Child of God cover art

Child of God

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Child of God

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
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About this listen

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 Witty

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All stars
Most relevant  
Quite the tale of horror, with the Faulknerian incantatory prose of McCarthy’s early period. A strange and strong novel that is immensely rewarding in its simplicity and precision of construction.

Mesmerising

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Conflicting and cruel, but raw and very interesting. Seems to be the style of McCarthy. A good short read, really sets you up for his style of writing.

A grueling but mesmerizing read.

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Not for the feint hearted this one. Narration is excellent and the story is Cormac through and through. Bleak and quite twisted but beautifully described.

Good but blimey!

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Classic Cormack. I sat through this in one go. I did not want to let go. Unsure of the title.

Tough swallow

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Perhaps it’s the author’s poetic prose that makes everything about this hideous tale so captivating? Perhaps it’s the jolt of recognition that we feel when we find ourselves pitying, even empathising with, Ballard, the monster at the heart of this story?
Something from deep inside you makes you stay to see what comes next, and then next, and next again, until the story is done.
Whatever it is, as one of his characters might put it, “It’s somethin’ and it’s gunna’ stay with you for a while.”

A Strange Beauty In The Banal

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very violent and sexy explicit, more so than his previous work that I have read...

deliberate turn

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

Yes

Have you listened to any of Tom Stechschulte’s other performances? How does this one compare?

he is excellent in both

Any additional comments?

The narration was excellent. On its own the book deserves less than the 4 stars I have given. This is my 4th Cormack McCarthy novel and the least impressive. It is a character study of a depraved down and out. But it is short on the study and long on the depravity. I enjoy reading about the dark side of human nature but I found little justification or insight in this example.

Plenty of dark and not much light

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The gritty uncompromising realism shocks and grips the reader. The drawing of characters is shockingly realistic.

Reminiscent of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath

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'Child of God', by Cormac McCarthy is a frightening glimpse into the human condition and the descent of the mind into depravity amidst isolation, desperation, starvation, and necessity. It is a short and easily-consumed novella that is wonderfully performed by Tom Stechschulte. I would highly recommend this novel to listeners and readers.

The Human Condition

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