Sign in with Facebook
Pedro's Reviews > Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West
Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West
by
by
Pedro's review
bookshelves: born-in-the-usa, i-m-not-angry-i-m-disappointed, it-felt-like-torture
Nov 08, 2022
bookshelves: born-in-the-usa, i-m-not-angry-i-m-disappointed, it-felt-like-torture
Early this year, I read Mario Vargas Llosa’s highly regarded (and rated) The Feast of the Goat. By the time I turned its last page I found myself completely baffled by all the praise for it. I couldn’t, still can’t and don’t think I ever will believe I read the same novel as everybody else.
What Mr Vargas Llosa did there, apparently, was that he simply picked up some real life events and tried to turn them into a novel.
There’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but the problem for me started after the moment, early on, when I realised that Mr Vargas Llosa had written it assuming that everyone would’ve also done a lot of research and as such would be familiar with those historical events and all the people involved.
Mr Vargas Llosa didn’t even bother with any characterisation whatsoever. All the characters were nothing but names on a page - names and surnames, to be more precise. As if coming up with people’s surnames could possibly add anything worth mentioning in what good characterisation is concerned.
Now, don’t get me wrong, please, because I do feel for all the people who (in real life) had (have) to go through such injustices and violence. The problem with books like this start with my need for fiction to entertain me, whilst also hoping to learn something in the process of doing so, and that definitely didn’t happen with the The Feast of the Goat.
To be completely honest, I found the whole thing very uninspired and even quite pretentious. I also couldn’t grasp anything entertaining from it. For me, it was basically a chore.
As sad and devastating as I’m sure all the events were in real life, on the page, and in the context of a novel, everything just came across to me as nothing more than gratuitous violence.
So, yeah, for what is worth, these are also my exact thoughts about Cormac McCarthy’s so called masterpiece.
What Mr Vargas Llosa did there, apparently, was that he simply picked up some real life events and tried to turn them into a novel.
There’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but the problem for me started after the moment, early on, when I realised that Mr Vargas Llosa had written it assuming that everyone would’ve also done a lot of research and as such would be familiar with those historical events and all the people involved.
Mr Vargas Llosa didn’t even bother with any characterisation whatsoever. All the characters were nothing but names on a page - names and surnames, to be more precise. As if coming up with people’s surnames could possibly add anything worth mentioning in what good characterisation is concerned.
Now, don’t get me wrong, please, because I do feel for all the people who (in real life) had (have) to go through such injustices and violence. The problem with books like this start with my need for fiction to entertain me, whilst also hoping to learn something in the process of doing so, and that definitely didn’t happen with the The Feast of the Goat.
To be completely honest, I found the whole thing very uninspired and even quite pretentious. I also couldn’t grasp anything entertaining from it. For me, it was basically a chore.
As sad and devastating as I’m sure all the events were in real life, on the page, and in the context of a novel, everything just came across to me as nothing more than gratuitous violence.
So, yeah, for what is worth, these are also my exact thoughts about Cormac McCarthy’s so called masterpiece.
Sign into Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to see if any of your friends have read
Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
August 10, 2022
–
Started Reading
August 10, 2022
– Shelved
August 23, 2022
–
Finished Reading
March 31, 2023
– Shelved as:
born-in-the-usa
March 31, 2023
– Shelved as:
it-felt-like-torture
March 31, 2023
– Shelved as:
i-m-not-angry-i-m-disappointed
Comments Showing 1-8 of 8 (8 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Bianca
(new)
Nov 08, 2022 02:14PM
I appreciate your honesty. I'm yet to read this much-lauded author.
reply
|
flag
Thanks, Bianca. The Road is one of the most stunning novels I’ve ever read. ;)
I clearly remember your disappointment with Llosa's book, Pedro. I also become a bit angry when an author assumes I will already know the historical context of his or her fictional novel. And when names and numbers of characters are more important than characterization... well, that book is just doomed! You know I do like McCarthy, and I think we've agreed on most of his books we have in common, so I'm feeling hesitant about this one now. An excellent review by the way. Makes perfect sense :)
Pedro, I am struggling to compare what I have read by Cormac McCarthy and Mario Vargas Llosa with this book, it is next on my list. A great review, one that I may echo, probably why I have not read this book!!!
My husband disliked this, too, Pedro, but thought The Road and All the Pretty Horses were excellent. He called this brutal and boring.
Candi wrote: "I clearly remember your disappointment with Llosa's book, Pedro. I also become a bit angry when an author assumes I will already know the historical context of his or her fictional novel. And when ..."Candi, I like McCarthy too, but I think we all agree that characterisation is not his thing. We can't even tell if he's good or not at it because, as far as I'm concerned, he never even tried to do it.
Sometimes, despite the lack of characterisation, we can grasp a plot line or thread worth following and his novels can work very well (The Road, Outer Dark and No Country for Old Men). We might not get a description of the characters, but we end up picturing and caring about them based on the dialogue, their actions and also by the way Mr McMcCarthy masterfully describes their surroundings.
Unfortunately, in Blood Meridian there's no main characters (surprise!!) and the ones that exist are completely underdeveloped, anyway. With no exceptions, they were all faceless from start to finish.
The novel is also plotless; we basically follow a bunch of guys killing everything and everyone on their way through the desert. They particularly liked to smash babies heads, to make fun, torture and kill people from different races and they also liked to kill each other. Oh, and they also loved to torture people born with mental disabilities.
I don't know...
I just feel like I've watched all this cheery stuff from a million miles away, to be honest.
Lorna wrote: "Pedro, I am struggling to compare what I have read by Cormac McCarthy and Mario Vargas Llosa with this book, it is next on my list. A great review, one that I may echo, probably why I have not read..."Lorna, I totally understand why you, or someone else who has read both authors but not these two books in particular might struggle to understand the comparison I made.
I've only read this novel by Mr Vargas Llosa but I believe he's one of those authors who goes all over the place theme wise. I really have a feeling that his novels have nothing in common with one another and that whatever you read by him was completely different from Feast.
One thing I can guarantee to you, I'm not totally insane yet (ahah) and I didn't make up any of the things I mentioned. :D
Both these novels are inspired by real life events, both are populated by completely underdeveloped characters only and they are also both relentlessly violent. And, believe it or not, both authors annoyed me throughout by coming up with the characters surnames.
I hope I explained myself a bit better.
Thanks for your comment. :)
Jennifer wrote: "My husband disliked this, too, Pedro, but thought The Road and All the Pretty Horses were excellent. He called this brutal and boring."Jennifer, I agree with your husband.
Good writing on its own will never make a good novel for me.
Here's a list of the novels by Mr McCarthy that I have read so far, from best to not so good:
1. The Road
2. Outer Dark
3. No Country for Old Men
4. All the Pretty Horses
5. Cities of the Plain
6. The Crossing
7. Blood Meridian
