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Diane Barnes's Reviews > The Gospel Singer
The Gospel Singer
by
by
I need a brain cleanse after reading this.
Remember Oral Roberts? A TV evangelist who healed the sick, made cripples walk again, made the blind see and the deaf hear, all by laying his hands on them and calling on the power of the Lord. He had a TV show called The Hour of Power, his believers packed huge arenas to watch these miracles and incidentally, to donate money. My own grandmother sent in $5.00 of her hoarded money (a lot in 1959) for a handkerchief "blessed" by Oral Roberts. He finally went too far in the late nineties by claiming that God would take him home if his followers didn't send money to save him. That pretty much bombed, he faded from public view, and the Lord did indeed take him home in 2009. He was a sham and a fake and made millions off of the poor people who idolized and believed in him. There are a lot of hypocritical religious types doing the same thing these days, (remember Jim Jones?) and a few politicians I could name as well. All making money from those who think they are some sort of saviors.
That is all I could think of while reading this book. Blind adoration of men who deserve exactly what our unnamed Gospel Singer got by the end of this book. I don't know if Harry Crews was trying to make some sort of statement about religious hypocrisy or dumb white southerners or just telling a story that Flannery O'Connor would have been proud of, maybe all three. It was his first novel, so who knows? I only got through it by reading it as humor and satire. Crews can write for sure, but his subject matter is disturbing.
Remember Oral Roberts? A TV evangelist who healed the sick, made cripples walk again, made the blind see and the deaf hear, all by laying his hands on them and calling on the power of the Lord. He had a TV show called The Hour of Power, his believers packed huge arenas to watch these miracles and incidentally, to donate money. My own grandmother sent in $5.00 of her hoarded money (a lot in 1959) for a handkerchief "blessed" by Oral Roberts. He finally went too far in the late nineties by claiming that God would take him home if his followers didn't send money to save him. That pretty much bombed, he faded from public view, and the Lord did indeed take him home in 2009. He was a sham and a fake and made millions off of the poor people who idolized and believed in him. There are a lot of hypocritical religious types doing the same thing these days, (remember Jim Jones?) and a few politicians I could name as well. All making money from those who think they are some sort of saviors.
That is all I could think of while reading this book. Blind adoration of men who deserve exactly what our unnamed Gospel Singer got by the end of this book. I don't know if Harry Crews was trying to make some sort of statement about religious hypocrisy or dumb white southerners or just telling a story that Flannery O'Connor would have been proud of, maybe all three. It was his first novel, so who knows? I only got through it by reading it as humor and satire. Crews can write for sure, but his subject matter is disturbing.
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Reading Progress
May 3, 2022
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Started Reading
May 3, 2022
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to-read
May 3, 2022
– Shelved
May 5, 2022
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Finished Reading
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Laura
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rated it 5 stars
May 05, 2022 02:52PM
I think I like weird books way too much. Kind of like Borden deal’s Dragon’s Wine. I don’t think you would like crews’, Naked in Garden Hills. It’s even more grotesque and strange.
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I have to take grotesque in small doses.
Interesting review, Diane! Those televangelists are too much!
Oh my, your poor grandmother! But a perfect correlation to Oral Roberts with this character. I'm just over half way and I think you've got it figured out - there's a definite grotesque element as well as the satire.
I can't wait for your review Lori. It's quite a tale.
nice review Diane, I've only read 3 or crews' books this, celebration, and feast of snakes. all three were sort of case studies in hysteria... the tipping point of when public opinion takes a turn for the worse. cautionary tales about how difficult this sort of attention/power can be to hold..
His childhood autobiography is great, Cecil, and explains a lot about his writing.
