Child of God

McCarthy's third novel. The one I've enjoyed the least. It is very dark, about someone with a sad life who descends into depravity. I read in two sittings, last Sunday and today.

It feels like McCarthy still finding his form. The story is more or less a character study, following Ballard throughout his life. It's difficult to say why I leave so uninterested in Ballard. It it not an interesting thing to be sad and lonely. Maybe the things that happen to a person to render them this way can be interesting, but watching a person descend was not for me. Ballard is dealt a bad hand and makes no decision to help himself, or even to not hurt others. He demonstrates little care for anyone, and is cold and isolated to the point of being a figment of nature.

I wonder why McCarthy wrote this story. Where does it come from? Is it an expression of anger? I have not read either title deeply enough to make a connection, but some elements of it feel much more thoroughly explored in Blood Meridian. McCarthy's sort of biblical view of evil and humanity. A view that I don't know enough about for which to say whether I agree or not.

You can certainly tell a difference between these earlier novels and The Road. People read The Road and feel it is bleak and depressing, but at its core The Road is about love and endurance and pushing on. Carrying the light, no matter how dark it gets. These earlier novels feel much more cynical and shrouded. There is no light in Child of God. It is about a person who is wounded and wounds others until he is taken back by the earth.

It feels like there is something here in that in the first half of the book, Ballard's backstory is explored. His eviction from home, suicide of his father. I think we're supposed to understand that Ballard is pushed farther and further from society and he degrades as a result. That's fine. I don't think it is interestingly told. There are sad and lonely people all around. You can stand next to someone and they are a thousand miles away, some place in their head. Remembering or wishing to forget. That they continue on is more interesting than this story of a person choosing to harm others and become wrath.