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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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
Couldn't finish this. Lacks the pacing, mythical quality, and differentiation of characters that his later works have. I'll read more McCarthy novels, but if this was the first I'd ever tried it would also have been the last.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If for no other reason, read this book for McCarthy's descriptions of Appalachia.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A solid novel from the wonderful Cormac McCarthy.
The Orchard Keeper is less brutal than many of McCarthy's other works, but still tragic. It deals with how lies can shape our relationships and beliefs. It touches on many aspects of small town life after WWI during prohibition. We see characters living on the edges of polite society. The characters are relatable and there are no pure villains.
Definitely worth a read.
The Orchard Keeper is less brutal than many of McCarthy's other works, but still tragic. It deals with how lies can shape our relationships and beliefs. It touches on many aspects of small town life after WWI during prohibition. We see characters living on the edges of polite society. The characters are relatable and there are no pure villains.
Definitely worth a read.
Elegiac. That word perfectly describes my feelings on this book because it’s a word I don’t know what it means but I have a general sense of what it’s getting at. Cut out McCarthy’s descriptions of the land and weather and the story is pamphlet-length, but that’s not necessarily a criticism. Not his most accessible but still incredible.
Hard to rate this one, and any attempts to unpack it so soon after finishing it will expose my woefully inadequate skills at literary analysis. So going with the default three stars, although I'd give it 3.5 if I could. What I can say is that it's a beautifully written window into a time and place in America that lives on now only in myth, legend, dust.
Not that Cormac is ever an easy read, but I had a little trouble following the story in this one. I've read just about all of his books and you can see the potential in his first novel. The writing and language is all there, the focus just needs a little tightening up.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes