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adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
This will require a few read throughs for me to parse it completely if that's even possible. This is true of all McCarthy books tbf.
A difficult read but one I will inevitably revisit one day. I read this at an untimely time in my life with school starting and social interruptions. At times Blood Meridian dragged on endlessly about the desert and mountains and sky, one day I'll learn to appreciate the thoroughly descriptive details about this novel. Overall I found this to be an interest journey to follow and personally was very interested in the Judge's character.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"He rose and turned towards the lights of the town. The tidepools bright as smelterpots among the dark rocks where the phosphorescent seacrabs clambered back. Passing through the salt grass he looked back. The horse had not moved. A ship's light winked in the swells. The colt stood against the horse with its head down and the horse was watching, out there past men's knowing, where the stars are drowning and the whales ferry their vast souls through the black and seamless sea."
challenging
dark
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3/5 … (I don’t do half ratings but if I was about that life I’d said 3.75 lol). This is not necessarily an easy book to read, but it’s definitely captivating. Yes, the violence is relentless, sometimes overwhelming, almost gratuitous. But, it’s a mirror held up to a part of human history and nature that we often like to look away from. McCarthy doesn’t flinch, and neither should we.
The language is dense and biblical, at times almost hallucinatory, and yet there's a strange beauty to it. I’ve read that McCarthy is regarded as one of the greatest living American authors. And again in McCarthyian fashion, the landscape becomes a character in itself in being vast, indifferent, and terrifyingly alive. The Judge is one of the most enigmatic and haunting figures I’ve ever come across in literature. He’s literally bigger than life and scary and confusing (to say that he is War and Death and Violence personified)
I liked it, though "liked" feels too simple a word for a novel that left me feeling disturbed, awed, and weirdly grateful. It's not for everyone, but if you can stomach the brutality (which I think you honestly can, unsure why people say it’s /that/ bad), you’ll find something profound in its pages. Blood Meridian is not just violent, it's honest. And sometimes, life is too.
The language is dense and biblical, at times almost hallucinatory, and yet there's a strange beauty to it. I’ve read that McCarthy is regarded as one of the greatest living American authors. And again in McCarthyian fashion, the landscape becomes a character in itself in being vast, indifferent, and terrifyingly alive. The Judge is one of the most enigmatic and haunting figures I’ve ever come across in literature. He’s literally bigger than life and scary and confusing (to say that he is War and Death and Violence personified)
I liked it, though "liked" feels too simple a word for a novel that left me feeling disturbed, awed, and weirdly grateful. It's not for everyone, but if you can stomach the brutality (which I think you honestly can, unsure why people say it’s /that/ bad), you’ll find something profound in its pages. Blood Meridian is not just violent, it's honest. And sometimes, life is too.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I appreciate why so many people consider this book a classic. The graphic violence was jarring, but what made it harder to read for me was the pseudo-intellectual writing and dialogue between characters. It was also boring throughout the middle of the book, though the ending was brilliant.
I really wanted to love this book considering the reviews but the second half just DRAGGED. The excessive descriptors of the wilderness and desert just really felt too long.
Didn’t latch onto any of the characters. Also very violent I had to put it down a few times.
Didn’t latch onto any of the characters. Also very violent I had to put it down a few times.