulder a little squeeze, wouldn't that be nice, hmm, maybe it wouldn't, can you imagine if you booted up your computer and all these arms came out, wiggling around? Doesn't bear thinking about - I digress - this loneliness that we have suffered was still on the planet Earth, it was a recognisable, common emotion. We could have been rescued at any time. These necrophiles though, the loneliness of these guys is a cold cold moon of Pluto. They are off the scale of ordinary inabilities to communicate, to invite affection, they are the antimatter of human dalliance. They make autists look like quiz-show comperes. The only date they've been on is where they shoot em in the back of the head and lug em home. That's a date. Of sorts. Now Lester Ballard, if he could only of met a nice girl some time in his early life and could of settled down somewhat, it may have been the making of him. But he never met the right gal. And he took the wrong turn in life. The way it goes sometimes.

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Sep 17, 2010

Paquita Maria Sanchez rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: literature, favorites

HE SEEZ DEAD PEOPLE. THEN FUCKS THEM.

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May 02, 2009

Melody rated it

Shelves: third-thursday-bookgroup

This is one of those books that, when you read it, and really like it, it makes you wonder if you should be worried about yourself.

I mean it’s kind of like finding something brown and wondering if it might be chocolate and tasting it and discovering that it really is something vile and disgusting. But then you should have known better. I mean you found the brown thing on the floor, so there was no way you REALLY could have been expecting chocolate and then, Oh look! There’s anot...more

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Apr 10, 2009

Hannah Messler rated it

I finished this book yesterday morning and then was an absolute emotional wreck for almost the whole rest of the day. I don't know if there's any connection or not (I also didn't eat the day before except a Greek yogurt, a rice pudding, and movie popcorn and also drank a shitload of Earl Grey AND stayed up too late AND saw Let the Right One In [which is exquisite:]), but oh my LORD. This is a book I will never recommend to my Mom, to say the freaken LEAST. Just utterly stunningly backbreaking...more

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Dec 12, 2011

Diletta rated it

· review of another edition

Lester Ballard non è proprio la personcina che più vorreste come vicino di casa.
No, non è proprio un simpatico omino. E non solo perché bestemmia e parla da solo, che già di per sé non è proprio carino, ma se siete in un'auto a farvi gli affaracci vostri con il vostro ragazzo lui vi sparerà alla nuca e violenterà il vostro cadavere ancora caldo, e questo forse è ancor meno carino.
Vi comprerà degli amabili vestiti rossi, vi nasconderà in una caverna e se tutto va bene andrà anche in ...more

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Jun 13, 2008

Red King rated it

<Lester_Ballard> So I read your reply on YouTube on that Oprah video.

<Cormi_LUVR17> HI!!! cool u like Cormie too?

<Lester_Ballard> Absoultey not.

<Cormi_LUVR17> oh y not? :(

<Lester_Ballard> Why do you is a better question. I don't see how being a "souther writer" makes his books any good.

<Cormi_LUVR17> oh i also like his movies!

<Lester_Ballard> That was your first mis...more

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Feb 11, 2008

Amy rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 22, 2008

Dayna rated it

It's not as clear of a narrative, like No Country, it's kind of like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The feeling of dread that builds throughout the book is excruciating - similar to the way I felt about Chigurh.

The writing style is very sparse - the descriptions of nature are poetic, in contrast to the ugliness of some of the action. I don't want to say too much about what happens, but it is truly shocking. The story starts out with the town auctioning off Lester Ballard's p...more

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Jun 22, 2008

Tom Troutman rated it

**Fun Fact** In 1986 Cormac McCarthy entered a South Bronx recording studio under the guise of MC Cormie Mac to record an album of battle rap tracks titled "The Rise of Cormmunism". The album was released to tepid reviews and the lackluster sales figures forced him to return to writing insanely awesome books.

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Dec 22, 2008

J.C. rated it

Shelves: fiction

A very short novel (I couldn't put down) told in short scenes using very sparse sentences and dense language. a book that is both a bit confusing because of its minimalism and very disturbing because of the subject matter. The character of Lester Ballard is a much more disturbing character than that of Anton Chigur from No Country for Old Men. I think that since it is one of McCarthy's early novels, it doesn't have the gravitas as some of his other work. not as powerful as The Road and surel...more

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Sep 28, 2011

Javier rated it

This can be a tough one to get through, but it in the end we're left not only slightly disturbed but in awe of the opera that took place. We see the reprehensible Lester Ballard, a man with nothing to cling on to but fleeting moments of depravity with the dead. Its easy to assign him status of depraved evildoer. Its easier to assign the townspeople with the guilt of the crimes, for cornering Ballard. He lashes out, left with nothing more than the clothes he wears. Some can feel a certain pi...moreThis can be a tough one to get through, but it in the end we're left not only slightly disturbed but in awe of the opera that took place. We see the reprehensible Lester Ballard, a man with nothing to cling on to but fleeting moments of depravity with the dead. Its easy to assign him status of depraved evildoer. Its easier to assign the townspeople with the guilt of the crimes, for cornering Ballard. He lashes out, left with nothing more than the clothes he wears. Some can feel a certain pity for him, but nothing excuses him from the crimes, and I think the author does his best to make sure there is no honor in a man like Ballard. But he points out also (from what I gathered) that the townsfolk possess no honor. The human circus we read about in the novel is awe inspiring. But we can't blame the citizens anymore than we can blame Lester for being the brute that he is. The blame is placed on a unsympathetic and uncompromising higher power.

The world the inhabitants of the book endures is a very brutal one. Their existence is harsh. There are very Gnostic undertones in this novel; the fact that we are pure souls trapped in a dying world. The window is left open for us to peer into the mundane but tragically comic life of Lester. From the onset of the novel, he goes from violent ne'er do well to a full fledged homicidal maniac. During the course of this transformation (or chrysalis, because he may have been destined to a life of depravity) we become aware that the townspeople cringes from the protagonist. The mundane nature of their pathetic existence is clear from the get go. But his lashing out steadily increases in nature until he finally submits to his unworldly lusts.

I think the vivid imagery in the book is its strongest feature. I recall one very surreal and haunting scene where a pack of feral canines break into Lester's lair, and as he retaliates and fights off the canines he appears to be just as pitiable as these starving creatures. McCarthy is known for his violent themes, but some scenes may have been a tad too much.

Who knows if this is a tale of grotesque, or a classic spin on the old Southern Gothic narrative, or something of a chance to divest oneself from evil by taking this evilness in, but I feel that this is quite a lyrical and poetic look into a man's all too human susceptibility to the evil around us. (less)

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Jul 27, 2009

Robert rated it

Going into this book, I certainly didn't expect a light-hearted romp. Having previously read "The Road" and viewed the film adaption of "No Country for Old Men," I knew the kind of themes McCarthy liked to ponder over. But I also knew nothing about the particulars of this book before I opened it up. I have to admit that the degree of its bleakness came as a bit of a shock.*

All of the action takes place in Sevier County, Tennessee, a place I've traveled through ma...more

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Oct 18, 2008

Penny rated it

I am reading all Cormac McCarthy books. This particular book, Child of God, is full of crude behavior, psychopathic and necrophilic violence. It's a bit like Stephen King without the whimsey. I finished ten years ago reading all the S. King books that I wanted to read. I would say definitely McCarthy writes wholly about American men. There are few women in his books. As I open the cover to each in my selected series, I practically get a whiff of testosterone, blood and in-your-face agression. In...more

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Mar 26, 2008

Sue rated it

"In the spring or warmer weather when the snow thaws in the woods the tracks of winter reappear on slender pedestals and the snow reveals in palimpsest old buried wanderings, struggles, scenes of death. Tales of winter brought to light again like time turned back upon itself."

I really don't even know what to say after finishing this book. I might be speechless. Throughout McCarthy's beautifully crafted novel, we accompany Lester Ballard, a horrifying and amoral anti-hero,...more

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Oct 12, 2007

Ashley rated it

You better watch your mouth, the boy said.
You want to make me?
You put down that rifle and I will.
Any time you feel froggy, jump, said Ballard.

While not the fatalistic, fantastic visual wonder that is Blood Meridian, Child of God also deserves acclaim for McCarthy's relentless vision. With these books, you come face-to-face with literature as a craft. To me, there seems nothing stream of conscious about them. McCarthy's works seem to be slowly and deliberately assemb...moreYou better watch your mouth, the boy said.
You want to make me?
You put down that rifle and I will.
Any time you feel froggy, jump, said Ballard.

While not the fatalistic, fantastic visual wonder that is Blood Meridian, Child of God also deserves acclaim for McCarthy's relentless vision. With these books, you come face-to-face with literature as a craft. To me, there seems nothing stream of conscious about them. McCarthy's works seem to be slowly and deliberately assembled. Relentlessly beautiful in their art and almost unbearable in their brutality.

This Child of God is Lester Ballard, a dry, humorless, sociopath preying upon the women of this Tennessee hill community, like a caricature of Ed Gein and the Son of Sam. He goes in and out of jail, in and out of caves, carries his rifle everywhere and is quite unforgettable

Turn around, Ballard said.
What are you goin do?
Just turn around and never mind.
I have to go to the bathroom, the girl said.
You don't need to worry about that, said Ballard
Turning her by the shoulder he laid the muzzle of the rifle at the base of her skull and fired.

McCarthy's descriptive powers make me feel as if the whole book was written while standing under a tree on a dark and rainy day, fully in turn with every drop of melting snow, cobweb, abandoned bullet casing and unearthed human bone in the county.

The road when he reached it was unmarked by any track at all. Ballard descended it and went on. It was almost noon and the sun was very bright on the snow and the snow shown with a myriad crystal incandescence. The shrouded road wound off before him almost lost among the trees and a stream ran beside the road, dark under bowers of ice, small glass-fanged caverns beneath tree roots where the water sucked unseen. In the frozen roadside weeds were coiled ribbons of frost, you'd never figure how they came to be. Ballard ate one as he went, the rifle on his shoulder, his feet enormous with snow where it clung to the sacks with which he'd wrapped them.

It's glorious crafting, fiction hewn out of the raw stuff of nature and the dark, primal side of humanity.
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Aug 13, 2008

Dona rated it

One of McCarthy's gifts is that he, like almost no other writer, can make the reader (if he or she has the courage and honesty to continue reading) pity, sympathize or even empathize with the most deranged and disenfranchised of characters. Early in this book, certain short chapters are told from the perspective of an uncomfortable unnamed narrator who knew Lester Ballard growing up (much like the unnamed narrator in Faulkner's A Rose for Emily knew Emily Grierson). These narrators attempt to d...more

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Jun 30, 2009

Hollis rated it

Shelves: literary-fiction

Hmm, not sure what I thought of this one. I have enjoyed everything I have read by McCarthy so far but I'm not so enthusiastic about this one. I thought that it was gratuitously unpleasant and, unlike 'No Country for Old Men' where the violence has a kind of meaning, I didn't think there was any in this. I didn't feel any compassion or interest in the protagonist as he committed his various crimes: I wasn't interested in the story at all.

Obviously, this is just my view. It's stil...more

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Jul 01, 2011

Steve rated it

Shelves: fiction, horror

There's a lot of GR reviewers, who I really respect, rating this one higher. I came to C-O-G after a McCarthy reading blitz, and felt this was definitely one of his lesser novels. It's like he sat down and said "I'm going to write crazy, outrageous shit, and see what happens." And with McCarthy that will take you into some strange places. The result is enough to make a fan of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre sit down and shut-up. But take a step back and ask yourself: Can he do better? We...more

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Jul 10, 2008

Max rated it

Recommends it for: everyone

i've heard a lot about him recently. what i love about him most of all as a writer who elucidates by shadow what is so often rationalised - beyond his relentless poetic stitch and his urgent economy - is his imagination. he stands near as alone (in my ignorance) with the velocity to create, not reflect, to construct out of nameless material with a touch finer than gathering snowflakes, and more permanent than a scroll of rock. both the words he uses and the emotions he evokes are hewn and refine...more

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Jan 18, 2012

Josh rated it

This was my introductory book to McCarthy and I must say, I'm so glad I started with it for various reasons. This is McCarthy at his most didactic, but it is perhaps his most graphic as well, at least when it comes to the main character's necrophilia. This is NOT a book for the weak of mind or heart.

This book tells the story of an outcast named Lester Ballard in a community who chooses to live life outside the ideals of the society. There are many opportunities for the others to try...more

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Jan 14, 2012

Chris Chester rated it

Shelves: prose

I've loved everything I've read by Cormac McCarthy, from his works that Hollywood introduced me to (The Road and No Country For Old Men) to the ones I've discovered and revered on my own (Blood Meridian and Suttree). I'm well acquainted with McCarthy's unflinching sense for realism in depicting the vices and follies of mankind, but this book really jumps straight into the dark heart of humanity without bothering to dwell on beauty or redemption.

The plot is fairly simple, and the sheer ...more

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Nov 07, 2011

Jake rated it

I gave this book four stars not because there where faults with the writer rather there were "faults" in me. I read the book in the parts they where separated into. I would take a break after each part and had to leave and do something else. The book quite frankly made me want to curl up and die, the character of Lester is possibly the most disgusting character I've ever come across in literature and I've read some awful characters Lester might take the cake.

The book itself...more

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Oct 20, 2011

Wilsontherocker rated it

After years of people saying, "You should read Cormac McCarthy," I can finally say I've read him. I expected depictions of humanity at its basest and got exactly that. I expected to not fully enjoy the novel because of that, and so it was.

I did not expect McCarthy's prose to be so startling beautiful. It was this that made Child of God a worthwhile read for me. There were several times I asked myself why McCarthy indulged in describing such perversity and violence, but I di...more

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Jan 13, 2011

Hârum rated it

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Lester Ballard es uno de esos personajes de Cormac McCarthy que, como el de Sutree, se dedican a vivir en soledad. Y no está bien de la cabeza. Un día encuentra un coche con los cadáveres de una pareja y decide tocar el cuerpo de la mujer y luego se lo cepilla. Arrastra a la chica a su cabaña y allí la viste con ropa nueva comprada en una tienda. No será la primera vez. En la próxima es él mismo quien mata a otra chica para saciar su necrofilia.
McCarthy deslumbra, como es habitual, en esta ...moreLester Ballard es uno de esos personajes de Cormac McCarthy que, como el de Sutree, se dedican a vivir en soledad. Y no está bien de la cabeza. Un día encuentra un coche con los cadáveres de una pareja y decide tocar el cuerpo de la mujer y luego se lo cepilla. Arrastra a la chica a su cabaña y allí la viste con ropa nueva comprada en una tienda. No será la primera vez. En la próxima es él mismo quien mata a otra chica para saciar su necrofilia.
McCarthy deslumbra, como es habitual, en esta espeluznante novela corta. En algunos pasajes recuerda al Faulkner más sórdido. Una de las virtudes del libro es que, mediante elipsis, el autor sólo nos muestra algunas de las fechorías del protagonista, un hijo de Dios más o menos como tú: unos pocos crímenes, una cueva donde agrupa los cadáveres... De tal manera que el lector debe rellenar los huecos repletos de horrores que McCarthy nos ha hurtado. En la primera parte del libro, además, hay algunos monólogos de otros personajes, a la manera de Mientras agonizo. He aquí una muestra de las atrocidades de Ballard:

"El muerto lo observaba desde el suelo del coche. Ballard le soltó una patada a uno de sus pies para quitárselo de en medio y recogió del suelo las bragas de la chica, las olió y se las metió en el bolsillo. Miró a través de la luna trasera y se quedó escuchando. Arrodillado entre las piernas de la chica se desabrochó la hebilla y se bajó los pantalones.
Un gimnasta enloquecido entrenando sobre un cadáver frío. Le susurró por aquella oreja blanca como la cera todo lo que le habría dicho a una mujer. ¿Quién diría que ella no le oyó? Cuando acabó, se levantó y miró otra vez por la luna trasera del coche. Los cristales se habían empañado. Cogió el dobladillo de la falda de la chica para secarse el sudor. Estaba encima de las piernas del muerto y este todavía tenía el miembro en erección. Ballard se subió los pantalones, se subió al asiento, abrió la puerta y salió fuera a la carretera."

José Ángel Barrueco (less)

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Nov 12, 2010

Olivia rated it

I should preface this review by saying that I'm a HUGE Cormac fan, and have read many of his books -- I'm very familiar with the themes he likes to explore (men, murder, gothic horror, harshness of nature, etc. ... you know, really cheerful stuff!). So when I read a description of "Child of God" that said something about this book "plumbing the depths of human degradation", I dismissed it. "Yeah yeah, it's McCarthy! I know what I'm getting into." Apparently not....more

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May 12, 2010

Paula rated it

This is the third book I have read by Cormac McCarthy, the first two being, 'The Road' and 'Outer Dark' and I am fast becoming a fan of his work. I enjoyed reading 'Child of God' but there was so much cruelness and bleakness, it was quite hard to read at times. The main character, Lester Ballard is a man who has been forgotten and because of this he does what he pleases, the small town surrounding him, know Lester for who he is but can not prove it.

As much as I enjoyed reading 'Chil...more

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Jan 16, 2010

Donnie rated it

Recommends it for: People who like creepy literature

Shelves: fiction, bookclub

This is a really great, quick read that is a brilliant character study. McCarthy's economy of language is truly amazing. At different junctures he completely changes the movement of the story with a short, powerful sentence. I really enjoyed the story, but I really really enjoyed the way this book is written more so.

So anyway, it is about a very bad man that trolls a hillside out side of a small town in TN. And when I say bad man, I mean bad man. His name is Lester, and he is in...more

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Nov 01, 2009

Cinesnag rated it

So there I was, freshly finished with McCarthy's Blood Meridian and aching for more of the same. After many arduous hours on Amazon I finally chose a care package containing Child of God, Suttree, The Orchard Keeper and Outer Dark. Being far more familiar with his Border Trilogy as well as The Road and No Country For Old Men, I was finding his earlier fiction to be much more enjoyable the further I delved. Child of God was phenomenal and despite what many other reviewers have said; I think this ...more

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Gothic > Southern Gothic

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American > Southern

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About Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels in the Southern Gothic, western, and post-apocalyptic genres and has also written plays and screenplays. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road, and his 2005 novel No Country for Old Men was adapted as a 2007 film of the same name, which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

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Trivia About Child of God

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Quotes from Child of God

“At one time in the world there were woods that no one owned” — 5 people liked it

“Old woods and deep. At one time in the world there were woods that no one owned and these were like them.” — 3 people liked it

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Fans of Southern Literature

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Child of God

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