Reviews

Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy

bexlrose's review against another edition

5.0

It is: philosophical, mathematical, literary, introspective, amusing, witty and interesting.

McCarthy at his thoughtful best. Reminds me of No Country For Old Men but without the plot. For fans of Laurent Binet's 7th Function Of Language.

5 stars, easily. One to ruminate on for a while.

lottie1803's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

raspberrythriller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

jesslenc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

charliesolon's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Beautiful prose but I felt like it tried to be too clever. 

pgentili's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.0

bmack's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

benjaymon's review against another edition

5.0

Brain hurts

pegasusjones's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

2.0

Reminded me of a Nicholson Baker book because the entire novel took place in one location and revolved around one event. Seems like this was extraneous storytelling from The Passenger and was likely cut by the editor so McCarthy had it published as a separate piece. For me it didn’t work in either scenario. The entire narrative was a conversation between a psychiatrist and one of his self-committed patients: a woman who worked as a mathematician and desired a sexual relationship with her brother. That’s it. Surrounded by a bunch of existential fluff and padding. Not the best McCarthy in my opinion.