Sunday, September 18, 2011

Review: The Devil All the Time ~ by Donald Ray Pollock

The Devil of all Time

Review by John for The Devil All the Time ~ by Donald Ray Pollock (ARC edition)

A powerful gothic Americana tale that follows the gradually interlocking lives (and deaths) of a strange cast of raw characters. Not a light read.

About:   Following some truly horrific experiences in the second world war, a troubled Willard Russell returns to his mother’s home in rural America. He eventually marries a waitress and they live a hard-scrabble life trying to get by and to bring up their son, Arvin. Willard is driven to the depths of despair as he seems powerless to stop his wife’s long agonizing death by cancer. Arvin is drawn into the twisted and desperate measures Willard undertakes to try and save his beloved partner.

Meanwhile a variety of troubled characters are introduced with their own stories as lives gradually converge. These include a husband-and-wife team of serial killers that drive the rural highways during their “holidays” looking for innocent hitch-hikers to become their next victims; an outrageous spider-wielding preacher and his crippled sidekick that go on the run after a gruesome murder; a preacher that sexually preys on a string of teenage girls; and a crooked sheriff striving to stay clean enough to win the next election, not helped by his sister turning tricks at the local diner.

In the middle of it all is Arvin – he’s growing up to be a decent young man and protective of his remaining family, but he has some violent tendencies that he’s picked up from his troubled father. The characters are all linked by a series of events and relationships, and as the story builds to a brutal climax, you know that in this world there can be few winners.

John’s thoughts:   I’m not usually a fan of novels based around hard lives and a cast of troubled characters, but this one draws you in and keeps you reading. It certainly has more than its fair share of nasty people and loathsome events, but through it all you’re willing for some good things to happen. And in truth it’s difficult not to be fascinated by some of the appalling horrors in the story.

Whether good or bad (and it’s mostly the latter), Pollock has created many interesting personalities in this book. Arvin is a product of his tough upbringing, raw experiences and harsh life. He certainly has some rough edges but you do want things to turn out well for him. Of the others in the book, perhaps the serial killers were the most fascinating. It’s tough to imagine two more awful people, but they are well-constructed and I couldn’t help avidly following developments in their bizarre relationship, wondering how things were going to end up for them. In their cases, you don’t want things to turn out so well!

Despite the many gothic horrors in the story, it does have a lot of gritty realism. You do get a good sense of what it must have been like living a hard life in rural America through the 1940s and 1950s. Not all of America was the land of plenty. It’s a tough, twisting, brutal novel, and it’s one of those that you feel kind of guilty for liking. But like it I certainly did. I’d rate this 4 stars and recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of gruesome, gothic, Americana horror.


The Devil All The Time ~ by Donald Ray Pollock (July 12, 2011)  US|UK|Canada;

Link to access our incoming books post including the novel.

As always John will be answering any comments for this book, and looks forward to your thoughts. A perfect book for this time of year the Halloween Spirit is descending and we are so excited. Aren’t you?

Have a grand Sunday!

8 comments:

ediFanoB said...

While reading your review the TV series Breaking Bad came up in my mind.

The Devil All the Time does not belong to the kind of books I normally read.
But the husband-and-wife team of serial killers sounds most interesting.
As a first step I will add the book to my never ending book list.

logankstewart said...

This sounds fascinating, and perfect for the season. A cast of troubled characters is sometimes tough to read, especially when people are humanized, but it's also great for letting the Reader think about Life, too, eh?

Great review!

John D said...

Hi Edi,

I'm not familiar with Breaking Bad - actually the TV in our house hardly ever gets turned on!

Good luck with never-ending book list. How do you decide what to read next?

John

John D said...

Hi Logan,

'Tis indeed a good book for the season. You hit the nail on the head with your comment - it's humanizing the awful characters that makes books like this difficult to read for me. You think that people like this can't exist in real life, but then you pick up the newspaper......

Many thanks for the nice words. Cheers,

John

ediFanoB said...

Hi John,

the decision what to read next is sometimes easy (when I promised to write a review) and sometimes difficult (a question of the mood).

Anyway the first step is to add the book to the never ending book list. Next step is to enter my monthly to buy book list (I had to go down from five to two books because we needed to buy a new car). And then comes the final step: to enter the monthly to be read list.
But there is also a short cut: Review copies go directly to monthly to be read list.

Sounds complicated but it works for me.

John D said...

Hi Edi,

It does indeed sound complicated. Life is easy for me as Shellie manages everything to do with the blog and I pretty much choose what to read on a whim.

But she's great at helping me narrow down my potential whimsical choices to a small pile of shortlisted books! I think I'm spoilt. Cheers,

John

ediFanoB said...

Hi John,

I like to look "behind the scene". If it works for you and Shellie then it is great. I can tell you it would not work for my wife and me. Beside the promised ones the selection of a book is a very emotional affair. I remember times when it took my half day to decide between several books and also times where I needed no longer than five seconds.

In the end it is most important that we all enjoy reading and share our love for books and spread word about it

And sorry for my late reply.

John D said...

Hi Edi,

I couldn't agree more - enjoyment is everything. This is a hobby and not a job! Cheers,

John

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