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This is the nature of war, whose stake is at once the game and the authority and the justification. Seen so, war is the truest form of divination. It is the testing of one’s will and the will of another within that larger will which because it binds them is therefore forced to select. War is the ultimate game because war is at last a forcing of the unity of existence. War is god.

Set in the old West primarily in the 1850s, just after the Mexican-American War, Blood Meridian is objectively a great work of literary fiction. It is full of all the things one wants from a work of important literature. Great writing. A unique and memorable character in Judge Holden. Symbolism. It is so atmospheric that the desert in effectively the third most important character. Much of its meaning is open to interpretation.

So what’s not to love about Blood Meridian? Well, I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book so full of violence. I mean Quentin Tarantino levels of violence. Is there a point to it? I suppose. It shows the progression as the gang descends from attacking hostile Indians, to peaceful Indians, to townspeople, and finally to soldiers. In one scene, the Judge buys two puppies just to throw them into the river and watch them drown. So yeah, I’d argue it’s gratuitously violent. And, a large portion of the book—like the middle two-thirds—is largely just the characters traveling around from town to town, committing one violent act after another. The plot, such as it is, only picks up in the book’s final pages.

Still, I found myself thinking about Blood Meridian quite a bit in the days after I finished it, and off and on ever since. In some ways it reminded me of The Red Badge of Courage and Heart of Darkness. But what did it all mean? If you believe (view spoiler)[the Judge killed the Kid at the end (hide spoiler)] (and not everyone does), then why did he? Because he was the last witness to the exploits of the Glanton Gang? Because of the differences in their moral codes? And was the Judge a man at all, or some type of Devil? His presentation throughout the book—and the fact that he was easily the most interesting character—left me thinking about the Devil in Paradise Lost. And it seems more than 30 years later, no one knows how to interpret the epilogue.

Blood Meridian is truly a great book, but not exactly a good book. It’s not an easy read, nor particularly entertaining. But if you enjoy challenging literary fiction, and you’re ok with gratuitous violence, Blood Meridian is a modern classic.