Darkness Visible | Critical Overview

Styron penned Darkness Visible when he was sixtyfour years old, after a successful career in which he had gained a reputation as a prose stylist who wrote engaging stories that emphasized enduring human themes. Its critical reception is to a large degree based on Styron’s established reputation and the respect it affords him. With few exceptions the book was praised for its insight and candor. Reviewing the book for Newsweek, Peter Prescott wrote that ‘‘Darkness Visible . . . is an essay of great gravity and resonance. Never has Styron used so few words so...

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