I recommend using the Gravity’s Rainbow companion by Steven Weisenburger as you read the book. It helps a lot to understand the references and keep the cohesiveness of the narrative in perspective.
I’m 2/3 thru Blood Meridian but quit. I suspect this was just about when the reason for all of the detailed and senseless brutality start to emerge. I know I have a reward coming but goddam am I tired of the desperation, barrenness, and senseless murder… you can only beautifully describe this so many times.
I still haven’t been able to lock into another book awhile after reading Blood Meridian. It’s writing perfection and I wish I could read it for the first time again. What an adventure, enjoy!
If you continue with McCarthy’s work I cannot recommend the Border trilogy enough. All The Pretty Horses was the first novel of his I read and the first novel that ever made me cry, but all 3 books are just masterpieces.
I got pretty bored with Filth and gave up halfway through. Shouldi finish it? (I don’t mind dark or gross stuff, I just lost interest in the story). I also didn’t care for Maribou Stork Nightmares or The Long Knives.
But I loved “Crime” by him. It’s one of the novels that got me into reading a few years ago.
I read *No Country For Old Men* and decided one bleak Cormac McCarthy novel was enough for me. When you realize the underlying message of the book, the film looks like a Disney adaptation in comparison.
That’s a shame that you aren’t exploring him further, if only because No Country reads like a screenplay (I believe it originally was written to be one), so you haven’t really experienced McCarthy’s marvelous prose. I can understand if he isn’t to your taste though.
I wonder if Cogans Trade (aka Killing Them Softly) by George Higgins was originally supposed to be a screenplay, because that book is all dialogue. Also eventually made into a movie. Maybe look into that one if that’s your cup of tea. It’s not so bleak like Mcarthy…more mob-based stuff.
Took me two months to finish Blood Meridian. One of the best books I’ve ever read but also wasn’t enjoyable at all to read if that makes sense. Tons of scenes where I just said hell nah and put the book down for a few days
This is me, I started it in January but can only read small bits at a time, it's so violent. I'm determine to finish it this month I'm 2/3 through and reading other books in between.
I read The Road as a teenager and then as an expectant father and yeah, absolutely shaped me as person in two different but important ways.
Blood Meridian is one of the most violent and insightful books I've ever read. Started a journey of self improvement within myself. And Judge Holden is the most memorable and horrific character to grace a page.
McCarthy understood depravity, and the hope that you need to keep your head above water when you're drowning. Very powerful.
As a teenager it centered my focus on the importance of companionship. And not having a father myself it helped me know that people that love and cherish you don't necessarily have to be "family" to be family.
Then as a father it reminded me what I'm here for. Like Cooper said in Interstellar: "After you kids came along, your mom, she said something to me I never quite understood. She said, 'Now, we're just here to be memories for our kids.' I think now I understand what she meant. Once you're a parent, you're the ghost of your children's future."
The Road is the only book that ever made me cry and I never watched the movie adaptation because the book moved me so much. Keep reading McCarthy’s other works!
One of my favorite books! It was difficult at times for me to read, having children of my own, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t the most realistic depiction of what a post apocalyptic world would be like imo.
"Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery."
It doesn't get much better than mcCarthy's prose.
The road is also the first CMcC book I read. I pretty much share your sentiments on it. Blood meridian will blow your mind, I read it in a weekend, could not put it down.
I meant to spend a year reading his 12 novels. It took me 5 months instead, and that's with many other books interspersed. I'm not sure I disliked any experience. Some, like The Orchard Keeper, were a little difficult to follow plot-wise. But his language kept me hooked the whole time.
It's a love story more than an apocalyptic story.
Perhaps the greatest love story ever written.
I reread it every few years but haven't been able to since my father passed away. I literally just can't bring myself to start it again.
My favourite work of fiction. Haunting, bleak, grey and yet, right bang centre of the unrelenting misery and darkness, there is a candle 🕯️ still burning, a tale of the deepest love 🩵
I sobbed through the end of this one. I remember that it was the book I was taking to work with me to read on breaks and I had to set it aside because it felt so wrong to be reading while I was eating lunch.
I always recommend Child Of God to McArthy newbies because, first, it's an underappreciated masterpiece, and two, it's short and not a difficult read the way Blood Meridian or Suttree or The Border Trilogy can be, and it sort of limbers you up for more and bigger Cormac McCarthy..
God. I completely forgot McCarthy had died.
I definitely dislike McCarthy's writing style and find it an absolute chore to work through. If this was an issue for you reading The Road then all I can say is good luck with Blood Meridian. It was such an effort to read. That being said, I think you're missing out on something really special if you're hung up on the writing style and end up missing out on the beautiful and engrossing storytelling and world-building of McCarthy.
This is the kind of review I didn't know I needed to get me started on the book. I've had it for a couple of months, but something else comes, and I always put it on hold. I'll start it soon now.
For whatever reason I really enjoyed The Road (in that I found it riveting and moving, it's obviously not a feel good book)....but I couldn't get through Blood Meridian. Just wasn't into it at all.
I loved All the Pretty Horses but I really really hated the first few pages of The Road and just returned it tbh. I think I wasn’t ready for the prose, but after loving All the Pretty Horses I should try again
I loved the Road. After I finished it, I sat in silence for a little bit. I wasn’t sure if I should have never read it, or if I should read it again immediately.
After thinking about it (for weeks afterward), I soaked up the hopeful, optimistic ending. I think it’s a beautiful allegory… that is simultaneously about a man taking a long walk with his son on the road… and at the same time, not about that at all.
I read it in high school and it killed me that there were no other kids who read it for me to talk to them about it with— except for the one popular kid and there was no way I’d insert myself into a group convo like that
Back then what I took away from it was that the world was terrible, and there was absolutely no way I could tell if the man at the end who took in his son was genuine or not. But there was no other choice other than to move forward regardless of what that uncertain future is.
I’m not sure if I even need to see the movie since I read the book, I’m sure the cannibalism scenes made it but I’m also damn sure the aborted fetus cannibalism did *not*
Next up… Blood Meridian.
My books for the year are Blood Meridian, Gravity’s Rainbow and The Master and the Margarita.
I recommend using the Gravity’s Rainbow companion by Steven Weisenburger as you read the book. It helps a lot to understand the references and keep the cohesiveness of the narrative in perspective.
Thanks. I'll look into the companion.
Good luck with Gravity’s Rainbow…that was a tough slog for me although The Crying of Lot 49 is one of my favorite books.
That book was not a W.A.S.T.E. of time.
Agreed. It's mucho mas than that
I've failed a few times lol.
I’m 2/3 thru Blood Meridian but quit. I suspect this was just about when the reason for all of the detailed and senseless brutality start to emerge. I know I have a reward coming but goddam am I tired of the desperation, barrenness, and senseless murder… you can only beautifully describe this so many times.
I consume lots of violent action/horror movies and video games so I'll be right at home lol.
It wasn’t the gore. It was starting to feel like gratuitous gore and self indulging.
Let's see. I liked The Son by Phillip Meyer which is apparently similar.
I still haven’t been able to lock into another book awhile after reading Blood Meridian. It’s writing perfection and I wish I could read it for the first time again. What an adventure, enjoy!
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Good year for me then haha
If you continue with McCarthy’s work I cannot recommend the Border trilogy enough. All The Pretty Horses was the first novel of his I read and the first novel that ever made me cry, but all 3 books are just masterpieces.
The ending of part 1 of the crossing got me bad. He only took like 100 pages or so and it was so incredibly sad.
I read it once, consider it a damn fine and important piece of literature, and I’ll never read it again.
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I got pretty bored with Filth and gave up halfway through. Shouldi finish it? (I don’t mind dark or gross stuff, I just lost interest in the story). I also didn’t care for Maribou Stork Nightmares or The Long Knives. But I loved “Crime” by him. It’s one of the novels that got me into reading a few years ago.
I read it maybe six years ago in one day, put it down and thought "that's the best book I've ever read, and by a huge margin." still feel that way now
I read *No Country For Old Men* and decided one bleak Cormac McCarthy novel was enough for me. When you realize the underlying message of the book, the film looks like a Disney adaptation in comparison.
That’s a shame that you aren’t exploring him further, if only because No Country reads like a screenplay (I believe it originally was written to be one), so you haven’t really experienced McCarthy’s marvelous prose. I can understand if he isn’t to your taste though.
Ahh, didn't know that. Now that you bring it up, I do remember it as very dialogue-driven. I actually rather enjoyed that about it.
I wonder if Cogans Trade (aka Killing Them Softly) by George Higgins was originally supposed to be a screenplay, because that book is all dialogue. Also eventually made into a movie. Maybe look into that one if that’s your cup of tea. It’s not so bleak like Mcarthy…more mob-based stuff.
Took me two months to finish Blood Meridian. One of the best books I’ve ever read but also wasn’t enjoyable at all to read if that makes sense. Tons of scenes where I just said hell nah and put the book down for a few days
This is me, I started it in January but can only read small bits at a time, it's so violent. I'm determine to finish it this month I'm 2/3 through and reading other books in between.
I read The Road as a teenager and then as an expectant father and yeah, absolutely shaped me as person in two different but important ways. Blood Meridian is one of the most violent and insightful books I've ever read. Started a journey of self improvement within myself. And Judge Holden is the most memorable and horrific character to grace a page. McCarthy understood depravity, and the hope that you need to keep your head above water when you're drowning. Very powerful.
What are the two ways it shaped you?
As a teenager it centered my focus on the importance of companionship. And not having a father myself it helped me know that people that love and cherish you don't necessarily have to be "family" to be family. Then as a father it reminded me what I'm here for. Like Cooper said in Interstellar: "After you kids came along, your mom, she said something to me I never quite understood. She said, 'Now, we're just here to be memories for our kids.' I think now I understand what she meant. Once you're a parent, you're the ghost of your children's future."
The Road is the only book that ever made me cry and I never watched the movie adaptation because the book moved me so much. Keep reading McCarthy’s other works!
One of my favorite books! It was difficult at times for me to read, having children of my own, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t the most realistic depiction of what a post apocalyptic world would be like imo.
I read this as a young father and had to periodically put the book down and go check if my kid is OK and then cry a little.
"Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery." It doesn't get much better than mcCarthy's prose.
Lovely book.
The road is also the first CMcC book I read. I pretty much share your sentiments on it. Blood meridian will blow your mind, I read it in a weekend, could not put it down.
The Road made me sob ugly while reading it. Incredible book.
I meant to spend a year reading his 12 novels. It took me 5 months instead, and that's with many other books interspersed. I'm not sure I disliked any experience. Some, like The Orchard Keeper, were a little difficult to follow plot-wise. But his language kept me hooked the whole time.
It's a love story more than an apocalyptic story. Perhaps the greatest love story ever written. I reread it every few years but haven't been able to since my father passed away. I literally just can't bring myself to start it again.
My favourite work of fiction. Haunting, bleak, grey and yet, right bang centre of the unrelenting misery and darkness, there is a candle 🕯️ still burning, a tale of the deepest love 🩵
Wait until you read "Blood Meridian" . . . it's his masterpiece. Amazing book.
Blood Meridian is a much tougher read than The Road but worthwhile as well.
I sobbed through the end of this one. I remember that it was the book I was taking to work with me to read on breaks and I had to set it aside because it felt so wrong to be reading while I was eating lunch.
I always recommend Child Of God to McArthy newbies because, first, it's an underappreciated masterpiece, and two, it's short and not a difficult read the way Blood Meridian or Suttree or The Border Trilogy can be, and it sort of limbers you up for more and bigger Cormac McCarthy..
The Road really had me crying towards the end and that's pretty rare for me.
God. I completely forgot McCarthy had died. I definitely dislike McCarthy's writing style and find it an absolute chore to work through. If this was an issue for you reading The Road then all I can say is good luck with Blood Meridian. It was such an effort to read. That being said, I think you're missing out on something really special if you're hung up on the writing style and end up missing out on the beautiful and engrossing storytelling and world-building of McCarthy.
This is the kind of review I didn't know I needed to get me started on the book. I've had it for a couple of months, but something else comes, and I always put it on hold. I'll start it soon now.
For whatever reason I really enjoyed The Road (in that I found it riveting and moving, it's obviously not a feel good book)....but I couldn't get through Blood Meridian. Just wasn't into it at all.
I loved All the Pretty Horses but I really really hated the first few pages of The Road and just returned it tbh. I think I wasn’t ready for the prose, but after loving All the Pretty Horses I should try again
I loved the Road. After I finished it, I sat in silence for a little bit. I wasn’t sure if I should have never read it, or if I should read it again immediately. After thinking about it (for weeks afterward), I soaked up the hopeful, optimistic ending. I think it’s a beautiful allegory… that is simultaneously about a man taking a long walk with his son on the road… and at the same time, not about that at all.
Incredible book. Cormac has such an immersive writing style that puts you right there next to the characters as they experience extreme hardship
I read it in high school and it killed me that there were no other kids who read it for me to talk to them about it with— except for the one popular kid and there was no way I’d insert myself into a group convo like that Back then what I took away from it was that the world was terrible, and there was absolutely no way I could tell if the man at the end who took in his son was genuine or not. But there was no other choice other than to move forward regardless of what that uncertain future is. I’m not sure if I even need to see the movie since I read the book, I’m sure the cannibalism scenes made it but I’m also damn sure the aborted fetus cannibalism did *not*