Warlock

Western · Tragedy

First published: 1958
Print length: 471 pagesNew York Review Books, 2005

Description

Oakley Hall’s Warlock centers on a lawless frontier town that summons sharpshooter Clay Blaisedell to restore order. Blaisedell enters a community whose problems have exceeded its existing means of control, and his arrival promises a forceful answer to disorder. Yet the attempt to impose stability does not bring a simple resolution. As Blaisedell works to address Warlock’s troubles, chaos continues to mount, complicating both his mission and the town’s hopes. The novel follows the uneasy consequences of calling on a celebrated gunman to provide the order that Warlock cannot secure for itself.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Atmospheric · Dense · Descriptive

Pace

Measured

Tone

Dark · Philosophical · Tense

Structure

Multiple timelines

Focus

Character · Ideas · Plot

Emotional intensity

4 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 4 / 5
Ideas: 4 / 5
Structure: 4 / 5
Background knowledge: 2 / 5

Themes

CommunityCrime and punishmentJusticeMoralityPower

About Oakley Hall

Oakley Hall (1920–2008) was an American novelist best known for fiction about the historical American West. A San Diego native, he earned his degree at UC Berkeley before wartime service with the Marines. His 1958 novel Warlock follows a frontier town that recruits the gunman Clay Blaisedell to establish order, only to see its troubles deepen. Hall also wrote mysteries as O.M. Hall and Jason Manor. He taught for many years at the University of California, Irvine, and helped establish the writers’ conference at Squaw Valley in 1969. His influence extended to younger writers: Richard Ford and Michael Chabon studied in the Irvine program, and Amy Tan was his student at the conference. In The Art and Craft of Novel Writing, Hall drew on his experience to explain how character, plot, viewpoint, dialogue, setting, and style work together, presenting technique as flexible practice rather than formula.

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: New York Review Books
Language: English
ISBN: 9781590171615

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