The Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Neon Bible
Book Review: Whoa!
Summary: 4 Stars
If you are looking for the humour found in Toole's "Dunces" then look elsewhere. I really liked this book, and the fact that it was written by Toole at the age of sixteen makes it even that much better. I have to admit that I was truly surprised by the ending! Again, if you are looking for a comedic, light-hearted read, this isn't it. A great work from a truly gifted writer.Book Review: Wonderful work from a Master
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished reading The Neon Bible for the second time. Having read A Confederacy of Dunces years ago (and several times) I didn't know quite what to expect. Further, since I knew this was written at age 16 and withheld from print for years, I expected something a bit unpolished and simple. (To be honest I felt this might be another fine example of 20th Century money grubbing by hangers on.) This book is surely neither unpolished or simple. The story unfolds in a fashion that makes it hard to beleive that such a young author could have had so much inate skill. The charaters are real and well detailed. The story pulls you along but allows you to enjoy your trip. I cannot think of another book that fits in this class. The southern flavor compares well with Welty, Edgerton, O'Connor and Sams. Well worth the investment of reading it twice.Book Review: Worth reading even without the Arcade Fire
Summary: 4 Stars
I read this to get a jumpstart on the new audience who will likely be discovering this book in the wake of the new Arcade Fire record, and in the hope of gaining some insight into that album when it arrives. But the book is more than worthwhile in its own right.
A very quick read thanks to the simple style, the book was engrossing and despite the narrator's emotional retisance, it's hard not to sympathize with him and to be left wondering long after the book reaches its conclusion.
That Toole was able, at the age of 16, to conjure such a consistent environment and so fully formed a narrator is evidence of a talent too little shown to the wider world.
Book Review: a small surprise like a well cooked appetizer
Summary: 4 Stars
The four stars merely represents my own opinion and should not bias anybody on the quality of this book. The only other book that John Kennedy Toole wrote is a marvel called "Confederacy of the Dunces". I was so impressed by this later book that I decided to buy Neon Bible. I will recommend that before reading Neon Bible you should try to get your hands on - in that book you will find a more broad illustrations of the talents of Kennedy. It is a real shame that he had to leave us at such an early age but his creations help us to remember him."Neon Bible" was written by Kennedy when he was almost a kid so the passages do not have the craft of Fitzgerald and Hemingway but that does not reduce it literary value. Actually the language is very directive and narrative without much flourishes. The story, sometimes feels more like biographical, is about the life of a small boy in the deep south .......
The portrayal of life as it was in the south after the depression is extremely interesting. I do not have enough knowledge to say it is accurate or not but you never get a surreal feeling i.e. nothing seems fake. Actually the succinct to-the-point description sometimes surprised me - but even then you will not loose interest for a second. The central character of the book is the narrator himself and around him are his parents, aunt Mae, the teachers (specially Mrs. Watkins, Mr. Farney), Bobby Lee Taylor and so many others and each of then draw attention in their own way. Actually it was little funny to read about the fight between the "state" and the "church" - to me the same fight is going on today except for the fact that under religious zealots like Aschroft the church is more powerful than before. The other fact to notice is the position of the blacks and they seem to be treated less significantly than the pet animals. The narrator is not born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has to fight to achieve every little bit but that does not deter him from moving ahead with his life. Here we also have to remember that moving ahead with life does not necessarily mean to become rich and have a nice career. Sometimes life means just survival and with everybody around it and to sacrifice for the ones who are less fortunate. You can buy this book and keep it in your collection as a portrait of American society in 40s. It also shows the effects of the war on a family and the society as a whole- alas that was a necessary war. I wish Mr. Bush could have read this book before attacking Iraq - alas he does not read.
Book Review: astounding that a 16-year old could write this
Summary: 3 Stars
The author, John Kennedy Toole, is famous for A Confederacy of Dunces, of which I know little. He committed suicide before that book was published. Much later, the manuscript for The Neon Bible was discovered.
I wasn't wowed by the book or anything, but when I consider the fact that it was written by a fifteen- or sixteen-year old during the 1950s, it strikes me as a pretty amazing piece of work. It astounds me to think that such a young kid had the life's experience necessary to invent and describe the book's characters.
Just to give you an idea, he writes about a gay couple in a small, Southern town without actually coming right out and saying they're gay. The anecdotes he reveals about the couple seem very true to life to me, but I have to say that, as a sixteen year old in 1976, I would have been unable to formulate even a half-way coherent image of a gay man. Even more surprisingly, he pulls it off without casting a dark cloud on the two characters.
I'm very interested in getting my hands on A Confederacy of Dunces, a book which promises to be an interesting read.