Reviews

The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy

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812129's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

2.75

airuphere's review against another edition

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Very dense style; content wasnt engaging at all.

ryanrask's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

In his old age, Cormac McCarthy writes what he wants to write. That much is apparent while reading this shadow of a book. Writing mainly from the perspective of Bobby Western, with brief passages from the mind of his schizophrenic dead sister, Cormac guides the reader through the dark mind of Western. The story is told mainly through conversations Western has with random people either in the "present" or Western's memories. At one point he has a conversation with an old friend who has retreated to the middle of the Bayou. His crazy old pal states "Do you think you can learn all there is to know about yourself from yourself?" This quote is a good distillation of the book's plot. Western engages with the people in his life, past and present, to develop a further understanding of himself and the grief he suffers through every day. McCarthy uses this journey to ruminate on the nature of existence and why we must bear the pain that comes with it.
Readers may be frustrated with the first act of this book setting up an apparent thriller/mystery that the reader will slowly realize McCarthy as no interest in elaborating on. I think McCarthy is subverting the expectations of a mystery novel's typical payoff to demonstrate that life lacks any predictable narrative. Things happen for no perceptible reason and this book is examining how its characters cope with that. No sub-story of this book exemplifies this more than the tale of the Spanish Revolutionary that passes away decades after the war that is told near the conclusion of this book. The old man was put against a wall and shot 5 times before waking up hours later in a pile of his dead comrades. Is friends died with a dream of a greater Spain and the hope that their sacrifice wasn't in vein. The surviving man saw the defeat of his cause and was left wondering what his life was for and how he can move past an event that would ultimately define him and yet provide him with nothing but pain. This story is one of many that McCarthy would drop in the middle of Western's tale. From a conspiratorial rant on the true nature of Kennedy's death to an in depth interview on the current state of physics, McCarthy is more interested in hearing what his characters have to say than developing a story with any resolution. As a side note I was pleasantly surprised that 80 something Cormac McCarthy included a transgender character in his story and portrayed them respectfully. Good job.
McCarthy delivers a masterwork in character study and philosophy, soaked in Americana and complements it with his brilliant prose to produce a must read for fans of Cormac and of character drive books. If are okay with reading a book interested in nothing but untangling the web of relationships built in a life lived in post-war America then this one is well worth a read.

tildiskis's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

dennyb1's review against another edition

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5.0

Avrei voluto scrivere due inutili parole su Il passeggero di Cormac McCarthy. Mi ero ripromesso di farlo, anche solo per ribadire l’ovvio, ovvero che fosse un libro sorprendente, dopo sedici anni di silenzio, del più grande scrittore vivente. Già, vivente. E poi ieri viene annunciata la sua morte. Si dice che un artista non muore mai e che grazie alle sue opere potrà vivere in eterno. Sì, Cormac McCarthy vivrà in eterno perché con il suo genio poderoso ha influenzato non solo la stessa letteratura, ma anche e soprattutto il cinema, per non parlare dei videogiochi. Giustamente tutti si ricorderanno e citeranno La Strada, ma il libro che più di tutti mi ha inquietato e fatto comprendere la forza inarrestabile delle parole è Meridiano di sangue. Quando si nomina Holden alla maggior parte della gente viene il mente il giovane, di Salinger, ma a me iniziano a tremare le vene e i polsi pensando al Giudice, quella figura albina e troneggiante, un incrocio tra Falstaff e Moby Dick che tiene in tasca le leggi dell’Universo.
Se non si fosse capito, questa non è una recensione, e neanche lo sarebbe stata se mi fossi deciso a scriverla tempo fa, ma vorrei aggiungere un’ultima cosa: quando ho finito di leggere Il passeggero ho avuto come la sensazione che se avessi abbandonato lo sguardo da quelle ultime frasi, il mondo intorno a me sarebbe scomparso per sempre. Ecco, oggi per me è come se la letteratura avesse respirato per l’ultima volta.

bexlrose's review against another edition

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4.0

Not as good as its sister book Stella Maris, but still worth a read. 3.5 stars.

Merged review:

Not as good as its sister book Stella Maris, but still worth a read. 3.5 stars.

Merged review:

Not as good as its sister book Stella Maris, but still worth a read. 3.5 stars.