World Made of Fire

Rating:
Summary: Childress is SO misunderstood by his critics
Review: I can't believe that the reviewer below so totally missed the point of "A World Made of Fire." It's rather silly to criticize an allegory for being allegorical .... and to complain of the use of "Creole" and "Cajun" dialects in a novel very clearly set in Alabama shows us where he or she is coming from.

My advice to Childress fans: check out this remarkable first novel. It contains the seeds of nearly all his themes: tragedy, family, religion, and the supernatural. A wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: Totally different than "Crazy in Alabama".
Review: Since I loved Crazy in Alabama, I thought I would go back and read earlier novels by Childress. This was his first, and much different than I expected. The characters were much less defined, often to the point of being ambiguous, and the characters were used to create emotional states, or sensory images, rather than a fleshing out of real people. This novel was laden with allegories, metaphors, sensations, and juxtapositions that were often incongruous and disturbing. Heavy use of a very rural Creole and Cajun vernacular and frame of references which were often to the point of excess. I had trouble following dialogue because of the language.

Unlike Crazy in Alabama which was a funny, human (albeit implausible) adventure depicting the variances in human nature and a real sense of history and it's impact on our socio/cultural development, this novel was steeped in a surreal aura, almost out of time and place, with characters who were very disjointed and disturbed. There was nothing funny, and the storyline was not fluid. However, the author does show that he can create incredible imagery with words and sounds, and give you a sense of "being there" at a given moment. The images linger with you.