Major Themes
Reviews note the theme of violence. The novel examines some of the social causes for the violence depicted. The Guardian pointed out the irony that the state is working to execute Granville Oliver against Washingtonians consensus when so many other African American men die on the street. and called this an original argument against the death penalty. The New York Times compared the depiction of violence growing from smaller actions to the work of Richard Price. Pelecanos has described the book as an anti-detective novel because no case is solved by the private investigators and they are constantly a step behind the police.
Read more about this topic: Soul Circus (novel)
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