Warlock

By: Oakley Hall, Robert Stone

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Oakley Hall's legendary Warlock revisits and reworks the traditional conventions of the Western to present a raw, funny, hypnotic, ultimately devastating picture of American unreality.

First published in the 1950s, at the height of the McCarthy era, Warlock is not only one of the most original and entertaining of modern American novels but a lasting contribution to American fiction.

©1958 Oakley Hall; Introduction copyright 2006 by Robert Stone (P)2018 Tantor

A rare perfect novel

Finished this a month ago, and I think it’s a masterpiece, a rare perfect book.

Occasionally, I run into these: The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton, Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg, and Possession by A.S Byatt to name a few of the novels that God has let us forget about so that they won’t tarnish over the years in the hands of the mob (canons are so messy), but also because He wants to reveal them to His special favorites in the fullness of time. It me. I’m God’s special favorite because he let me know that Warlock exists and now, since you’ve read this far, so are you.

True, the narration leaves something to be desired, but the power of the text soon eclipses these narratorial deficiencies.

Holy characters Batman

The story is ok, there is a whole Lotta nothing happening for a long time. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen and it never came. I guess that's part of the old west, not everything is gripping. pew pew

Mixed feelings about audio performance

Thought the voice actor was ok, but perhaps not a good fit for this story. I expected a more gravelly, deeper voice to accompany a western, though like Warlock itself, maybe those expectations should be more nuanced. Given that the book was from the 1950’s I’m thankful someone performed it at all.

A great story, well-told

A classic western, but much more than a western. An excellent reading of this rediscovered classic.

Journey down main street in the old west.

If you are a lover of the old west this book is a must-read. Oakley Hall develops characters with great depth. Although the towns are fictitious you will recognize the characters. As he borrowed heavily from actual history to create them. It’s a rip roaring rip snorting adventure where you can taste the dust by the great narration. A treasure that should be preserved, for it was written only 60 years after the events unfolded.

A Classic

I usually don't read Westerns, but based on recommendations, I read this one. I was not disappointed. This is a classic Western in sweep, characters, and dialogue. The landscape and the quality of light in a desert throughout the day star in this Pulitzer Prize-nominated novel. The characters in the silver mine town of Warlock captivated me. If the book sounds like a movie I have watched, it is because it was made into a film in 1959, a year after it was published. I may have seen that, but I enjoy the book better for the richness of prose and description like poetry. I found this a thrilling read. I highly recommend it.