Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

13 reviews

saltycoffee's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Blood, and Gore

Minor: Animal death

vbarsi's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Dialogue heavy in the best possible way. Fast paced and engaging writing style. Focuses on themes of regret, fate, and morality.

Interesting how this ended up being a reflection on US violence, Vietnam and World War 2 in particular

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Death, and Gore

bensontmac's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Going into this book, I had heard that Cormac McCarthy was a very famous writer who was considered something of a reincarnation of the old American greats like Hemingway, Faulkner and Steinbeck. I had also heard that he did not shy away from blood and violence and dark themes. His nickname was "the great pessimist of American literature." Having finished the book, I can confidently say that McCarthy lives up to both reputations.

The book is absolutely gripping, and if you can gain momentum in your reading, you'll hardly be able to put it down. It can be difficult to get started--the first Moss chapter starts out pretty boring, and McCarthy's writing style can be very difficult to get used to--but if you muscle through the first forty pages or so it gets better. A LOT better. The most interesting parts in my opinion were from the perspective of Anton Chigurh. It is fascinating to read about someone who is both a mass murderer and a budding philosopher. He electrifies any scene he enters. Llewellyn Moss and Ed Tom Bell are also interesting characters, though I wouldn't say either of them are ever developed in great detail.

However, McCarthy also lives up to his reputation of being "the great pessimist of American literature." He uses the italicized narration from Ed Tom Bell to convey his thoughts about the deterioration of America and the deep-seated issues that have taken root in the country. The violence that occurs throughout the book's plot serves to reinforce these arguments. McCarthy offers no solution and does not seem to think that there is one. There is a section at the end of the book where the plot has mostly ground to a halt and Bell is left to darkly ruminate for about forty pages. It's bleak, depressing stuff, and it's not exactly gripping either, but I suppose it's an important commentary on what's happened to us as a society. I'm not sure I agree with McCarthy--I think that there is a lot of goodness and beauty in this country--but No Country for Old Men definitely made me think.

Overall I thought this was a very well-written and important book, but expect to feel depressed for a little while after reading it. McCarthy does not mess around.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Death, and Gore

Minor: Car accident

booklover129's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, but I found the story quite hard to follow at times, this made it a very slow read. The fact that it had no speech marks threw me off from the get go, but after that initial surprise I started to get used to it, however the story itself was still quite hard to follow. Although, the parts that I could understand were very good and so I will be watching the film to try and get some a better hold on the story. Overall I’ve been left feeling very conflicted about this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, Gore, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Drug use

this book centred around a man who has stolen money made by drug dealers so although it doesn’t specifically mention drug use graphically there are many mentions of drugs and implied drug use>

avilareads's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use and Car accident

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death

crssmith's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Drug use, Violence, Murder, Blood, and Car accident

hannah_cogo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Drug abuse, Car accident, and Terminal illness

Minor: War, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Car accident, and Grief

gmjohnson's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Alcohol

weirdodari's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A tense and gripping crime thriller that completely threw me for a loop near the end. This is definitely something you need to let simmer after reading all of it. It is one of the best books I’ve ever read, and beginning to understand the themes of fate, morality, justice, etc. that McCarthy implemented into the story make it that much better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Murder

grantsharpies's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Gore, Stalking, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder