Set This House on Fire

Much like Sophie's Choice, this novel will no doubt haunt the reader for years to come. Styron has an uncanny ability to render unlikeable characters in a human way that makes one nearly sympathize with them. I take issue with the reviewers who criticize the digressions and flashbacks that buttress the story. The two critical characters of Cass Kinsolving and Mason Flagg are fleshed-out by virtue of the digressions, making... Read Full Review

This book, Styron's finest, is about redemption. Heralded by the epigraph from John Donne, the intricately structured tale with its Marlowian manipulations of narrative points of view soon becomes so enthralling that it's impossible to put down. But it's also to Styron's great credit that the novel's theme, redemption through confrontation with death and violence, is reflected through its feverish style. There are not... Read Full Review

Styron somehow manages to find a glimmer of hope amid the the swirl of self-destructiveness which envelops the two leading protagonists, Cass Kinsolving, an inebriate unaccomplished painter from modest North Carolina roots, and Mason Flagg, a demonically charming neer do well who has settled in an idyllic Italian coastal town along with a Hollywood cast filming a B movie. The third protagonist, the narrator, first meets... Read Full Review

Extraordinary in its truest sense. Possibly not for Everyman (though I detest such elitism as much as the next guy), this epic paints in strokes broad and fine the tale of three Americans unwittingly ensnared in the Tragic Muse's web in the post-war, bucolic setting of a hillside village in Italy. Whether or not an insatiable reader of William Syron's work, you might agree that this one stands alone. Though it may seem... Read Full Review

I read this book seven years ago, maybe eight years ago. I still remember its impact. It's the fascinating story of Americans in Italy, most drunk and/or debauched. There is a beautiful, kind and frightened Italian peasant girl who is a helpless party to the action. The characters are emotive, world weary. The absurd sadness of one's life on this earth is brought into wrenching focus by William Styron. "A tour de force."... Read Full Review