The Devil All the Time - Donald Ray Pollock

The book "The Devil All the Time," by Donald Ray Pollock is a masterpiece.  This is his first novel and I would definitely coin it with the term Breakthrough Novel.  The story is gruesome, descriptive, clear, and concise.  The author writes three different small stories and sub plots than at the end of the novel the stories converge into a final end.  I think this would be a difficult novel to write because he uses third person omniscient.  The reader has narrations and view points from many different characters which can be confusing and hard to keep track of if written incorrectly.  Pollock has the ability to write from many different characters viewpoints while having three different stories happening essentially at the same time which is very impressive.  When I see this and it works so beautifully in a novel, I want to jump through the book and give the author a big gigantic hug!!!

The book was so good I read it in one day.  On the flip side of that, I have off work from my assistantship and I have no class.  Reading a book in one day is not a difficult feat for me considering the amount of free time I have to do so.  However, I don't think that really would have mattered I could not put this novel down.

What I love so much about this novel is the rawness of all the characters.  It's set in Ohio in an extremely small, backwards, hickish town.  The characters all make poor choices in this book and at the same time are super religious.  Many feel that God will save them even as they commit acts of murder and sin.  The dialect and dialogue the author uses is spot on and so real it makes you feel like you are standing with the characters like the devil on their shoulder watching their next move of poor judgment and decisions.

I did some research on the author, and this happens to be his first novel.  He is in his mid 40's-50's and lived in a rural town in Ohio called Knockemstiff and worked in the paper mill from 1973 to 2005.  He now has his MFA from Ohio State University, so it makes me wonder if some of the stories he writes about are stories from his past.  The stories could be embellished stories of people that lived in this little rinky dink town. I remember the advice always given to future authors - write what you know.

For some reason, seeing this eloquently written novel of someone who worked as a laborer for many years, gives me hopes for writing :) Chuck Palahniuk had a similar start to his career working in a factory and taking a break from journalism for many years.  I love the way both of these men write, but I have found it's not really my style.  I want to write something that everyone can read, and Palahniuk definitely has his own shtick and way of writing.  I admire him for weaving tales in the outrageous, uncomfortable nature that he does.  This book was a good read!