Child of God. Cormac McCarthy. 1973.
Southern Gothic. Literary fiction. Tragedy.
After losing his land and home in 1960s Tennessee, a violent and isolated backwoods outcast descends into total madness, becoming a cave-dwelling serial killer and necrophiliac.
Although this story is told primarily in third person omniscient, the early chapters include testimonial statements that fill the reader in on the community’s thoughts about the protagonist at the time the inciting incident occurs. This testimony focuses on his family’s tragic backstory, including strange incidents and anecdotes of his strange behavior.
This testimony helps to establish the vibe of the story as a tragic but inevitable journey into madness. Rejected and isolated, Lester Ballard slowly but surely loses his humanity, becoming—as the story progresses—a creature that I can best describe as a hillbilly Gollum.
This is probably McCarthy’s most accessible novel. All of the words are English, most of the English is common, and his obsession with local plant life makes no appearance here. On top of that, 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑 is exceptionally short for a McCarthy novel.
AUTHORS – I write short book reviews that focus on voice and vibe. They are useful to querying authors searching for comp titles. There are more like this on my website.