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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
About half of this feels intended to shock with its brutal racism, misogyny, and homophobia, or show off how many words McCarthy can compound together in some high/low flourish (whoreson, blueveined, rattlebreathed, I didn't look these up in the book, but they're typical), but the other half is an unputdownable exploration into the dark middle of the U.S. in the 1950's. It's a very late 70's version of those fifties: with some hindsight, the forced social cohesion of that time is really just a way to punish lowlifes like Suttree and his friends for being poor or Black or queer. But I couldn't shake the feeling that a lot of the cruelty here is simply a way for McCarthy to prove he's maybe hard or something despite how committed he is to flights of absurd syntax and elevated diction. It would have been nice to have met a woman with some interior life, for instance, or a queer person who wasn't tragic.
Really not my thing. Read it for (our failed attempt at) book club. Discussing it in that kind of setting made me like it more, but still wasn't into it at all.
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to read more Cormac, so I'm like, "Okay, I'll start with No Country for Old Men, then I'll read The Road, then I'll just pick one next."
I am glad I didn't do this in reverse order because I don't think i would have made it. After finishing the book, I felt the need to Google the plot to try and understand what in the hell was actually happening most of the time.
Great dialogue, but wow, my ability to read/enjoy Cormac McCarthy may be limited to the *very* niche "Books they turned into a movie" category.
I am glad I didn't do this in reverse order because I don't think i would have made it. After finishing the book, I felt the need to Google the plot to try and understand what in the hell was actually happening most of the time.
Great dialogue, but wow, my ability to read/enjoy Cormac McCarthy may be limited to the *very* niche "Books they turned into a movie" category.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hmmm. the fact it took nearly a month to read speaks volumes, very rambling. he writes so well but literally nothing happens. if anyone else had written this i wouldn’t have finished it - his prose is this books only saving grace
adventurous
dark
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the most beautiful and disturbing books I’ve read. The author describes disgusting scenery in a stunning way, very visual and moody. The characters are not lovable. There is no one to root for. And yet time after time my jaw drops when reading it. Not all art is beautiful to look at but it can still rock your soul. The novel can be summed up by the final line of Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream: “You never understand anybody that loves you.”
Cormac McCarthy truly was the best wordsmith of his generation, wow.
In this episodic novel, we follow Cornelius Suttree as he lives among the Wretched of the Riverbank in Knoxville. This novel is chock-full of colourful and memorable characters. A true masterpiece.
In this episodic novel, we follow Cornelius Suttree as he lives among the Wretched of the Riverbank in Knoxville. This novel is chock-full of colourful and memorable characters. A true masterpiece.