George Garrett is a mature writer—Do, Lord, Remember Me is his third novel, his fifth book of fiction—and the fruits of his long apprenticeship are apparent here. (p. 160)
It may not be possible to end this kind of book in a manner that is thoroughly satisfactory…. [His] conclusion seems a little thin, if only from a technical viewpoint…. [But this is a minor complaint when] balanced against Garrett's overall performance. Telling his story largely from a series of first person points of view, he remains totally in control of his material. He uses flashbacks and passages of psychological probing with effective restraint, and his people are Southern and funny sometimes, but they are never caricatures and they are never lugubrious. And even if the handling of [the death of Smalley, the novel's protagonist,] is not technically perfect, the meaning is clear. Evil is redeemed through dissolution and pain. And it is only redeemed. It is not effaced or even assuaged, this side of Paradise. (p. 161)
Walter Sullivan, in Sewanee Review (reprinted by permission of the editor; © 1964 by The University of the South), Winter, 1964.
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