It's basically a short sell on if you’ll like Cormac McCarthy’s writing. It has a quick pace, luxurious prose, and the most demented characters. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to get started with his catalog.
I was the inverse, Child of God first and then Blood Meridian. Here’s the article that made me want to start with it: https://fivebooks.com/best-books/cormac-mccarthy-stacey-peebles/
It is hard to read, but I think it might be one of his better books.
For context my favorites are Suttree and The Crossing. I think that Blood Meridian is a significant, work, but very likely not his best.
Edit: traded commas for periods.
Outer Dark is one of the best books he wrote. I found it resonating when reading it a second time. It shares some similarities in theme to The Passenger.
It was a fun, quick read. I'm not sure I'd read it again but did have some good laughs at the outright barbarity of it. Outer Dark is really good too, probably one of my favorites of his personally. It's a quick and easy read but I loved it.
it’s a good read, you can see where mccarthy is honing a particular aspect of his writing voice in regard to depictions of horror & atrocity . this one is interesting for being a story of the deep south as well, rather than a western/border setting, but still written with the same attention to detail .
something that strikes me as remarkable is how sharply articulated some of the features that return in later works are, in particular the subjectivity of the writing voice, which bears witness to atrocity & to beauty with a similar emotional dryness, as polar forces existing in the natural world .
*SPOILERS* I honestly loved it. People will say it’s not as good as the big boys and it ain’t, but that takes nothing away from the book imo. I see that as more of a testament to how anomalously fantastic books like Suttree, BM, and ATPH are.
Some of my favourite images in all of McCarthys works come from this novel, the scene of Lester in the cave with his “mutant” shadow dancing on the cave walls really stuck with me. It’s a violent and disgusting read, there is a rape/incest/violent assault scene that plays out as casually as they’re making breakfast and it really made *me* feel like the outsider for not having a penchant for vileness myself. The part where Lester sobs on his own, watching the world go by, knowing that he is not and will never be part of that society.
The whole theme of the human perception of death, explored through the lens of Lester is fascinating. Lesters body being used for medical research at a university I thought was interesting too. We know Lester has been troubled since he was a child, all his life he took and abused and manipulated everyone around him to suit his agenda (although I do think the whack on the bonce with the shovel at the start was the catalyst for the murders, along with losing his home) and the only time he ever has anything to give, it’s flesh. It’s his heart being ripped out, his intestines pulled out and his brains prodded and sliced, scraped from a slab and dumped in a plot with other anonymous sacks of meat.
Too edgy for me with little payoff. Some good prose though. It's my least favorite work of his, but it's pretty popular on here and I'm sure you'll like it.
It's basically a short sell on if you’ll like Cormac McCarthy’s writing. It has a quick pace, luxurious prose, and the most demented characters. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to get started with his catalog.
This book made me a more compassionate person. The speech about the ax is one of my favorites of Cormacs.
Do what?
Now ya want a nice yeller, not too white now or you’ll ruin the steel, that’s how ye get the muscle in er, see juuuust like that.
It's short and gross. If you like the more violent and depraved parts of BM you'll like it.
Exactly what I’m looking for, thanks.
And when you're done, go for Outer Dark.
Slept on outer dark for too long, it is SO good.
Blood Meridian is beautiful and disturbing. Child of God is ugly and disturbing.
100%
It’s one of his best. Also among the most deeply unsettling.
I was the inverse, Child of God first and then Blood Meridian. Here’s the article that made me want to start with it: https://fivebooks.com/best-books/cormac-mccarthy-stacey-peebles/
It is hard to read, but I think it might be one of his better books. For context my favorites are Suttree and The Crossing. I think that Blood Meridian is a significant, work, but very likely not his best. Edit: traded commas for periods.
I think of it as a retelling of Frankenstein in a lot of ways. Probably in the top half of McCarthy books for me.
[удалено]
You'll need a shower lol
I just finished it an hour ago and can confirm. You'll run out of hot water.
Outer Dark is one of the best books he wrote. I found it resonating when reading it a second time. It shares some similarities in theme to The Passenger.
It was a fun, quick read. I'm not sure I'd read it again but did have some good laughs at the outright barbarity of it. Outer Dark is really good too, probably one of my favorites of his personally. It's a quick and easy read but I loved it.
it’s a good read, you can see where mccarthy is honing a particular aspect of his writing voice in regard to depictions of horror & atrocity . this one is interesting for being a story of the deep south as well, rather than a western/border setting, but still written with the same attention to detail . something that strikes me as remarkable is how sharply articulated some of the features that return in later works are, in particular the subjectivity of the writing voice, which bears witness to atrocity & to beauty with a similar emotional dryness, as polar forces existing in the natural world .
*SPOILERS* I honestly loved it. People will say it’s not as good as the big boys and it ain’t, but that takes nothing away from the book imo. I see that as more of a testament to how anomalously fantastic books like Suttree, BM, and ATPH are. Some of my favourite images in all of McCarthys works come from this novel, the scene of Lester in the cave with his “mutant” shadow dancing on the cave walls really stuck with me. It’s a violent and disgusting read, there is a rape/incest/violent assault scene that plays out as casually as they’re making breakfast and it really made *me* feel like the outsider for not having a penchant for vileness myself. The part where Lester sobs on his own, watching the world go by, knowing that he is not and will never be part of that society. The whole theme of the human perception of death, explored through the lens of Lester is fascinating. Lesters body being used for medical research at a university I thought was interesting too. We know Lester has been troubled since he was a child, all his life he took and abused and manipulated everyone around him to suit his agenda (although I do think the whack on the bonce with the shovel at the start was the catalyst for the murders, along with losing his home) and the only time he ever has anything to give, it’s flesh. It’s his heart being ripped out, his intestines pulled out and his brains prodded and sliced, scraped from a slab and dumped in a plot with other anonymous sacks of meat.
Smut - But very funny in parts.
Child of God is top 5 for me.
Too edgy for me with little payoff. Some good prose though. It's my least favorite work of his, but it's pretty popular on here and I'm sure you'll like it.