Glad River

by Will D. Campbell

The Glad River is a deeply affecting novel. Grounded in a particular place and time, its themes are, nonetheless, universal. A novel that probes the limits of religion and the state, it is also the work of a master storyteller and civil rights activist whose works are considered treasure of modern Southern literature.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

310 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Will Davis Campbell was a Baptist minister, lecturer, and activist.

Reviews

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps my favorite all-time read is Brother to a Dragonfly by Will Campbell. When I learned of his recent death, I decided to read The Glad River, and I'm very, very glad I did. It is the tale of three misfits--Droops, Model T and Kingston--Southern boys who served in World War II together and then maintained and deepened their "community" thereafter. Set mainly in the South, the story depicts the hard consequences suffered by living lives according to a rock bottom, hard scrabble faith anchored in a Beatitudes Jesus rather than a respectable, harmless Jesus. In fact, there is little that is respectable about the three main characters, who are mostly misunderstood. I suspect that one of the characters is modeled after the author, a man committed to justice no matter what the personal cost, one of the early white clergymen to get deeply involved in the Civil Rights movement, and another of the characters is a Christ figure. A fine read and one that will stay with me.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Theology in search of a novel.

[Mark Lisac · Rating 4 out of 5]

A high rating for a book that I don't want to read again and could easily have rated at 2 stars. It is sometimes awkward, often odd, suffused with an insistent exploration of religion (one reviewer accurately summed it up as "theology in search of a novel"). It isn't surprising to see the main theme of unorthodox Christianity from an author who was a Baptist minister no longer serving in any church. But I admired the book's heartfelt nature and the way it struck a course well apart from mainstream literary routes. In that, it resembled its main character, one Claudie (Doops) Momber, whose recalcitrance and hardheadedness make him seem like a distant cousin of Robert E. Lee Prewitt.
The characters and writing were good. It also inspired me to go to the dictionary to look up the obscure words "nidrous" (spelled "nidorous" in the OED) and "thalassic." The most awkward section is an impassioned speech on civil rights and patriotism by a lawyer; the speech reads like an author's commentary forced into the story, although it does have some resonance with the U.S. political atmosphere of 2020.

[Woody Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will Campbell is an amazing storyteller. This book (first published in 1982 and recently re-issued by Smyth & Helwys) is about "community" and "neighborhood." It could not be more timely for it speaks to the very issues we wrestle with today - us vs. them, who is "in" and who is "out," racism, justice, faith, religion, and the bonds that knit people together. This is not easy reading for it will make you think, and perhaps, make you rethink your theology and your politics.

[SaraJane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gently very thought provoking till the end.

[Annette Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely give 5 stars. This is one of my top 5 favorite novels. It's perfect in all things, story and writing, characters and detail. Mwah!

[Tim Cruickshank]

I didn't finish it. I was more than a quarter into it but was having a hard time getting into the story.

[Doug Jackson]

I'm new to Will Campbell but I'm impressed. Anyone with pretensions to being a Baptist who has not already read this novel should do so during the current election cycle. The story centers on Doops Momber, a born-and-bred Baptist in pre- and post-World War II Mississippi who refuses to be baptized until, in his own language, he can find a real Baptist to do it. Doops' problem is that he's been reading Anabaptist history and discovered things that mattered to that fellowship. I wish I could teach it to the whole Southern Baptist Convention in a required course that demands a passing grade before they can vote.

In addition to a powerful point, this novel contains moving writing and rich symbolism that pulls the reader through the plot. I highly recommend it.

[Nicole Overmoyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm agnostic and I didn't read this book because it's about Baptists. I read it because I found it in a box in my parents' garage and the dust jacket mentioned World War II. This story is so very much more than that. It's a definition of a country during the earliest decades of the 20th century.

Doops, Kingston, and Model T are best friends from different worlds and, at the same time, from the same world. They meet under the harshest of circumstances, or so they think, and they part under the most heartbreaking of circumstances.

Religion, politics, the Red Scare, war, death, dying, prejudice ... it's all there in one book that I could not put down.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Or maybe the difference between a community and a country is that a community has a soul and a country doesn’t. Because God created the community and man created the country. Some king sees all these communities around and says, ‘Hoboy! Let’s put ‘em all together and rule over ‘em.’ And then he promptly fucks it up.”

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give "The Glad River" five out of five or six out of six, maybe even seven out of seven. It's the novel equivalent of Campbell's wonderful nonfiction book, "Brother to a Dragonfly." This reprint of the book will add to its fame.

[Michael Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best stories I have ever read. If you don't know Will Campbell, who recently died and is better known for his book Brother to a Dragonfly, he is definitely worth reading. He has much to say and says it well.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story that includes a wonderful definition of Baptistness.

[Royce Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking look at religion. A different perspective on the Christ figure and the giving of an innocent life.