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Journeyman: A Novel
A wandering preacher who gambles and chases women exposes the hypocrisies of a small Southern town
When preacher Semon Dye moves into the tiny Georgia town of Rocky Comfort, many of its citizens welcome him. After all, the only church in town is being used to store fertilizer. But sermons aren’t the first thing on the mind of the tall, magnetic, and utterly dissolute man. Other callings take priority: women, whiskey, gambling, and hiding from the law. Even as he seduces wives, cheats at cards, and provokes old feuds, Dye manages to cast a dark spell over all the people in Rocky Comfort.
Journeyman is a wicked send-up of religious fervor by an American master of dark political satire.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erskine Caldwell including rare photos and never-before-seen documents courtesy of the Dartmouth College Library.
220 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1935
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574 people want to read
About the author
Erskine Caldwell
332 books221 followersErskine Preston Caldwell was an American author. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native South won him critical acclaim, but they also made him controversial among fellow Southerners of the time who felt he was holding the region up to ridicule.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erskine_...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erskine_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
November 18, 2018
Os dias quentes amanhecem muito cedo em Rocky Comfort, Geórgia, e sucedem-se poeirentos e monótonos. No lugarejo, restam poucos negros e brancos. Vivem subjugados pela miséria provocada ainda pela Grande Depressão.
Caldwell reproduz sem moralizar, e com um humor peculiar, a degradação , a secura e a brutalidade desta gente do sul , que, como animais se deixa levar pela oportunidade, sem que a consciência os trave. Semon, o pregador laico, surge, então, milagrosa e inesperadamente neste cenário , propondo-se salvar estas almas tresmalhadas.
A história não se alonga, pelo que a li num só fôlego roída de curiosidade. O estilo é isento de gorduras e os acontecimentos avançam a um bom ritmo .
Caldwell reproduz sem moralizar, e com um humor peculiar, a degradação , a secura e a brutalidade desta gente do sul , que, como animais se deixa levar pela oportunidade, sem que a consciência os trave. Semon, o pregador laico, surge, então, milagrosa e inesperadamente neste cenário , propondo-se salvar estas almas tresmalhadas.
A história não se alonga, pelo que a li num só fôlego roída de curiosidade. O estilo é isento de gorduras e os acontecimentos avançam a um bom ritmo .
February 21, 2022
"Who made that awful smell out here, Clay?" Dene asked haltingly. "It’s the nastiest thing."That's the skunky lay-preacher Semon Dye. The rubes of Rocky Comfort are about to be hornswoggled -- "Well, I’ll be doggone!"
They deserve to be suckered. They want to be suckered. Being suckered was the best thing that happened in their penniless, sweaty, monotonous lives.
Despite what you might have heard, I doubt Caldwell was a bleeding-heart sociologist. He was the son of a journeyman preacher (likely a conman). Caldwell was a slippery journalist with an eye for the grotesque and a knack for embellishment. The climatic revival rave was better than all the copycats I have seen.
April 7, 2012
Semon Dye, surely had a way with women and preached away through every small town in Georgia, sinning as only he could, while conning all the folktown he met on his way. We could seduce women, he had a flair for it, the Lord gave him free rein, so he claimed. He drank and shoot dice and fired his bulldog revolver at cuckold husbands without any remorse. He liked corn whiskey since it is a man's drink and he was a man. He's so glib while seducing Dene, the fifteen year old wife of Clay, he laid Lorene, Clay's former wife, got away with his one hundred dollars from the mortage on his farm in his pocket and run off in the middle of the night with the automobile he won from Clay while shooting crap.
The revival at the schoolhouse is really a mesmeric and funny one. It shows how ignorant folk can be carried away once a gullible one gets it started. A true journey through the scenery and Christian fanatism of the Georgia backwoods.
It's weird how in spite of his cheating, everybody misses him at the end, when he leaves. In the beginning I was getting the notion That Semon was another lecherous preacher like the Reverend Davidson in the story "Rain" by W. Somerset Maugham. They had the same physical characteristics, extremely tall, dark hair and a haggard look. But Semon was lively sure enough, "I'm horny" he tells Clay at the beginning while inquiring if there were any colored girls in the cabins surrounding his plowland.
Those were the Depression years, work was scarce and folks had to make a living. Semon took to be a traveling preacher or pretended to be one,that enabled him to earn his bed and board for free,contact women on his way and rip off all the boors he met. As Kris Kristofferson put it once in a song "he's a prophet and a pusher, partly reality, partly fiction, walking contradiction". The only thing that is not clear in the book is if Semon's wife actually died three, four years ago or simply abandoned him.
His technique of cooling down broads he just got acquainted with, patting them on their buttocks, sure was a handy one, I wonder if it can still be put on practice nowadays, I'll try it someday...
The revival at the schoolhouse is really a mesmeric and funny one. It shows how ignorant folk can be carried away once a gullible one gets it started. A true journey through the scenery and Christian fanatism of the Georgia backwoods.
It's weird how in spite of his cheating, everybody misses him at the end, when he leaves. In the beginning I was getting the notion That Semon was another lecherous preacher like the Reverend Davidson in the story "Rain" by W. Somerset Maugham. They had the same physical characteristics, extremely tall, dark hair and a haggard look. But Semon was lively sure enough, "I'm horny" he tells Clay at the beginning while inquiring if there were any colored girls in the cabins surrounding his plowland.
Those were the Depression years, work was scarce and folks had to make a living. Semon took to be a traveling preacher or pretended to be one,that enabled him to earn his bed and board for free,contact women on his way and rip off all the boors he met. As Kris Kristofferson put it once in a song "he's a prophet and a pusher, partly reality, partly fiction, walking contradiction". The only thing that is not clear in the book is if Semon's wife actually died three, four years ago or simply abandoned him.
His technique of cooling down broads he just got acquainted with, patting them on their buttocks, sure was a handy one, I wonder if it can still be put on practice nowadays, I'll try it someday...
September 24, 2017
Caldwell Amerikan edebiyatına giriş amacıyla denediğim bir roman oldu. Lakin yazıldığı tarih açısından farklı olabilirse de basit buldum. Kurgunun duygusuzluğu ve vasatlıği kitabı eksiltmiş.
November 9, 2015
Appena un pelo sotto "La via del tabacco". Ma forse anche no.
E' incentrato sulla figura del protervo predicatore Semon Dye, un fottuto bastardo psicotico che inevitabilmente richiama alla mente il Robert Mitchum di Night of the Hunter.
Orchestrato su alcune magnifiche scene - la partita a dadi e la predica con delirante 'salvazione' finale su tutte - vive ad un certo punto un momento di pura estasi letteraria nel capanno di Tom Rhodes, nell'episodio della fenditura fra le assi, alcune pagine da piangere per la gioia di averle lette, per la fortuna di averle incontrate, di un livello indescrivibile.
E' incentrato sulla figura del protervo predicatore Semon Dye, un fottuto bastardo psicotico che inevitabilmente richiama alla mente il Robert Mitchum di Night of the Hunter.
Orchestrato su alcune magnifiche scene - la partita a dadi e la predica con delirante 'salvazione' finale su tutte - vive ad un certo punto un momento di pura estasi letteraria nel capanno di Tom Rhodes, nell'episodio della fenditura fra le assi, alcune pagine da piangere per la gioia di averle lette, per la fortuna di averle incontrate, di un livello indescrivibile.
September 9, 2025
Imbroglione e approfittatore di anime ingenue, Samuel Dye gira l'America rurale, spacciandosi per predicatore e salvatore di anime, inviato da Dio...
March 27, 2016
Salvando anime
Ancora una volta Caldwell riesce a ritagliare magistralmente spaccati di mentalità, di abitudini, di gesti fisiologici di quel sud americano che gli ha dato i natali, la Georgia.
Prende un uomo, un predicatore, lo lascia libero di vagare presso sentieri lastricati di (genuina) ignoranza, di modo che egli riesca a giocare con le tentazioni e con il senso di peccato della gente. Lo fornisce di audacia e morbosità quel tanto che basta per attirare innocenti come mosche e per inscenare il suo spettacolo, uno spettacolo che trova l'apice nel giorno dell'unica sfrenata predica, un momento vulcanico che infiamma le anime. E come spesso accade, dopo un incendio quel che resta è la desolazione.
Se avete visto il film La Morte corre sul fiume di C. Laughton, con un monumentale Mitchum, potete farvi un'idea del tipo di predicatore di cui stiamo parlando.
Ancora una volta Caldwell riesce a ritagliare magistralmente spaccati di mentalità, di abitudini, di gesti fisiologici di quel sud americano che gli ha dato i natali, la Georgia.
Prende un uomo, un predicatore, lo lascia libero di vagare presso sentieri lastricati di (genuina) ignoranza, di modo che egli riesca a giocare con le tentazioni e con il senso di peccato della gente. Lo fornisce di audacia e morbosità quel tanto che basta per attirare innocenti come mosche e per inscenare il suo spettacolo, uno spettacolo che trova l'apice nel giorno dell'unica sfrenata predica, un momento vulcanico che infiamma le anime. E come spesso accade, dopo un incendio quel che resta è la desolazione.
Se avete visto il film La Morte corre sul fiume di C. Laughton, con un monumentale Mitchum, potete farvi un'idea del tipo di predicatore di cui stiamo parlando.
October 5, 2014
And here I thought O'Connor's Wiseblood was weird and wonderful. When it comes down to it, no doubt but that Caldwell can out "O'Connor" O'Connor.
February 14, 2022
basi mukata beshe da mina prez taq kniga ujs
September 13, 2007
This southern preacher is a sinner except when he is preaching - Caldwell was quite a writer.
June 13, 2012
Absolutely brilliant.
Want to read
June 2, 2013I like this cover better:
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June 28, 2024
This fits one of my favourite micro-genres, that of dodgy preachers. Back to that later..
It is also probably Caldwell’s most controversial novel. His publisher forced to initially issue a very limited number of copies, and to include with it a disclaimer..
It is the story of a journeyman preacher, as Caldwell’s own father was, whose chief interest seems to be sexual assault and experimentation at every chance along the way. It makes Tobacco Road read like a child’s nursery rhyme in comparison.
When preacher Semon Dye moves into the tiny Georgia town of Rocky Comfort, many of its residents welcome him. The only church is being used to store fertiliser, religion has fallen to the wayside. But sermons aren’t a priority for the tall, charismatic, and utterly dissolute man. Other callings demand his interest; women, whiskey, gambling, and hiding from the law. Even as he seduces wives and young girls, cheats at cards, and provokes old feuds, Dye casts a dark spell over all the people in Rocky Comfort, and all this before he gets the chance to preach on Sunday.
As with other such ‘dodgy preacher’ novels, this is a mischievous satire on religious fervour of the day. Semon Dye joins that select band of most disgraceful and yet quite memorable characters in fiction.
Raising a glass to those other dodgy preachers..
Hazel Motes, the preacher of anti-religion in O’Connor’s Wise Blood.
McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men, and Blood Meridian (Judge Holden),
Harry Powell in Grubb’s Night of the Hunter.
It is also probably Caldwell’s most controversial novel. His publisher forced to initially issue a very limited number of copies, and to include with it a disclaimer..
Frankly, we feel that we did our job for Caldwell in defending God's Little Acre in the courts. Although we deeply resent the idea of appearing to be pornography publishers, we don't think that it is our job to go on spending our time and money on legal battles. Unfortunately, the new book, though as inoffensive to intelligent readers as God's Little Acre was, is even more vulnerable from Mr. Sumner's point of view, and would be sure to be attacked if published in a regular edition.
It is the story of a journeyman preacher, as Caldwell’s own father was, whose chief interest seems to be sexual assault and experimentation at every chance along the way. It makes Tobacco Road read like a child’s nursery rhyme in comparison.
When preacher Semon Dye moves into the tiny Georgia town of Rocky Comfort, many of its residents welcome him. The only church is being used to store fertiliser, religion has fallen to the wayside. But sermons aren’t a priority for the tall, charismatic, and utterly dissolute man. Other callings demand his interest; women, whiskey, gambling, and hiding from the law. Even as he seduces wives and young girls, cheats at cards, and provokes old feuds, Dye casts a dark spell over all the people in Rocky Comfort, and all this before he gets the chance to preach on Sunday.
As with other such ‘dodgy preacher’ novels, this is a mischievous satire on religious fervour of the day. Semon Dye joins that select band of most disgraceful and yet quite memorable characters in fiction.
Raising a glass to those other dodgy preachers..
Hazel Motes, the preacher of anti-religion in O’Connor’s Wise Blood.
McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men, and Blood Meridian (Judge Holden),
Harry Powell in Grubb’s Night of the Hunter.
September 6, 2022
⭐️ “Пътуващият проповедник” е една от най-объркващите книги, които съм чела. В края и ефектът, който имаше върху мен беше подобен, като в края на книгата. Не ми хареса никак, но ми се искаше проповедникът да остане.
❌ Семън Дай пристига в Роки Комфорт, Джорджия, за да пречисти населението от греховете им, но с идването си сякаш сам поддиква всички към грехове. Остава от неделя до неделя и организира проповед в изоставеното училище. В това време пие, краде, мами и прелюбодейства.
🙊 Най-често аз дълго обмислям книгата, която чета, но през тази просто исках да мина. Всички страници бяха с неприятното усещане за измама, пошлост и падение. Със събития, които на човек му се иска да предотврати, а само може да чете нататък. Това да предизвика подобен неприязън у читателя за мен е много добро постижение, и все пак е неприятна.
❇️ Идеята на Ърскин Колдуел е да представи населението на Америка с доброто и лошото в него. Героите му са изключително живи и истински, човешката природа е представена в пълнотата си, не едностранна, а добра и зла едновременно.
🚫 Потресаващ за мен е расизмът в книгата. Така явно разделение между черни и бели и постоянно изтъкване на този факт. Дори има едно изречение на Семън Дай, което гласи, че той няма нищо против да застрелва по един цветнокож на седмица.
❌ Семън Дай пристига в Роки Комфорт, Джорджия, за да пречисти населението от греховете им, но с идването си сякаш сам поддиква всички към грехове. Остава от неделя до неделя и организира проповед в изоставеното училище. В това време пие, краде, мами и прелюбодейства.
🙊 Най-често аз дълго обмислям книгата, която чета, но през тази просто исках да мина. Всички страници бяха с неприятното усещане за измама, пошлост и падение. Със събития, които на човек му се иска да предотврати, а само може да чете нататък. Това да предизвика подобен неприязън у читателя за мен е много добро постижение, и все пак е неприятна.
❇️ Идеята на Ърскин Колдуел е да представи населението на Америка с доброто и лошото в него. Героите му са изключително живи и истински, човешката природа е представена в пълнотата си, не едностранна, а добра и зла едновременно.
🚫 Потресаващ за мен е расизмът в книгата. Така явно разделение между черни и бели и постоянно изтъкване на този факт. Дори има едно изречение на Семън Дай, което гласи, че той няма нищо против да застрелва по един цветнокож на седмица.
January 10, 2022
إرسكِن كالدوِل، هذا الكاتب الأمريكيّ الشجاع. هوَ الذي قرّعَ العنصريين وطرقَ مسألة التمييز الطّبقي والفقر المُدقع الذي يُعاني منه جُزء كبيرٌ من الناس في جنوبِ أمريكا، فحورِبَ بالحظرِ والمنع جُلّ عمره. والحقّ أنّي ظننتُ أن تكونَ هذه الرواية أفضلَ وأجمل. ولكنّها على أيةِ حال مهمّة في تناولها لموضوع الفساد الديني والوُعّاظ الذين يستغلّون الدين في سبيل تحقيقِ مآربهم الشخصيّة وشهواتهم القذرة.
February 13, 2016
Livro que se lê muito facilmente, e por isso 3 estrelas por não complicar.
Simon Dye é um pregador que chega a uma terra perdida, no meio da américa profunda, Rocky Confort, Jorgia, perto do Alabama. Cidade mais perto é McGuffin. Chega de carro a uma quinta onde está Clay Horey que, no fim do livro considero ser o maior tanso que posso imaginar. Simon Dye, homem muito grande e persuasivo, prega para os outros, mas tem uma doutriona um bocado diferente para si próprio quanto ao que é o pecado: Tenta seduzir uma mulata, Sugar, e dá um tiro no marido dela, Hardy, quando este se opõe, bebe, joga aos dados (porventura viciados) em que ganha o carro de Clay, e até a sua mulher Dene; enfim peca imenso, é violento, ameaçador (tem uma pistola) e até acho que chega a fazer amor com a jovem (a 5ª mulher de Clay) de 15 anos, Dene, mas não parece muito contra a vontade dela. Clay conhecia a fama do nome de simon Dye, como muitos outros conheciam , mas nunca o tinham visto. há também um Tom, também tanso, mas não tanto como Clay. A chegada do pregador ambulante tinha sido na quarta feira, prometida para domingo uma pregação em que simon esperava receber muitas contribuições. o cálculo sai furado, embora ele tenha conseguido excitar toda a gente uma vez que todos os habitantes (40 pessoas) ficaram muito alucinados e a querer a salvação. Exceto Lorene, a 4ª mulher de Clay que entretanto aparecera, vinda de Jacksonville onde era prostituta e que viera ver o filho. Na véspera dormira logo com Simon, o qual, para se ver o seu estilo, em seguida vendeu os seus serviços a Clay, que pagou 1 dólar para fornicar e ficara tido zangado depois quando vira que era para ser com a sua antiga mulher porque achava que teria direito a fazê-lo de graça. Esta Lorene, não se deixara influenciar pela pregação alucinada que ocorrera na escola lá do sítio. No entanto no dia seguinte, quando lorene se preparava para ir com Simon, e até Dene, também, descobrem que ele já tinha ido logo cedo, no carro que pertencera a Clay, e que provavelmente não voltaria. Clay mostra sentimentos de pena pela próxima povoação que simon visitasse, mas também demonstra satisfação por ter recebido tal visita, que o enchia de orgulho apesar de ter sido ludibriado pelo pregador, por representar uma quebra na monotonia da sua vida.
Simon Dye é um pregador que chega a uma terra perdida, no meio da américa profunda, Rocky Confort, Jorgia, perto do Alabama. Cidade mais perto é McGuffin. Chega de carro a uma quinta onde está Clay Horey que, no fim do livro considero ser o maior tanso que posso imaginar. Simon Dye, homem muito grande e persuasivo, prega para os outros, mas tem uma doutriona um bocado diferente para si próprio quanto ao que é o pecado: Tenta seduzir uma mulata, Sugar, e dá um tiro no marido dela, Hardy, quando este se opõe, bebe, joga aos dados (porventura viciados) em que ganha o carro de Clay, e até a sua mulher Dene; enfim peca imenso, é violento, ameaçador (tem uma pistola) e até acho que chega a fazer amor com a jovem (a 5ª mulher de Clay) de 15 anos, Dene, mas não parece muito contra a vontade dela. Clay conhecia a fama do nome de simon Dye, como muitos outros conheciam , mas nunca o tinham visto. há também um Tom, também tanso, mas não tanto como Clay. A chegada do pregador ambulante tinha sido na quarta feira, prometida para domingo uma pregação em que simon esperava receber muitas contribuições. o cálculo sai furado, embora ele tenha conseguido excitar toda a gente uma vez que todos os habitantes (40 pessoas) ficaram muito alucinados e a querer a salvação. Exceto Lorene, a 4ª mulher de Clay que entretanto aparecera, vinda de Jacksonville onde era prostituta e que viera ver o filho. Na véspera dormira logo com Simon, o qual, para se ver o seu estilo, em seguida vendeu os seus serviços a Clay, que pagou 1 dólar para fornicar e ficara tido zangado depois quando vira que era para ser com a sua antiga mulher porque achava que teria direito a fazê-lo de graça. Esta Lorene, não se deixara influenciar pela pregação alucinada que ocorrera na escola lá do sítio. No entanto no dia seguinte, quando lorene se preparava para ir com Simon, e até Dene, também, descobrem que ele já tinha ido logo cedo, no carro que pertencera a Clay, e que provavelmente não voltaria. Clay mostra sentimentos de pena pela próxima povoação que simon visitasse, mas também demonstra satisfação por ter recebido tal visita, que o enchia de orgulho apesar de ter sido ludibriado pelo pregador, por representar uma quebra na monotonia da sua vida.
September 1, 2020
Its a lightweight read, it does pull you into storytelling, but bottom line is-it has nothing to teach you something new, nothing you haven't come across. On the bright side, Caldwell has described characters pretty vividly, you can picture how they look like and put them in the scene described. On the downside, characters are one-dimensional, Simon (the journeyman) is a troubled pastor who visits people with their everyday life issue and subtly reveals race problems in America, alcohol issues, rapes etc. Journeyman with troubled men.
March 10, 2025
Quello che ti prende, è proprio il fatto di star seduto là a guardare gli alberi per tutta la giornata attraverso la fessura. Non so davvero che cosa sia, e magari, a pensarci, non è proprio niente. Ma non si tratta di sapere che cos’è, in ogni caso; si tratta solo del fatto che a star seduto là, a guardare attraverso la crepa, mi dà un senso come se il paradiso non dovesse essere poi così lontano.
August 23, 2010
Like God's Little Acre meets Wiseblood.
April 6, 2018
It’s hard to know what to say about
Journeyman
that I haven’t already said about any number of other novels and collections of short stories by Erskine Caldwell. Is he the best American writer I’ve ever read? Arguably. Does he paint unforgettable pictures of people and places? Without a doubt. Is
Journeyman
a good example of both?
I was absolutely mesmerized during most of my reading of this novel. That said, I wouldn’t call it flawless. The penultimate scene with the local townsfolk of Rocky Comfort, Georgia is a bit over the top. Yes, we all know (at least by rumor) about evangelical Christians. And yes, we’ve all heard or read or seen the services or ceremonies in which “the devil is cast out” and “the spirit of the Lord enters.” But I felt the scene in the schoolroom (in lieu of a church, which Rocky Comfort no longer had) was a bit too convulsive for its own sake.
Journeyman is an excellent example of Caldwell’s powers of persuasion and description. It’s just not the best of his work I’ve read to date. Will I continue my Caldwellian journey? Absolutely!—at least until I’ve run out of those works I can find through mail order in second-hand bookstores throughout the U.S. Those bookstores are no doubt happy to exchange their old Signet paperbacks for a few bucks; I’m happy to extend my study of Erskine Caldwell—and then to leave this collection of his books to my children. And to my children’s children.
RRB
Brooklyn, NY
06 April 2019
I was absolutely mesmerized during most of my reading of this novel. That said, I wouldn’t call it flawless. The penultimate scene with the local townsfolk of Rocky Comfort, Georgia is a bit over the top. Yes, we all know (at least by rumor) about evangelical Christians. And yes, we’ve all heard or read or seen the services or ceremonies in which “the devil is cast out” and “the spirit of the Lord enters.” But I felt the scene in the schoolroom (in lieu of a church, which Rocky Comfort no longer had) was a bit too convulsive for its own sake.
Journeyman is an excellent example of Caldwell’s powers of persuasion and description. It’s just not the best of his work I’ve read to date. Will I continue my Caldwellian journey? Absolutely!—at least until I’ve run out of those works I can find through mail order in second-hand bookstores throughout the U.S. Those bookstores are no doubt happy to exchange their old Signet paperbacks for a few bucks; I’m happy to extend my study of Erskine Caldwell—and then to leave this collection of his books to my children. And to my children’s children.
RRB
Brooklyn, NY
06 April 2019
January 26, 2016
Caldwell's recurring theme seems to be the depravity of the depression-era South, and Journeyman is no exception. This tale of an itinerant preacher arriving in a rural area allegedly to convert the masses portrays the inhabitants as gullible, lazy, and stupid. Semon Dye, the preacher, seduces every woman he encounters, cheats the men out of their money and possessions, drinks moonshine with unusual gusto, and then, at the long-promised revival meeting, delivers on his promise to fill the congregation with the spirit of the Lord. Afterwards, he vanishes in the car that he won shooting (loaded) dice, leaving both men and especially women feeling regretful at his departure. There is no redemption here, but the story is entertaining nonetheless. Caldwell tells a good tale, and his characters are memorable. I am too young to verify his portrayal of the era, but am familiar with the rural South, and though I take a much more charitable view of its people, I find many familiar images in his work.
June 23, 2012
Terzo libro di Caldwell che leggo. A mio parere inferiore a "Il piccolo campo" e "La via del tabacco".
Ci si ritrova sempre la solita cerchia di poveracci ma stavolta il racconto è meno corale.
Il personaggio che ruba la scena a tutti è proprio lui, "Il predicatore vagante", Semon Dye, che potrebbe benissimo essere interpretato da Robert Ryan o, perché no, il Robert Mitchum di "Night Of The Hunter".
Affascinante la scena della Salvazione dove tutti gli abitanti del paese...
Stavolta non ci sono situazioni morbose tra uomini e donne come negli altri due libri, a parte Dene.
Dene ha 15 anni ma a quanto pare è bravissima a indovinare la miglior maniera di trattare un uomo.
Tra partite a dadi, quarta moglie, imbrogli, ipnotiche sbirciatine da fessure nel capanno, figli bisognosi di cure ma imprendibili, il romanzo scorre e alcune scene le ricorderò a lungo.
Ci si ritrova sempre la solita cerchia di poveracci ma stavolta il racconto è meno corale.
Il personaggio che ruba la scena a tutti è proprio lui, "Il predicatore vagante", Semon Dye, che potrebbe benissimo essere interpretato da Robert Ryan o, perché no, il Robert Mitchum di "Night Of The Hunter".
Affascinante la scena della Salvazione dove tutti gli abitanti del paese...
Stavolta non ci sono situazioni morbose tra uomini e donne come negli altri due libri, a parte Dene.
Dene ha 15 anni ma a quanto pare è bravissima a indovinare la miglior maniera di trattare un uomo.
Tra partite a dadi, quarta moglie, imbrogli, ipnotiche sbirciatine da fessure nel capanno, figli bisognosi di cure ma imprendibili, il romanzo scorre e alcune scene le ricorderò a lungo.
January 18, 2015
Well, Erskine Caldwell got this one right. Journeyman's a pretty cool tale, so read it. For me, Tobacco Road and, to a lesser extent, God's Little Acre missed the mark on the best mix of caricature and message. In both of these earlier stories, I felt the caricatures were too extreme, too far fetched to be fair to back country Southerners. But in Journeyman, Caldwell gets the mix right. I can believe such people actually lived. And it wasn't meanly done. And there is a message here about the passions that drive people, even to destruction.
An aside. The three Erskine Caldwell stories I've read: Tobacco Road, God's Little Acre, and Journeyman, provide a very good, and very disturbing look into the racism in the Southern United States in the 1930s. Utterly disturbing. And there's no caricature here. Caldwell was a Southerner, and he wrote about what he knew. Northern racism was, and is different; but Caldwell wasn't a Northerner, so he doesn't write about Northern racism.
An aside. The three Erskine Caldwell stories I've read: Tobacco Road, God's Little Acre, and Journeyman, provide a very good, and very disturbing look into the racism in the Southern United States in the 1930s. Utterly disturbing. And there's no caricature here. Caldwell was a Southerner, and he wrote about what he knew. Northern racism was, and is different; but Caldwell wasn't a Northerner, so he doesn't write about Northern racism.
January 6, 2019
Erskine Caldwell writes about the American South during depression times and in his works brings out the best and worst of his characters.
In "Journeyman" he presents one of his most colorful characters in the person of Semon Dye who happens to come to the town of Rocky Comfort, Georgia as a self proclaimed 'man of god' stating that he is a preacher.
Clay Horey, the other main character, tells it all in this quote on Semon:
"Reckon you're sort of got free rein. You tell other people what not to do, but you go ahead and do the same things yourself."
Semon likes his women, his gambling, his drinking and he tells everyone who listens... "I am a man of god" and he was sent to free them of their sins.
Caldwell takes on the morals and mores of the deep south in "Journeyman" with a cast of characters that talk to vice and virtue in themselves and in society... but, all handled with humorous grace and ease in the hands of Erskine
In "Journeyman" he presents one of his most colorful characters in the person of Semon Dye who happens to come to the town of Rocky Comfort, Georgia as a self proclaimed 'man of god' stating that he is a preacher.
Clay Horey, the other main character, tells it all in this quote on Semon:
"Reckon you're sort of got free rein. You tell other people what not to do, but you go ahead and do the same things yourself."
Semon likes his women, his gambling, his drinking and he tells everyone who listens... "I am a man of god" and he was sent to free them of their sins.
Caldwell takes on the morals and mores of the deep south in "Journeyman" with a cast of characters that talk to vice and virtue in themselves and in society... but, all handled with humorous grace and ease in the hands of Erskine
March 12, 2023
It didn't get good. Throughout the whole book I was waiting for the punchline, the thing that makes it all worth it. That didn't exist.
My biggest problem is the absurdity of the story. The main character (and honestly everyone else) is a blank slate of nothing. Spineless and stupid, serving no purpose with those traits. At one point he joins our journeyman in a game of dice. With 0 wit and charisma, the journeyman convinces him to bet his car and wife just like that.
The story ultimately leaves me empty. I feel nothing from what I read. A bunch of absolute morons get played by a jackass with no qualities that make me believe he could play them. Nothing is explored. Something just happens and that's it.
My biggest problem is the absurdity of the story. The main character (and honestly everyone else) is a blank slate of nothing. Spineless and stupid, serving no purpose with those traits. At one point he joins our journeyman in a game of dice. With 0 wit and charisma, the journeyman convinces him to bet his car and wife just like that.
The story ultimately leaves me empty. I feel nothing from what I read. A bunch of absolute morons get played by a jackass with no qualities that make me believe he could play them. Nothing is explored. Something just happens and that's it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2020
Written in a different time and cultural plane, this novel nevertheless resonates well today. Although the plot of the story deals with a religious con man bilking poorly-educated individuals in the rural South, it is equally applicable to all demographics and social strata who fall prey to those who seek to bilk them in one way or another. Corporations, politicians (of all affiliations), organizations, and even so-called religious "leaders" work overtime to manipulate and control the average person. This novel speaks to that gullibility. Well worth the read!
October 29, 2016
Il solito Erskine Caldwell, diciamolo. Questo libro è meno conosciuto rispetto ai suoi classici, ed è un peccato, visti i continui picchi di profondità e miseria morale che sono la cifra distintiva dell'autore.
Il vero protagonista del romanzo, il predicatore Semon, mi ha provocato un enorme malessere, come raramente mi è successo con un libro. Ma anche io, come
Clay, rimango affascinato dalla sua figura diabolica e ingenua allo stesso tempo.
Il vero protagonista del romanzo, il predicatore Semon, mi ha provocato un enorme malessere, come raramente mi è successo con un libro. Ma anche io, come
Clay, rimango affascinato dalla sua figura diabolica e ingenua allo stesso tempo.
September 25, 2017
I was wondering whether to give this book one star, or two... But in the end there was nothing about this book that I liked. The characters were either too silly or too vicious. I am not really sure whether the story is based on true events, but I hope it's not.
May 18, 2012
Caldwell writes like one else. This features the most memorable revival scene ever penned.
February 19, 2025
Incredible
Literally unbelievable.
To enjoy a book, I have to be able to think that the events in it COULD happen. Otherwise, I'd read Henry Potter and Sci-Fi and Self-help books.
But there is no way anyplace, anywhere could be 100% populated by these abject cucks.
It takes a lot of opera, art galleries, and cooking shows to cook up cucks like this, and this town had none of these ingredients.
But I kept on reading, thinking something HAD to happen. At about 65%, when Dene confessed to some coal-burning, I thought maybe now we were off and running. But no. Nothing. Dead end.
If I wanted PURE bullshit, I'd read poetry or watch soccer.
Outside of the two Science Fiction books I've read, this was the among purest bullshit I've ever wasted time on.
"Graphic Realism", my ass. I'm beginning to think this guy is just plain full of shit. I'm beginning to think he was actually serious in that Estherville thing.
Literally unbelievable.
To enjoy a book, I have to be able to think that the events in it COULD happen. Otherwise, I'd read Henry Potter and Sci-Fi and Self-help books.
But there is no way anyplace, anywhere could be 100% populated by these abject cucks.
It takes a lot of opera, art galleries, and cooking shows to cook up cucks like this, and this town had none of these ingredients.
But I kept on reading, thinking something HAD to happen. At about 65%, when Dene confessed to some coal-burning, I thought maybe now we were off and running. But no. Nothing. Dead end.
If I wanted PURE bullshit, I'd read poetry or watch soccer.
Outside of the two Science Fiction books I've read, this was the among purest bullshit I've ever wasted time on.
"Graphic Realism", my ass. I'm beginning to think this guy is just plain full of shit. I'm beginning to think he was actually serious in that Estherville thing.
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