Reviews

Suttree by Cormac McCarthy

Only show reviews with written explanations

platonkarataev's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

rancidslopshop's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

novabird's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

McCarthy offers an intriguing and intensive look into Suttree, a man who has chosen a life of economic precariousness. In his hardscrabble existence, Suttree seeks solace in alcohol to inure him to his environmental surroundings of Knoxville Tennessee in 1951 and to succor his connections with his drinking companions. McCarthy uses a ‘shadow-land,’ setting to depict one man’s dark journey through the night of his being, which in turn can be likened to an ‘everyman’s’ story. The result is a streamlined fable set against a jungle of alienation and a myriad of loss.

The fable is clearly apparent

Spoiler

Suttree moves amongst the darker elements of society and within himself;

“The wick toppled and dropped with a thin hiss and dark closed over him so absolute that he became without a boundary himself, as large as all the universe and small as anything that was.”

“Blind mole in the earth’s nap cast up in an eyeblink between becoming and done. I am. I am. An artifact of prior races.”
His interactions are always moving away from a closer interaction with those that surround him;

“No one cares. It’s not important.
That’s where you are wrong my friend. Everything’s important. A man lives his life, he has to make it important. Whether he’s a small-town county sheriff or the president. Or a busted out bum. You might even understand that someday.”

He experiences a cumulative amount of pain being an ‘elder child of sorrow';

“But there are no absolutes in human misery and things can always get worse.”

Suttree confronts his darker shadow self;

“You have no right to represent people this way, he said. A man is all men. You have no right to your wretchedness.”

Finally, in a feverish state he comes to a realization;

“I have a thing to tell you. I know all souls are one and all souls are lonely.”

McCarthy is a brilliant author and so the question remains for me, why does he choose to show most of the women in a negative light? For his completely awful ‘dog’s c_nt’ analogy, (how did he even come up with this I wonder did he see butchered female animal’s genitals?) This exemplifies his undertone of misogyny which I ignored in Child of God, because I was so enraptured with his voice. Yet despite this natural quirk or tendency of McCarthy, (that I put down to being historically true and relevant in showing how men perceived women at that time), I still think he has one of the best authorial voices I have ever read and I can’t entirely begrudge him that because I was shocked and offended. 4.5

vooravond's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

tarrowood's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

I stand by my earlier comment: Suttree feels like a fallen prophet for the pariahs. McCarthy’s Knoxville Ulysses-esque novel offers prose that is difficult to unpack, but offers depth beyond understanding. Suttree loves, yet damns his own adventures. The line, “At least I exist” will forever ring in my ears.

takumo_n's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Is Cormac McCarthy a hack? Maybe. I would say yes to that. So, nothing happens, there is a lot of religious alegories and overwritten sentences that don't mean anything. There is some stream of consciousness, bad grammar, and bad writing. Why is this guy so praised? All his books are the same garbage. But people love him, so I have to read them (the books). I WANT TO UNDERSTAND!!! Is this like a social experiment on how easy is to manipulate people into believing someone is great?