Reviews - Ikke et land for gamle menn

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4.3k reviews for:

Ikke et land for gamle menn

Cormac McCarthy

4.05 AVERAGE

pjk17's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious 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: Yes

absolem1865's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

davidaguilarrodriguez's review against another edition

3.5

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A solid book, but one I probably would’ve appreciated more if I hadn’t already seen the (excellent) movie.

Stylistically, McCarthy’s prose is the star here — terse, bleak, and laced with philosophical dread. The violence is pulse-pounding but muted, the pacing sharp, the tone steady. It’s a philosophical western-thriller about fate, masculinity, evil, and the myth of progress — asking, essentially: Have we ever not been doomed?

Chigurh is a standout as a terrifying, dead-eyed embodiment of violence and inevitability. Moss is fine for what he is — a man in over his head. Bell gets some nice character work, but his late-book musings started to feel repetitive. Oddly enough, it was the minor characters who stole the show: Moss’s dad, bounty hunters, motel clerks, random strangers on the edge of disaster. You can feel the book’s cinematic roots — it started as a screenplay — in the precision and structure of those scenes.

But here’s the thing: the Coen brothers nailed the adaptation so well, the book starts to feel redundant. There’s not much additional insight here that you don’t get in the film — and because the story is so steeped in violence and toxic male psychology, being trapped in that world for a whole novel (without the visual poetry of the film) feels less engaging.

A well-crafted piece of doom. But if you've already seen the movie, I think you can skip the book.

rustman's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

palmcorder's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

joshreifel's review against another edition

3.0

I feel like I should've liked this a lot more, the story was good, the narration was good, but something about it just missed the mark for me.

Will be watching the movie soon!