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Eric's Reviews > Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West
Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West
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There are two ways to evaluate a book, as far as my unlearned mind can concoct at the moment. Stylish literary flourishes sometimes cloud our judgment when it comes to evaluating the plot itself, which is, after all, the reason why the book exists.
This book is well written. If I'm a 11th grader, and I need to do a book report, I'm drooling over the blatant symbolism dripping from each page. The scene is set admirably, though the repetitive nature of our brave hero's wanderings (at least it's with symbolic reason) lead to a paucity in novel adjectives by the 13th desert crossing. There are only so many ways one can say that it's hot, dry and empty. And dry. Boy, that sun sure is strong. I'm there, I'm with you, all right, it sucks around here, phew, the sun's really beating down today. And there are a lot of bones. Dead things abound, OK, I get it.
Then there's the story line. Explain to me again why I'm interested in the wanton marauding of a band of depraved demons? So, we enjoy the dashing of infants into rocks because of the supposed literary merits of the work? We can bash/splatter/expose brains of whatever, happen upon crucified corpses, and ignore any modicum of human decency because the book is about something deeper? But, you say (and without quotes you say it), that's what it was like. Oh yeah? It was like that? Says who? Why do you want to believe that it was like that? As bad as humankind is, our reality is not that despicable, though our souls may be. Why do we have to play follow the leader behind our impish pied piper, pretending an enlightened understanding of some grandiose truth, while all we really do is sate our own personal blood lusts? I wonder.
By the way, if neglecting quotation marks somehow makes the book classier, why not just go all out and remove spaces between words. You better believe I won't be speed reading the repetitive descriptions of how tired everyone is if there aren't any spaces. Why stop there, periods are for two bit hacks too. You're not a real author until you slaughter a few hundred non-innocents (nay, no one is innocent) while neglecting a basic courtesy to the reader.
Who knows, I don't speak Spanish, maybe I'm just missing the point entirely. How do you say "flayed skin" in Spanish?
This book is well written. If I'm a 11th grader, and I need to do a book report, I'm drooling over the blatant symbolism dripping from each page. The scene is set admirably, though the repetitive nature of our brave hero's wanderings (at least it's with symbolic reason) lead to a paucity in novel adjectives by the 13th desert crossing. There are only so many ways one can say that it's hot, dry and empty. And dry. Boy, that sun sure is strong. I'm there, I'm with you, all right, it sucks around here, phew, the sun's really beating down today. And there are a lot of bones. Dead things abound, OK, I get it.
Then there's the story line. Explain to me again why I'm interested in the wanton marauding of a band of depraved demons? So, we enjoy the dashing of infants into rocks because of the supposed literary merits of the work? We can bash/splatter/expose brains of whatever, happen upon crucified corpses, and ignore any modicum of human decency because the book is about something deeper? But, you say (and without quotes you say it), that's what it was like. Oh yeah? It was like that? Says who? Why do you want to believe that it was like that? As bad as humankind is, our reality is not that despicable, though our souls may be. Why do we have to play follow the leader behind our impish pied piper, pretending an enlightened understanding of some grandiose truth, while all we really do is sate our own personal blood lusts? I wonder.
By the way, if neglecting quotation marks somehow makes the book classier, why not just go all out and remove spaces between words. You better believe I won't be speed reading the repetitive descriptions of how tired everyone is if there aren't any spaces. Why stop there, periods are for two bit hacks too. You're not a real author until you slaughter a few hundred non-innocents (nay, no one is innocent) while neglecting a basic courtesy to the reader.
Who knows, I don't speak Spanish, maybe I'm just missing the point entirely. How do you say "flayed skin" in Spanish?
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Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
September 1, 2007
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Finished Reading
September 7, 2007
– Shelved
September 16, 2007
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Zack
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rated it 5 stars
Dec 18, 2007 12:39PM
"It was like that? Says who? Why do you want to believe that it was like that?" McCarthy did a lot of research before writing this novel, and compared to my own (admittedly sparse) research on the topic, it appears that he was dead-on. There was an actual Judge Holden that attacked little girls and was an expert in geology that rode with the Glanton Gang. The Gang did end up killing and scalping hordes of people, many of whom were "innocent." But though McCarthy takes liberties with the historical record for the sake of his ultimate point, the ultimate point itself requires nothing more than a read-through of a current newspaper to be validated. "As bad as humankind is, our reality is not that despicable..." There's currently a genocide occurring in Sudan. Extremists in Iraq are murdering farmers who don't put diapers on their goats. And, just to shoot the fish right square in the barrel, the Nazis were able to convince an entire nation, normal folk, that wiping out an entire race is not such a bad thing. I'm not sure what reality you are referring to, but from my understanding humans, if given the opportunity, left to their own devices, will end up acting evil, not good. Judging from your other book reviews, you're a Christian, so I'm surprised that you don't agree that the nature of the human heart is wicked. However, I agree with you that McCarthy's isn't the whole picture, and that man's heart can be changed. Hence, I prefer Dostoevsky's take on the matter, found in The Brother's Karamazov. I recommend you read it.
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Your review hit the nail on the head for me. I have been having trouble getting through this book for these exact reasons.....I am also glad to know that I am not the only one who is bothered by fragments and run-on sentences.
"As bad as humankind is, our reality is not that despicable..."This is a frighteningly naive and complacent comment. Untold millions of people have been killed just as brutally as in Blood Meridian. Why don't you go to the library and read accounts about the 1994 Rwanda genocide, during which people had to watch their own family members be raped and hacked into pieces with machetes. How about the mass graves in Kosovo filled with the bullet-riddled bodies of children.
There's no accounting for taste, so there's nothing wrong with you not digging McCarthy's prose, but I just cannot believe that a functioning adult could make a statement so staggeringly ignorant.
Don't get me wrong - I believe in the total depravity of man - we, as a species, stand condemned before a holy God, and I agree with you on that. It is our fallen nature to be prone to all varieties of evil. Is McCarthy part of the solution or part of the problem? Are the video games and glorify violence a fact of life - to be lauded for their realism, or a means to prey on our inner corruption to turn a profit? Do they make us better or worse?
It is a telling look into a person's mind that they would want to research such travesties - I'm sure there was some sadistic pleasure to be derived from it.
"So staggeringly ignorant"...melodramatic much Tyler?
It is a telling look into a person's mind that they would want to research such travesties - I'm sure there was some sadistic pleasure to be derived from it."So staggeringly ignorant"...melodramatic much Tyler?
And it's also rather melodramatic to call a person who would rather read the unvarnished truth of history sadistic because they voluntarily research these topics, don't you think?
It really doesn't take much to discover these sort of stories in history. They're on every page. Read Lies My Teacher Told Me if you don't believe me.
"Is McCarthy part of the solution or part of the problem? Are the video games and glorify violence a fact of life - to be lauded for their realism, or a means to prey on our inner corruption to turn a profit? Do they make us better or worse?"What? Two things:
1. What do video games have to do with this?
2. Cormac McCarthy has never "glorified" ANYTHING (good or bad) in any of his books, ever. In fact, the violence in "Blood Meridian" serves the opposite purpose. This isn't the stylized violence of Western movies where the good guy (white hat) and the bad guy (black hat) stare each other down, exchange iconic dialogue and then shoot one another to end the dance. This is chaos, it is madness, and it is complete, bitter emptiness. The narrative flourish is what makes it all kind of beautiful. I've read sunsets in this book more beautiful than anything I've ever seen with my own eyes.
Now if you're condemning the book for its nihilism, would you cast the same judgment upon Conrad for "Heart of Darkness?" Shakespeare for "King Lear?" There are plenty of great stories of human courage and decency, but what good is hindsight if we just ram our fingers in our ears whenever the darker side comes up? Our history's chock full of monsters and plenty of them have interesting enough stories.
"Explain to me again why I'm interested in the wanton marauding of a band of depraved demons?"Provocative thought. I mean, either you're interested or you're not. Is it the writer's job to account for all the many thousands of interests of his many thousands of readers? I think something Cormac did in this novel was write about a piece of history we hadn't really seen take shape in fiction before. Interesting in it itself, no? -- which isn't to say every reader ought to be interested...
Tyler wrote: "'As bad as humankind is, our reality is not that despicable...'This is a frighteningly naive and complacent comment."
Reminds me of something the author himself said about his message with The Road:
"Just simply care about things and people and be more appreciative. Life is pretty damn good, even when it looks bad, and we should appreciate it more. We should be grateful. I don't know who to be grateful to, but you should be thankful for what you have."
"the plot itself, which is, after all, the reason why the book exists."With all due respect, says who?
I'm afraid I have to chime in one simple declaration, completely ignoring the other aspects of this review, because I found it absolutely ignorant to understanding literature (I'd prefer a negative book report from an 11th grader than this pathetically dismissive rambling)."...the plot itself, which is, after all, the reason why the book exists" has to be the absolutely dumbest and ill-informed idea I've ever read on this website. This isn't even a matter of being subjective, as there are thousands of authors who would completely disagree, and I hate to break it to you, but you certainly don't have a better understanding of "the book" than ANY novelist out there. Your idea's just ridiculous, and it's really hard to take anything else you say seriously after that. I couldn't be more curious as to what YOU consider to be a decent book. I'd really love to hear a list of novels that resonated deeply with you.
Eric here is the point of the novel: to present violence absent of the mercy and last second heroics we (especially here in the US have come to demand and be comforted by) in the Western genre. The novel sets up the trappings of a showdown between good and evil, then purposefully fails to follow through in order to frustrate the complacency in our cliches and present violence as it was and is experienced in the real world, absent of heroes and and reward. The novel achieves what the film Unforgiven tried and failed to do. With its weighty Biblical sounding prose, it occupies the church of the Western genre in order to desecrate our idols and assumptions. In my opinion, it is a work of genius.
Unnecessary to comment on style when there is so much more important gristle to chew... The crux is whether the violence is justified, whether Seth is right and I say, "no." It's an ode to evil, and I reject it. It's a bad reflection on us to love this thing. Respect it, yes, like a snake. But not admire.
The best condemnation of violence is simply to depict it.
An act of violence in the real world in which we actually live is not a work of art. But a work of art is not the real world. It is 'a work of art'. It's existence is not predicate upon actuality. It is a creative act, it is invented, it is made. Any judgement upon it must apply to the technical, creative and intellectual skill with which it is created. The event's depicted and the message conveyed matter little if they are poorly done. It is obvious that McCarthy's work is not poorly done, it is achieved with great skill and vision. Quite a unique vision to be exact. If the message is offensive then don't read it. No work of art is about the message, because a message is limited to too many things (history, cultural mores, ephemeral morality). A work of art always stretches beyond a simple message and transcends what is ordinary. It is required only to be artistically true, by that I mean that the work is sufficiently well done that it carries a deeper meaning than a simple and particular 'message'. I think of all McCarthy's books Blood Meridian harnesses all of his powers as a writer to convey an extraordinary vision of the world. Whether this vision is right or wrong is completely immaterial. It is the power of the vision that ultimately holds us.
I'm not all that smart and won't underscore that fact by trying to offer too much this late in the discussion. When I read Blood Meridian, it was the first time my stomach turned at words on a page. Reading and then subsequently digesting the book required an adjustment inside. I can't say that I loved it nor did I despise it. It's just stuck in there now and it will be forever.
If anyone has any doubt as to the unspeakable violence that occurred in the opening up of the West, read Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne. A brilliant historical account of the Comanche in what is now Texas. I naively believed McCarthy had embellished the gore. Sadly, the reality of what took place was likely much worse than even the sickest moments in Blood Meridian.
It's hard to stomach but yes, the brutal violence of the time did really happen whether we want to believe it did or not, in ways far worse than most of us living in this part of the world two centuries later can remotely appreciate.
I totally agree. I find it a chore to read this book. I don't know if there was really rampant violence in history or not but I didn't like reading about the gore. The book also did nothing to give the reader a feeling that that kind of violence was wrong. In fact it left me thinking that its a normal part of life and totally acceptable. I'm pretty sure people get put in jail or even put to death for these kinds of actions nowadays.
This is great. Like you I had mixed feelings about this book. You're right that McCarthy does a good, albeit punishingly redundant, job of describing the same scene with a plethora of words unfamiliar to me. I heard of all the violence in this work before I read it and now that I'm done I think I had a more difficult time with the aimless meandering of the group than the sporadic, intense violence. Interesting book, but I'm still unsure what to make of it.
Then I suppose every book should be 'Of Human Bondage'? I get that some readers are turned off by the violence, but I think it's honesty. When we turn away from violent scenes in literature ( or at least in a book like this) we're doing mankind a disservice. I cringed at the violence too, but I suppose the difference is that I see what McCarthy is doing. You can't wrap your mind around a simple headline : "1000 dead in terrorist attack", it's too big a number. You may be disgusted by the act and you obviously know what it means, but if you actually saw it, it would hurt your soul. And McCarthy is one who wants to drive the point that far. If you want to ignore something, you give raw data. If you want to make it a living thing, you give it context and action. That's what he did. You see how terrible these people are, how ruthless just about every man in this period was. It maybe fiction but I feel the portrayal of man is accurate. It's a reminder.
I also don't seem to get your point on McCarthy's lack of punctuation. I think certain authors can get away with it, if they craft the dialogue right. Hubert Selby did it, and it was great. I see it as Cormac essentially views his books as a form of spoken story telling. Like you were hearing it around a fire or face to face, and I appreciate that. Not everyone can, and I don't say that to slight anyone who doesn't : different strokes I guess. I realize not everyone is going to love every book and I suppose if they did, reading might be more of a chore and less interesting, so I'll close by saying I do respect your opinion, and I think at least it was well thought out and honest.
If I may, I'm going to use a line from this in my review. I agree whole-heartedly.
I understand the desire for honesty here and not wanting to turn away from history, but is desensitizing ourselves to violence through exposure (albeit written, not actual) something to celebrate? I'm not in denial about the violence of the period, nor the politics, nor the racial oppression. Neither had I harbored any illusions of the Westerns genre. I certainly didn't need any illusions shattered when it came to white men and horses. So my rhetorical question here, is should I really bother pushing all the way through this book? I've read All the Pretty Horses, which I thought was fairly good, and The Road, which I thought was great. After about a third of the way through Blood Meridian, I certainly respect McCarthy as an author, but since all I have to look forward to is more aimless wanderings and violence, do I really need to torture myself here? As others have stated, I think it's definitely subjective.Also, I would like to point out that for people like me, white middle class straight guys living in Canada who haven't experienced much violence in their lives, it might seem a novel experience to witness this kind of violence, but to those who have had to endure systemic violence, whether it be domestic, racial, etc, I wonder whether we really ought to be advising each other to embrace the raw honesty. That's a fairly privileged view to hold, and while I definitely agree with it to an extent, I just want to acknowledge that the readers of books are not a homogenous group, and that someone deciding not to subject themself to the violence in this book is not inherently dishonest.
The Bible itself is more violent than this book will ever be. King David himself slaughters women and children as wantonly as Judge and with a band of brigands equally as worthless to boot.
But, wait... that's different because of the... oh?
Blood Meridian , when I read it flowed through my mind like a river of poetry; so that's how I see it at face value: prose poetry from page 1 to 353. Maybe that's why I could stomach the 'repetitiveness of the imagery, sunsets, geology and all, and the absence of punctuation, which, if anything, helped me read it more quickly and smoothly, keeping to the rhythm of the style. I will now start to find out about the author's ideas behind characters like the Judge who is pivotal to the whole book since he seems an eternal and universal axle around which the journey is made, made by men, saints and sinners (if there be such).
nice review, honest. cormac has sociopathic fetishes, many writers have hidden those with the simple fact that they're very good at their job.
I was trying to figure out why I felt so disappointed after finishing it. I started reading the reviews to see if someone felt the same and my gilt was growing after every raving review I read, until I found yours. You were spot on!
I guess some people want to live in a fantasy world where everything is sunshine and rainbows and humans aren't as equally fucked up as they are good. Liberals.
People who want to believe in the inherent evil of mankind? Whether people believe in something or not doesn't make it true or not. Your review is petty and juvenile.
I don't frequently comment on the reviews of others. Your opinion is your own and it's your right to have it, but I have issue with this. This is the review of someone who is utterly blind to both the reality of the world/humanity, and to what constitutes truly classic literature. You clearly did not understand/comprehend the book at all. You prove this by calling the kid "our brave hero." He is most certainly neither of those things. Like I said, you have a right to your opinion, but don't mistake your lack of intelligence and understanding of history and human nature for a legitimate complaint about one of the greatest novels in American history.
In the intervening decade since I wrote this review my eyes have been opened to the full depravity of the human condition. Dustin et al, you are totally right! Just last Tuesday, a local radio station held a contest to see how many babies (post-born) contestants could smash in 2 minutes. I only managed 5, and was 9th out of 10. In my defense, I could have done one or two more, but they ran out of babies. Russian adoptions limited as they are. Further, I can't think of a day that's gone by when I haven't witnessed someone scalp someone else. The news doesn't even bother covering minor genocides anymore. Go big or go home!
So yes, you're correct. I was so naive, and the world really is, on average, just as cruel (not to mention hot, dry, and sunny in a lip chapping sort of way) as you say. I'm glad there are plenty of people around whose personal proclivities are so finely tuned to the realities of this world. It's a refreshing reminder.
Thanks again for the feedback.
Eric wrote: "In the intervening decade since I wrote this review my eyes have been opened to the full depravity of the human condition. Dustin et al, you are totally right! Just last Tuesday, a local radio stat..."I really meant no disrespect on my comment. As I said your opinion is your own. You may not think the world is as brutal and dark as this book portrays in the modern day, but it most certainly has been historically, specifically during the period in which this book is set. Much of life during this era (especially for the type of people focused on in this story) was exactly this brutal and even worse. Just because you didn't like the brutality of the story doesn't mean it was exaggerated or even unnecessary.
You seem a bit like you are taking comments a little too personally. It isn't personal when someone disagrees with you.
As for modern day horrors in real life. Make no mistake there is enough brutality to go around in 2017. To ignore that, or even make light of it as you seem to do, shows that you are not very aware of the world around you. We may not be bashing babies heads into rocks, but things like genocide are very much a part of the world today. There is also terrorism, rape, murder (including children), and a whole litany of other terrible things. Just recently, a woman attempting to report a sexual assault was shot and killed by a POLICE OFFICER, so you can't exactly behave in a way or even believe that there is not darkness and brutality all around you.
You criticize a beautifully written work of art for portraying a darkness that is very real for no other reason than you prefer to believe the world is full of rainbows and hand-holding, When in actuality, you live in a world that is constantly trying to burn everything to the ground in spectacular fashion.
Please don't take this personally as an attack, it is not.
no, that decade didn't do much for you
Eric, I completely agree. I have a hard time believing so many people truly enjoyed reading this. The type of person who loves mindless, pointless violence with no character complexity or story arc really wouldn't be slogging through this book. Why not play a super violent video game instead of rereading quotation-free, run-on sentences that don't bother to distinguish between "the man" and some other guy also referred to as "the man"? The angry defense of the beauty of this book reminds me of the ripple effect of one art gallery deeming a misshapen red dot on a blank canvas a genius work of art. . .and then everyone else tells themselves they too see the genius! I think it's fine if you like the red dot and hang it on your wall, but there's no need to go around telling people they are ignorant if they don't see its magnificence. :)
A better book about the violence and hardship of frontier life in the 1800s is Shadow Country (Peter Matthiessen). It is also historical fiction, involves many murders and other horrible events, but the main character is both sympathetic and loathsome, and the story manages to stay interesting even though it's 900+ pages.
Kate wrote: "Eric, I completely agree. I have a hard time believing so many people truly enjoyed reading this. The type of person who loves mindless, pointless violence with no character complexity or story arc..."This book is pure art and is not lauded by mindless trend-followers as you imply. It is critically acclaimed. You compare Matthiessen to McCarthy? The former is known for having been in the CIA and writing about nature; the latter is a Pulitzer Prize winner. Please don't pretend as if this is some low-brow novel for gratuitous violence seekers. Maybe that is what it is to you. We all see things differently.
This work is meant to hold a mirror up to humanity. We are the only species on the planet that tortures, humiliates, avenges, etc. You may not need to read this, but for sure some do.
And Eric,
No your local radio station did not have a baby-killing contest. But that is kind of the whole point of the book. We don't see such horrors in the West, for the most part. But atrocities are going on. Knowing the depth of human depravity is a valuable thing. There probably was more death in the last Avengers movie. I don't know, I don't go for such tripe. My point is, the way the violence is depicted shows us what can happen. To soldiers. To prisoners. To a mob on the street. We are capable of great evil. Knowing that can prevent it.
J wrote: You compare Matthiessen to McCarthy? The former is known for having been in the CIA and writing about nature; the latter is a Pulitzer Prize winner. Please don't pretend as if this is some low-brow novel for gratuitous violence seekers./i>I don't think it's low-brow at all. Really, the kind of person who "needs to read this" would never read it.
And if you read Shadow Country and hated it, I would not be outraged. It's not for everyone. But it sounds like you read the first paragraph of Matthiessen's Wikipedia page. Shadow Country was a National Book Award Winner, not a spy/nature novel, lol.
There is a lot of anger on this thread. It's just a book! Why read two-star reviews of books you love? :)
Kate, you can say you don't think it's low brow, but then when you compare it to a violent video game you're implying just that.
Also, why would you think I was angry or anyone was angry? This is a site where people discuss, and argue, about books all the time.
Jesus Kate you're even more deluded and pathetically hypersensitive than the sheltered idiot that wrote this review
Great review Eric, love all the replies from these intellectuals that have been "enlightened" by "art"
I totally get what you're saying Ted. I love replies from Philistines. Makes me happy about my ability to appreciate "art" and be "enlightened" by it.
Person, woman, man, camera, TV. Who's an idiot now! Right order and everything!I do enjoy checking in every few years to see if people are still arguing about this. Glad to have been of service.
" Stylish literary flourishes sometimes cloud our judgment when it comes to evaluating the plot itself, which is, after all, the reason why the book exists."says who bro
Hello, Eric. I'm seeing a lot of people defending the reasons why McCarthy wrote about horrible acts of violence, the point of it all, etc. I think they're all wrong, including you. Because I don't think you have a problem with violence per se in media. I think the problem is that McCarthy is an awful writer and he can't make anything readable, either a romance or a horribly violent book. Cheers. Also if you want an author that does this well you could read Stephen Dixon or Dennis Cooper.
ok so this thread (despite the personal attacks) has become quite an interesting discussion on whether or not there is a benefit to depicting violence in art, and whether something can still be artful if it merely describes violence without adding any redeeming qualities to the narrative (relatable characters, a moral compass etc.).i do think there is merit in depicting violence. it makes us uncomfortable, but that is the point. violence is uncomfortable. reading about human cruelty is not fun but unfortunately human cruelty is real. this book does not romanticize violence and attempts to show the reality of this part of history. I think it will dissuade more people from violent behavior than encourage violent behavior.
I also understand that it is not for you, but if you find nothing morally wrong with movies and books that depict violence without its realistic brutality (movies and books that are interested in heroism and 'cool' fights), but do find something morally wrong with Blood Meridian, I find that a bit hypocritical.
"the plot itself, which is, after all, the reason why the book exists." umm no
Eric: “recommended for: people who want to believe in the inherent evil of mankind�Me: not recommended for people naive and/or willfully ignorant to the very real acts of evil committed regularly by humans.
The atrocities committed in this book don’t hold a candle to some nonfictional historical events.
The violence portrayed in Blood Meridian is jarring and the reader should ask, “is there anything that this group of brigands won’t do?� And the answer is no. It is April 30th, 2022. Today a man killed 5 of his neighbors including an 8-year old boy with an assault rifle outside of Houston. On March 5, 2019 Brenton Tarrant live-streamed an attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and killed 51 people. On august 19, 2014 James Foley was beheaded with a hunting knife, millions of people saw it online. On July 22, 2011 Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people and wounded 319 others in a bombing and shooting attack in Norway.
This list could fill a whole book with nothing but names and dates. The genocides, pogroms, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, torture, atomic bombings of civilian populations…You should ask yourself� Is there anything that these people won’t do. And the answer is no.
This doesn’t mean that humanity as a whole is inherently evil.
Every day all around us kind acts small and large are occurring. In 2022 Steve Wilson donated one of his kidneys to a complete stranger, he was inspired by someone who did the same in 2019. In February a 17 year-old boy in Iowa risked his life to save an 83 year-old man and his dog from their sinking Jeep after it broke through the ice.
This list too could go on endlessly.
The point is that good and evil are obviously not mutually exclusive. Acts of varying degrees of good and evil are occurring constantly across the planet.
Blood Meridian doesn’t say that good doesn’t exist, or that people are inherently evil. It says “take a look at what you are capable of. What you have done, and what you will do yet.
If reality makes you uncomfortable, so be it.
I feel like you missed the whole point of this book. You really need to go back and read it again. Your review is sophomoric at best. You harp on the outer facts without really understanding the true nature of humanity he was trying to convey. It was too naive. I thought you were going to blow my mind being in high-school but nope. Did you read Lord Of The Flies and also think it was too “violent� without missing the point of the work?
Endless slaughter for whatever coin of the realm was paid. By the time the Kid is a middle-aged man, all the buffalo are gone, what Native Americans remain reduced to impoverished shells of human beings, and the post-Civil War frontier a harbinger of what was to become the America we now live in - depraved, class-divided, and forever captive to war. "Suttree" captures some of this mid-20th century and the explanation of JFK's death in "The Passenger" solidifies that McCarthy's read of the primary nature of evil, indifference, and revenge in our world gives one pause to stand firm in the face of it all.
"the plot itself, which is, after all, the reason why the book exists."Wrong. Juvenile and wrong.
This is the best review of this I have ever seen. Everything you said is true and I'm honestly disgusted by this book the more I get further into the "story".
Whoever said Dennis Cooper is a better story teller in this thread has HORRIBLE taste. The guy who wrote about two gay junkies is somehow better than CORMAC? 💀
