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The backslider
About the Blackslider, novel
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1976
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 14, 2014
If the rating system allowed decimals, I would probably give this a 3.5.
The question the reader must answer individually is: who's the backslider? The apostate preacher who repeatedly allows himself to be dragged back into the church by his wife, a preacher's daughter? The evangelist who leaves the revival circuit for a small-town church? The failed farmer who renounces the land and his fundamental belief and gets out of town? The more successful wheat farmer who stays in an unhappy and mismatched marriage? The young veteran who, having flown over 50 missions and participated in the bombing of Dresden, has a mental breakdown and comes home to renounce God and drive off into disaster in a stolen ragtop car?
The novel presupposes a certain knowledge of the cultures surrounding fundamentalism and evangelism and tonally reminds me a bit of Sinclair Lewis...probably because of Elmer Gantry and the base hypocrisy of some of the town of Red Alps deacon population. It also invites an obvious comparison between the harvesting of wheat and the harvesting of souls that I don't find fully developed.
Still, what works in this novel, works well. I read it in one night and enjoyed it. I'm moving on now to Crawford's Lords of the Plain and Waltz Across Texas.
The question the reader must answer individually is: who's the backslider? The apostate preacher who repeatedly allows himself to be dragged back into the church by his wife, a preacher's daughter? The evangelist who leaves the revival circuit for a small-town church? The failed farmer who renounces the land and his fundamental belief and gets out of town? The more successful wheat farmer who stays in an unhappy and mismatched marriage? The young veteran who, having flown over 50 missions and participated in the bombing of Dresden, has a mental breakdown and comes home to renounce God and drive off into disaster in a stolen ragtop car?
The novel presupposes a certain knowledge of the cultures surrounding fundamentalism and evangelism and tonally reminds me a bit of Sinclair Lewis...probably because of Elmer Gantry and the base hypocrisy of some of the town of Red Alps deacon population. It also invites an obvious comparison between the harvesting of wheat and the harvesting of souls that I don't find fully developed.
Still, what works in this novel, works well. I read it in one night and enjoyed it. I'm moving on now to Crawford's Lords of the Plain and Waltz Across Texas.
October 26, 2025
Very uneven, but still a good book. Maybe more three and a half stars, but I'll round up because it was so well written. Well written and I want to read more by Crawford. It gave me a glimpse into a world I didn't even know existed.
It's more character driven than plot driven, in fact, it doesn't rlly have much of a plot.
For some reason, it was difficult to keep all the characters straight. There was a character list at the beginning of the book, which was helpful, but I was constantly flipping back to is because I couldn't remember who was who.
It's more character driven than plot driven, in fact, it doesn't rlly have much of a plot.
For some reason, it was difficult to keep all the characters straight. There was a character list at the beginning of the book, which was helpful, but I was constantly flipping back to is because I couldn't remember who was who.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews