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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read that Blood Meridian was McCarthy's masterpiece. Took a strong stomach to read this because it is astonishingly violent. It's a book I'll never forget. I recommend this to anyone who can deal with the ugliest things in life and death.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
My first westernnnn read the last 100 pages out loud it was awesome
I'm slightly torn about reviewing this I read half of it, then put it down for over half a year, then picked it up again (only this time with more brain fog that makes it harder to engage with books!) - so don't be too dismayed by a 3 star rating, inasmuch as ratings matter anyway!
Every hyperbole you've read about the book is more or less true - it's a sprawling, grim, unceasingly violent and often biblical feeling work that evokes the broad sweeping vistas you associate with Westerns, and utterly crushes the romance and valour from most popular visions of the American west and relentlessly recounts increasing horrors committed by terrible people on others. Paired with McCarthy's writing style which I always find utterly arresting (the writing itself often feels biblical in style, along with the world being described) it's an incredible story to be swept along with, and totally unremitting. Definitely consider giving it a miss if you're sensitive to violence of any kind.
If I read it all at once I feel this would easily be four or five stars, but I think putting it down for so long sort of broke my thread of immersion so I didn't enjoy the second half as much as the first. I'll probably reread it a while from now to try to recover the 'thread' I lost in dropping it for a while.
Every hyperbole you've read about the book is more or less true - it's a sprawling, grim, unceasingly violent and often biblical feeling work that evokes the broad sweeping vistas you associate with Westerns, and utterly crushes the romance and valour from most popular visions of the American west and relentlessly recounts increasing horrors committed by terrible people on others. Paired with McCarthy's writing style which I always find utterly arresting (the writing itself often feels biblical in style, along with the world being described) it's an incredible story to be swept along with, and totally unremitting. Definitely consider giving it a miss if you're sensitive to violence of any kind.
If I read it all at once I feel this would easily be four or five stars, but I think putting it down for so long sort of broke my thread of immersion so I didn't enjoy the second half as much as the first. I'll probably reread it a while from now to try to recover the 'thread' I lost in dropping it for a while.
Bleak, Brutal, Beautiful.
"He passed and so passed all into the problematical destruction of darkness"
This is what I wasn't expecting when I decided to pick up my first McCarthy. What I was expecting was sheer sheer disturbing content (which was there) but I wasn't expecting it to be
a- beautiful
b- funny
I think it's very interesting how writing can act in seemingly disturbing literature. Whether it's in Lolita where Nabokov had put us in the head of a pedophile or whether its in A Clockwork Orange where the writing distance us from the events.
The writing in this book was so bleak and haunting but also beautiful.
"The old ones are gone like phantoms and the savages wander these canyons to the sound of an ancient laughter."
"Hell aint half full. Hear me. Ye carry war of a madman's making onto a foreign land. Ye'll wake more than the dogs."
Another thing I found interesting about this book was McCarthy didn't give us the liberty of an opinion to rest against. No one here was condemning anything. Even the kid seemingly the protagonist didn't hold a lot of opinion just bleak and straight, action after action. It was each person, each reader for its own with their own opinions and their own heads.
I will like to take a moment to appreciate (for the lack of a better word)- The Judge. Just this line...this one line-
"Whatever exists, he said. Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent."
This one line had me reeling. I went- what. Sir. WHAT. But whatever he was- a supernatural being or a wrathful God or a personal demon or a demon from inside or a man for the taste for debauchery or omnipotent or inevitable or fate- he was unforgettable and much like McCarthy says-
"He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.
-he will keep on dancing in my mind long after I'm done with this book.
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
I wish I could read this for the first time again. It’s an experience I will never forget
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoy historical fiction books, but the style of this book is a challenge with my ADHD.
Here are some reasons I had a hard time finishing "Blood Meridian"...
1. He doesn't use quotation marks! So you will have this large variety of characters talking with one another and you have to pause to reflect on who is actually saying what. Oh and the book will go back and forth between English and Spanish conversations.
2. In his book he is trying to get you to think about deeper things BUT in my opinion he hasn't done the work to actually make you care about the characters saying or doing the things he wants you to ponder.
3. He will give you this extravagant description of a fire and a tree where he goes on for several pages and then quickly says in one paragraph and the group rode into this small town and scalped the 20 citizens and moved on. I have wanted to say out loud to him, "Whoa wait a second, You just spend two pages describing the grass and a tree branch but you just quickly move right through that part?"
4. The book's sequence becomes very repetitive. Lots of talking, going back and forth between English and Spanish dialogue, exquisite landscape description, go into town, shady actions/activities, scalp people, move on, and repeat.
Here are some reasons I had a hard time finishing "Blood Meridian"...
1. He doesn't use quotation marks! So you will have this large variety of characters talking with one another and you have to pause to reflect on who is actually saying what. Oh and the book will go back and forth between English and Spanish conversations.
2. In his book he is trying to get you to think about deeper things BUT in my opinion he hasn't done the work to actually make you care about the characters saying or doing the things he wants you to ponder.
3. He will give you this extravagant description of a fire and a tree where he goes on for several pages and then quickly says in one paragraph and the group rode into this small town and scalped the 20 citizens and moved on. I have wanted to say out loud to him, "Whoa wait a second, You just spend two pages describing the grass and a tree branch but you just quickly move right through that part?"
4. The book's sequence becomes very repetitive. Lots of talking, going back and forth between English and Spanish dialogue, exquisite landscape description, go into town, shady actions/activities, scalp people, move on, and repeat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Yeah so the violence is not the reason this cannot be turned into a movie, it's the fact that it is written so vividly that nothing will come close
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes