The Neon Bible

"The Neon Bilble" is a very good work of fiction in the tradition of American Southern Style Writing. Keeping in mind that when written, the author was 16 years of age, I find the work amazing, and in that context a "5 Star" work. The novel is of medium length and is easily followed. I listened to much of the work on an audiobook, which was very professiona, and also easily followed.The story is about a family in a small town in the American South before, during, and after, World War II. The protagonist narrator is a male child who grows from grade school to young adulthood. The entire narration is in first person. The writing style reminded me of a young Truman Capote and Carson McCullers. According to my study, the author was a fan of Flannery O'Connor. I can also sense that. The writing also reminded me of a perhaps less sophisticated version of Harper Lee.In the event one chooses to read this novel and enjoys this as I did, one may wish to consider "The Heart is A Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers, and "Other Voices, Other Rooms" by Truman Capote. The former being my favorite of the two.In summary, I really liked this work. The author was 16 years of age which amazed me. He went in to write another apparently much more sophisticated work that I have yet to read; "A Confederacy of Dunces". I am looking forward to reading that work and I wanted to read this work first. Thank You...

The book is in excellent condition, what a lucky find.

Toole writes to make readers think and feel. His gift is in the details. No word is chosen carelessly, each character and each phrase has meaning to the author, and if you’re lucky, something will resonate for you.I did not find the story as devastatingly sad as other reviewers. The main character, David, very clearly brought to mind Holden Caulfield.

A young boy is riding a train...A young boy named David lives with his parents during a very poor time, around the time of The Great Depression. His mother is feeble, and his father is a frustrated, poor man who feels the pressure of providing for his family. Shortly after the beginning of the story, his Aunt Mae, who was a singer and showgirl decades ago, comes to live with them.The town in which he lives is almost Puritanical; it's very narrow-minded, very religious in a backwards way. There is no other knowledge than that of the preacher and his lackeys. Because of this set up, most of the town is already opposed to, or irritated with Aunt Mae. With her fancy dresses, city attitude, and independence, she sticks out like a sore thumb. So, the family is poor, disliked, the mother is sick, the father is desperate, and the boy also has a problem; he's terribly shy and naïve around girls his age.The boy, his mother and aunt deal with the daily problems caused by being the ostracized heathens in a moronic, bigoted, stereotypical hick town. Run-ins with local religious leaders, uppity rich folks, and pretty school girls ensue.Problems and tragedy strikes as the family tries to make life meaningful, all the while struggling against the inevitableness of heartbreak, anguish, and the harsh decisions (and harsh consequences) life presents. Eventually, David finds himself with just as many questions as answers, and a new, difficult life ahead.

Other reviews had painted this book as a flawed first work, while rushing to add "...but he was only sixteen!" as though the book needed their defense. (Frankly, this book is plenty good on its own merits; that the author was sixteen at the time is just that much more impressive.) I took this book with me on a business trip, and didn't read it so much as devoured it. The author perfectly captured the voice of a barely literate, barely educated backwoods youth (read into that what you will), rendering it an engrossing page-turning narrative.I won't go so far as to say it's one of my favorite books, but it was a really good book I thoroughly enjoyed. Regardless of what other reviewers have said about the ending, I felt it was an excellent fit and an appropriate conclusion to the book. (Given that the author had a master's degree in English, I anticipate there may have been some symbolism, allegory and/or other tools of deeper meaning at work there, though I rather doubt it, and don't care very much regardless.) In any case, I found it a taut, compelling read, which I enjoyed a great deal more than I've enjoyed slogging through his "masterpiece", A Confederacy of Dunces... but that is another review entirely.

That John Kennedy Toole wrote this at the age of sixteen is amazing. What a shame that he left this world so young. I absolutely loved the ending. What a smart young man he was. I dare say that had he been alive now , these past five or six years would have done him in. May he rest in peace.

Because I was raised in a Calvinist small town environment, I was hit hard by this novel. I have never cried, actually sobbed, my way through a book. Only half way through now. Can only handle one chapter at a time. The author authentically captures the religious and social climate of the late 40s and early 50s. Never fully appreciated how damaging and painful my upbringing was until I read this book. Very cathartic for me. Nothing adolescent about this novel. It's right up there with Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty and Carson McCullers.

Toole's Confederacy of Dunces has long been one of my favourite books; this, his only other work (published posthumously in 1989 but actually written at the age of sixteen) is a totally different style, but very readable.Narrator David is a quiet only child in a small town of the American South. Father is violent and abusive, Mother increasingly strange; and Aunt Mae, who lodges with them, an erstwhile performer and good time girl. As the story opens, David is on a train...but he takes us back through his1940s childhood. Violence, brutality and poverty seem frequent features; teachers, good and bad; a first date; the War. And the local society, deeply entrenched in Christian revivals and conformity.The unfortunate events build to a sudden crescendo, and we find out what David's doing on that train...A book that portends a great writer in the making.

Like many I believed the myth of A confederacy of dunces being a one off but only to recently come across this excellent novel. A tale of tragedy and survival in the harsh world of a small town when you do not fit in.

From the author of A confederacy of Dunces, one of the great novels of the 20th century, that introduced us to Ignatius Riley to the world, comes this short novel that Toole wrote at the age of 16.It covers the ww2 period, before, during and after.The insights into the society and norms of the times are both shocking and amusing!Well worth a read, then read Confederacy, if you haven't already.Btw the quality of the book itself was excellent.

An astonishingly mature book given the author was only in his mid-teens when he wrote it. 'A Confederacy of Dunces' is my all-time favourite novel so I was prepared to give 'The Neon Bible' a go and I'm glad I did. What a talent we have lost in John Kennedy Toole.

A very interesting book but not as good as the Confederacy of Dunces by the same writer, which I really recommend for the larger than life characters in it. But then the author was very young when he wrote The Neon Bible.