Child of God Audiobook By Cormac McCarthy cover art

Child of God

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Child of God

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
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In this taut, chilling audiobook, 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.

©1973 Cormac McCarthy (P)2012 Recorded Books Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Sagas Westerns Scary Witty
Beautiful Prose • Powerful Storytelling • Exceptional Narration • Masterful Writing • Vivid Descriptions
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With his short novella, Child of God, Cormac McCarthy again proves his writing worthy of incision in the Western Canon. Like blind Tiriseus, his vision is frighteningly clear and unsparing. He is cursed with sight free of illusions, and shows us the world with spare and exquisite prose.
Hard to take, hard to put down, and definitely not a bedtime story.

A remarkable admixture of horror and beauty.

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My favorite author. so love immerse myself in the characters. I think others are better though.

Be there

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Dark, gritty, violent and brilliant as always. If you’re a McCarthy fan, you won’t be disappointed.

As good McCarthy as it gets

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It’s was not what i thought but very interesting. Read for a book club. Probably not something I would normally read.

Great

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Evil incarnate. People underground. The river. Sexual perversion. Faulkner, Jung, Doestevsky etc influences are obvious even here. A great book for someone to cut their teeth on McCarthy. Lester Ballard ranks with judge Holden and Anton Chigur in McCarthy’s most despicable characters

A glimpse into future McCarthy

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Wow, how or why could someone write a book about a man like Lester Ballard? What is there to say about a man without an ounce of decency in his genetic make up or God given soul? The answer… plenty!

Cormac seems to be fascinated by the root of evil in mankind, or perhaps just in horrors of evil itself. And in Child of God… he does a great job of personifying the evil of man in Lester Ballard. An outcast of society, who in turn, decides to completely cast out the laws of not only society, but God himself. The story goes about how you’d except from there… but it doesn’t, it’s even worse!

As usual the story is well written with all the trademarks that have made McCarthy a treasure of our time. The vivid descriptions, the almost poetic adoration to the words themself, and… the harrowing dissection and descriptions of the absolute worst in human nature.

I always find it fascinating that in a time where gore and sadistic violence is glorified. When abominations like Leatherface, Hannibal Lecter, and Michael Myers are hailed and adored with cult icon status. You still have readers who “love this kind of stuff” that will trash writings like this as too vile and “unnecessary”. To each their own I suppose. A book like this is obviously not for everyone, and quite possibly SHOULDN’T BE for anyone. But the point he was making is crystal clear in my eyes. And that’s where the real fear and grotesqueness of a story like this stems from. Not a single, horrific atrocity in this book hasn’t been committed by a human, not some glorified monster, multiple times throughout history. Are they created or manifested and does it really matter? Because the reality is, they are here and. Walk among us.

The absolute worst of humanity… and that’s just the beginning!

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Cormac once again paints a portrait of believable absurd humanity. A perverse creature left alone to his own devices.

Jesus

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Would you consider the audio edition of Child of God to be better than the print version?

Yes. McCarthy is a generally tough read with his run-ons and lack of normal writing style. The audible version made it easy to comprehend

Mesmerizing Story

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This is an awesomely appalling story. Disturbing how much sympathy we can feel for the pitiful maniac. He's maybe one of the creepiest characters I have encountered in literature but he's also the most sympathetic sympathetic characters in the book. I think this book is one of the most powerful literary documents I have ever encountered. If I don't get nightmares from it, I would consider listening to this book again because the author seems to have buried a profound (and hopefully not prophetic) message about the human condition.

Gothic Redneck Psycho-Horror

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The title above about sums it up. NOT for those unfamiliar with Cormac McCarthy and his literary style. Not a first read for those interested in learning about this author. I would start with "All the Pretty Horses" or "The Crossing" but I wouldn't even recommend them to an adult not fully aware and comfortable with the dark and bleak side of human nature and existence and who enjoys, on occasion, taking a journey and a look there. Not a book and probably not an author for non-adults. 😱

Stark, Ugly, Raw . . . Classic McCarthy 😱

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