Cormac McCarthy

[moderntimes]

akv, absolutely you must read "Blood Meridian"! It will stun you.

I've read all the McCarthy books and he's one of my favorite modern writers.

I agree that the ending of "Child of God" is unusual but it dips into the oddball human psyche.

[akv1994]

akv, absolutely you must read "Blood Meridian"! It will stun you.

I've read all the McCarthy books and he's one of my favorite modern writers.

I agree that the ending of "Child of God" is unusual but it dips into the oddball human psyche.

I have "Blood Meridian" on my bookshelf! I plan on reading that along with "Paradise Lost" since people always note the similarities between the two.

[akv1994]

akv, absolutely you must read "Blood Meridian"! It will stun you.

I've read all the McCarthy books and he's one of my favorite modern writers.

I agree that the ending of "Child of God" is unusual but it dips into the oddball human psyche.

I have "Blood Meridian" on my shelf! Plan on reading that along with "Paradise Lost" since many people have noticed similarities between the two works.

[moderntimes]

Thematic similarities only. But when you first read "See the child." in Blood Meridian I think you'll be hooked. Just have a strong stomach, okay?

[muggle]

To the best of my knowledge, I believe I have read all of Cormac's books. He is one of my favorite living authors. The Border Trilogy may be my favorite bit it is difficult to pick a favorite considering The Road, No country For Old Men, etc.

I wish he would come out with another book soon.

[moderntimes]

Of the Border Trilogy I'd consider Pretty Horses the weakest, but they are all quite good.

As I said previously, I got to know him casually when we both live in El Paso. This was just after Blood Meridian was published. I found him to be a very private person but affable in a small group of people and quite a decent guy.

And yes I've got an autographed first edition of Blood Meridian. Keen, eh?

[mmccartylhs14]

I enjoyed The Road a great deal. I also found it a bit rattling because I have a son who is about the age of the boy in the book. It bothered me that the boy had to go through so much only to lose his father in the end. After reading The Road, I held my son a little tighter and listened a little closer.

[moderntimes]

You may know this, but McCarthy wrote "The Road" because he was inspired by his young son. He married again late in life, had a boy while in his sixties, and he says this totally changed his image of life. The closeness he felt to his son was what he put into that novel.

[Max Tyrone]

I'm in love with McCarthy's style. Who would have thought to resurrect and further the styles of Faulkner and Melville? And he does it so beautifully! I know that he's heavily influenced my writing, though I can't execute it the way he does. I don't wish to (or dare to)!

My favorite of his is Blood Meridian, for its cryptic language, its rewriting of history, its cutthroat characters, the ambiguous ending--every word! If I could study any works of fiction for the rest of my life, it would be this novel and One Hundred Years of Solitude.

My second favorite of his is No Country For Old Men, though I can understand how someone can dislike it--even the movie adaptation. It can be slow at times, but both avenues are brilliant. To enjoy McCarthy, you don't have to analyze everything or anticipate the "good part"; you just need to pay attention, and it sorta unravels before you. (This goes to anyone--man or woman or horse. I mean, come on--Oprah likes his books!)

I can see McCarthy marked as a classic in the future, though I don't foresee him winning the Nobel Prize haha.

[moderntimes]

Just don't try to beat him in a game of pool, ha ha.

I'm rereading Blood Meridan now, maybe a half chapter each evening. Thanks for the Kindle.

I'm fortunate to have an autographed first edition of Blood Meridian. Keen.

[verbals]

I recently finished Blood Meridian as part of my continuing project to read classics; so it was interesting to read it in that context; it appears on recent lists of classics, modern or otherwise; and in that context I felt it held up well. Classics have a consistent quality of rigour in their exhaustive description of complex ideas; they really dig their fingers into a subject! McCarthy takes similar pains over this historical matter; shocking as much by the mundanity of the genocide in progress as by any singular horror described. So having established the ubiquity of this existence; he expands the idea into more philosophical areas; he takes a step back from his own creation. Again that’s a property of classic literature generally; saying something meaningful, so I think BM deserves the “classics” label.

As opposed to No Country which tries a similar expansion of theme but it fumbles on the subject of modern evil. No wonder BM has been so hard to adapt to film and NCFOM readily fit the film format.

Suttree similarly appears on classics lists with BM; so I think that will be my next stop certainly having been recommended above (thanks)

[Mely918]

I've only read The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but I agree. He explores new ways and styles of writing that I don't see in many other authors. I definitely think he's underrated in many ways and should be given a lot more praise and recognition than what he gets.

[aby johnson]

I don't understand how everyone is so hyped about his works. I do understand that its one of its kind and tense and stuff but i read the road and felt as if its just average. And i didn't quite like how the book is without chapters or divisions. Its all one big line. What's that about.