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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
Some of the sections with Chigurh are incredibly tense. I enjoyed this, but did feel a bit underwhelmed when it ended.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
It’s a page turner in the middle but generally slow and it feels like it misses a lot of build up that could have been.
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
I am scared to be cancelled for this take… but I’m sorry I hate it. I get that the plot is well done, no one is denying that. However, this writing style is ridiculous. I don’t believe that we should celebrate a style of 4-word sentences and no quotation marks. When saying this to other readers I was challenged that “this is most accessible work and you have to adjust.” Simply put, no. I do not have to adjust to improperly written prose because some dude felt like it. I didn’t enjoy it and that is not a crime. Finally, the last 35 pages added nothing at all.
also, hateeee to be the one to say it, but would we celebrate and revere this style if written by a woman….
Rating: 2 stars. Both for the plot.
Onto the movie.
also, hateeee to be the one to say it, but would we celebrate and revere this style if written by a woman….
Rating: 2 stars. Both for the plot.
Onto the movie.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
i got this book recommendation from the ~summer book recommendations~ youtube video by the booktuber johanna st john and i owe johanna my LIFE. this book is so far outside my comfort zone. heavy gun descriptions (that i know zero about), southern white men doing southern white man things, a lot of what i’d usually call ♡dude bro♡ plot beats. and yet i ate it up. no country for old men is a brutal, meditative, and strangely beautiful novel that secured one of the easiest 5 stars i've ever given.
you can tell from mccarthy's prose and overall authorial voice that he trusted the reader to keep up with zero handholding (which i loved). it took me a bit to adjust to the lack of quotation marks and shifting povs, but once i did, it was a rewarding experience. the story swings between moments of incredibly brutal violence and long stretches of stillness or introspection. i kept highlighting every time moss was "just sitting" or "just staring" because it felt funny at first, but all these moments of stillness were so intentional. it all felt so deliberate and human.
chigurh is arguably the best antagonist i've encountered in any media i've consumed. he's terrifying not just because of what he does, but because of how he thinks. cold, "principled", completely unreadable. he was just insane, but there were times where he gaslit me into thinking he's anything but. moss felt deeply real and so human. making choices that were sometimes smart, sometimes doomed, but usually incredibly stupid. sheriff bell didn’t fully click for me until i sat with the ending (and reddit lol).
his narrative hit hard once i realized he’s not just a lazy, tired old man. he’s the voice of a dying era, trying to make sense of a world that doesn’t resemble the one he fought for. he represents a perceived death of “old america,” the inability to come to terms with a modern world that feels too fast, too violent, too broken.
there’s something almost tender in how the women are written too. or maybe i'm just a lover girl at heart and romanticized moments that weren't meant to be romanticized ‧⁺◟૮₍• ༝ •₎ა most of the relationships were flawed and sometimes even uncomfortably written, but often seen as love personified. the women in this story were seen as pillars, beacons or representing hope and grounding. these morally corrupt flawed men constantly admiting how they needed the women in their lives felt intentional and symbolic.
i absolutely adored the summer feel. the dry heat, small town texas, american decay, shitty motels, everything was so vivid. the author has a true gift for creating a vibe (🇺🇸)
this is the kind of book i want to revisit again and again for the feeling of it. the symbolism, the silence, the inevitability of it all. a story about violence, consequence, and the tragedy of trying to outpace a world that’s already moved on.
cw/tw: adult/minor relationship (married at 16 and 33), murder & attempted murder, blood, gun violence, injury (detailed), racism
you can tell from mccarthy's prose and overall authorial voice that he trusted the reader to keep up with zero handholding (which i loved). it took me a bit to adjust to the lack of quotation marks and shifting povs, but once i did, it was a rewarding experience. the story swings between moments of incredibly brutal violence and long stretches of stillness or introspection. i kept highlighting every time moss was "just sitting" or "just staring" because it felt funny at first, but all these moments of stillness were so intentional. it all felt so deliberate and human.
chigurh is arguably the best antagonist i've encountered in any media i've consumed. he's terrifying not just because of what he does, but because of how he thinks. cold, "principled", completely unreadable. he was just insane, but there were times where he gaslit me into thinking he's anything but. moss felt deeply real and so human. making choices that were sometimes smart, sometimes doomed, but usually incredibly stupid. sheriff bell didn’t fully click for me until i sat with the ending (and reddit lol).
there’s something almost tender in how the women are written too. or maybe i'm just a lover girl at heart and romanticized moments that weren't meant to be romanticized ‧⁺◟૮₍• ༝ •₎ა most of the relationships were flawed and sometimes even uncomfortably written, but often seen as love personified. the women in this story were seen as pillars, beacons or representing hope and grounding. these morally corrupt flawed men constantly admiting how they needed the women in their lives felt intentional and symbolic.
i absolutely adored the summer feel. the dry heat, small town texas, american decay, shitty motels, everything was so vivid. the author has a true gift for creating a vibe (🇺🇸)
this is the kind of book i want to revisit again and again for the feeling of it. the symbolism, the silence, the inevitability of it all. a story about violence, consequence, and the tragedy of trying to outpace a world that’s already moved on.
cw/tw: adult/minor relationship (married at 16 and 33), murder & attempted murder, blood, gun violence, injury (detailed), racism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Racism
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As my first McCarthy read (that I can recall, at least), I didn't know what to expect when I started this book. To say that his style caught me off guard would be an understatement at best. Even so, I greatly enjoyed No Country for Old Men, even if it might have been tough to get through at times.
I guess I didn't expect the story within these pages to be so intimate? I've regrettably never seen the movie adaptation (though I definitely will now), so I had no frame of reference. But this is really a very small story, not so much about the action or development of anything major, but moreso the aftereffects that can ripple throughout communities and people, and how one views justice, fate, and the changes of time, all while we witness what is really a very small scale manhunt.
While the style was a surprise, and I can't say that I got all that warmed up to it, I still really liked this book. I felt for our dear Sheriff Bell and Llewellyn Moss. I was unnerved by Anton Chigurh. As a Texan myself, the language felt natural and comfortable. If you can acclimate to the prose without too many problems, it's worth the read.
I guess I didn't expect the story within these pages to be so intimate? I've regrettably never seen the movie adaptation (though I definitely will now), so I had no frame of reference. But this is really a very small story, not so much about the action or development of anything major, but moreso the aftereffects that can ripple throughout communities and people, and how one views justice, fate, and the changes of time, all while we witness what is really a very small scale manhunt.
While the style was a surprise, and I can't say that I got all that warmed up to it, I still really liked this book. I felt for our dear Sheriff Bell and Llewellyn Moss. I was unnerved by Anton Chigurh. As a Texan myself, the language felt natural and comfortable. If you can acclimate to the prose without too many problems, it's worth the read.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
The book like the movie is brutality perfected into art, morality distilled into unanswerable questions. It asks if the evil we see in the world is a natural progression of society or if something deeper is at play. If we can or even should fight against that evil or instead focus on protecting yourself and your family.
When the Coen Brothers adapted the book they stayed completely faithful not only to the spirit of the story, but to the complete structural integrity of the narrative. McCarthy wrote a perfect novel so you can understand why the adaptation would be so faithful, but it also means if you watched the movie and didn't necessarily love it there really isn't any reason to read the book. Even if you loved the movie the book still feels like a 1 to 1 rehash. All that said, the book is still an amazing piece of art, as are almost all of Cormac McCarthys books and I would whole heartedly recommend reading this masterpiece no matter if you have seen the movie.
When the Coen Brothers adapted the book they stayed completely faithful not only to the spirit of the story, but to the complete structural integrity of the narrative. McCarthy wrote a perfect novel so you can understand why the adaptation would be so faithful, but it also means if you watched the movie and didn't necessarily love it there really isn't any reason to read the book. Even if you loved the movie the book still feels like a 1 to 1 rehash. All that said, the book is still an amazing piece of art, as are almost all of Cormac McCarthys books and I would whole heartedly recommend reading this masterpiece no matter if you have seen the movie.