The Sleepy Conscience Club discussion

I loved that last part, spot on comment about the Neon Bible vs. the sky and being spiritual vs religious. This could easily be the underlying narrative of the whole book.

I find this book gritty for sure, but I am fine with it so far. Some passages definitely serve as reminders of the youth and inexperience of Toole when he wrote this, but his character development of Aunt Mae has been great. The backstory fits in with what I had imagined her to be in the first chapter, though perhaps not as seedy as I thought she was. It still seems like she was a prostitute though, but she prostituted for her career and not as a straight job.

How old is the narrator on the train? Have we learned this yet?

I happen to love the style of writing. I think it is refreshing to read a book written by someone who is doing there best to get a point across in quick succinct sentences. I enjoy the rapid fire and simple syntax. I am all to unimpressed with authors whose main purpose in writing is to impress themselves and others while in the process come off as pretentious jerks. I think that a simple approach is definitely best for a young author or an author new to the medium. I think its an additional testament to Toole that he knows his limits. Most people do not like to acknowledge there limits and often will push to the detriment of there work.

As far as the story goes, I think its a young persons perspective of a world and society that is glaring in its hypocrisy. I think Toole is doing his best to point out all the different incidents of the hypocrisy in his daily dealings with adults and other children. I think this is common for most children, but most children are unable to point it out. Toole takes the opportunity in his work to make it obvious, I think that since it takes place in the deep south and there is a religious aspect to all of this, it makes it even more apparent. All religious people are hypocrites, Its kind of the point of religion. The first test in thinking biblically is to acknowledge when you sin and are being a hypocrite so you can try to learn how not to.

Aunt Mae is great, I think the Dad is just stressed and unhappy, I think he wants to be more and is sad he it not. I think the Mom does her best, I think the teacher is a mean cruel person at heart. I think David is a tender loving little boy doing his best to navigate through a world that is not fair.