Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Assuming human civilization still exists in 100 years (I'm skeptical), this novel will be considered a masterpiece. But be warned: it is extremely, wantonly violent. (If you've seen the film "The Road" with Viggo Mortensen, you'll have an good idea about the bleakness of [b:Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West|394535|Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West|Cormac McCarthy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1701688704l/394535._SY75_.jpg|1065465], since McCarthy wrote the novel the film is based on). The plot is set in the later period of what we Americans call "The Indian Wars," but for which we now have a better phrase in modern times: ethnic cleansing. There are no good people in this story, although some are less evil than others. I don't want to give too much away, but I want to mention that McCarthy has his own unique style of writing (ie, not much punctuation) that some people may not care for. If you can stomach the violence and the style, it is a profound story of the human capacity for evil.
7
The writing takes some getting used to as its quite a difficult read, but once you get used to it, it hooks you right the fuck in and its so incredibly good at drawing you in to the atmosphere of the book. Dialogue is hilarious, realistic and terrifyingly well written. Even though I might never fully understand all the intricacies of the book, I'm okay with that because I've shared the experience with the characters - if you know you know.
The world is unrelenting. The people are horrible. The violence is brutal. The kind are unrewarded. An incredibly important book. Must read.
The writing takes some getting used to as its quite a difficult read, but once you get used to it, it hooks you right the fuck in and its so incredibly good at drawing you in to the atmosphere of the book. Dialogue is hilarious, realistic and terrifyingly well written. Even though I might never fully understand all the intricacies of the book, I'm okay with that because I've shared the experience with the characters - if you know you know.
The world is unrelenting. The people are horrible. The violence is brutal. The kind are unrewarded. An incredibly important book. Must read.
Really boring, disjointed chapters with no depth or storytelling. A couple paragraphs of great writing amongst swaths of poor writing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Torture, Blood, Alcohol, Colonisation, War
Returned to library. It's interesting and I'll probably give it another shot but it just not what I want to spend my time with at the moment. McCarthy really makes you have to want it and I don't want it enough.
Dnf at 60 percent. Irredeemable, fetishized violence, racism, rapine, cruelty, gluttony. Yes at times it’s written beautifully- but that changes nothing. Neither does the fact that this time truly did contain all of these things in plenty. Avoid.
Great book, favorite character was the Judge.
Representation of pure evil, the Glanton Gang didn't fully understand the crimes/atrocities that they were committing but the Judge did. And he loved doing it.
War is God:
Only war reveals the true nature of existence - strong dominate and the weak perish. The world is a battlefield where only those who impose their will survive.
"His feet are light and nimble. He never sleeps. He says that he will never die. He dances in light and in shadow and he is a great favorite. He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die."
"Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent"
"In order for it to be mine nothing must be permitted to occur upon it save by my dispensation"
"The freedom of birds is an insult to me. I'd have them all in zoos"
Representation of pure evil, the Glanton Gang didn't fully understand the crimes/atrocities that they were committing but the Judge did. And he loved doing it.
War is God:
Only war reveals the true nature of existence - strong dominate and the weak perish. The world is a battlefield where only those who impose their will survive.
"His feet are light and nimble. He never sleeps. He says that he will never die. He dances in light and in shadow and he is a great favorite. He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die."
"Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent"
"In order for it to be mine nothing must be permitted to occur upon it save by my dispensation"
"The freedom of birds is an insult to me. I'd have them all in zoos"
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
The writing was beautiful and atmospheric, conveying a grim sense of desolation and meaninglessness in violence. But when comparing this to other "great American novels", I didn't connect with it in the same way. Cormac McCarthy does a really good job of capturing one (male) part of human existence, but his writing felt limited to just that.
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sorry everyone I thought it was both boring and bad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, Excrement
adventurous
dark
medium-paced