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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
fast-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
Book #112 of 2025: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
⭐️4
…
This is my second McCarthy book, and I enjoyed it more than The Road (which I still liked). McCarthy is, at his core, bleak, blunt, and brutal. What makes this one compelling is the varied motivations of his characters—how they differ and align, and what shaped each person and their path.
…
That said, one of my ongoing critiques of McCarthy is how flat his women tend to feel. Too often they exist as accessories or collateral for the men around them.
…
I still, however, think he’s worth reading—both for his unmatched command of atmosphere and for the way his stories confront violence, morality, and the raw edge of human existence.
Emotional Impact: 3.5
World Building: 3.5
Characters: 5
Plot: 4.5
Prose: 2.5
Enjoyment: 3.5
Good/Bad: Good
Rating 3.75
World Building: 3.5
Characters: 5
Plot: 4.5
Prose: 2.5
Enjoyment: 3.5
Good/Bad: Good
Rating 3.75
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was really surprised how closely the film had adapted this book, right down to a lot of the very dry, memorable one-liners...and then, when it got near the latter half, it started to deviate from the movie and I understood why those parts didn't make it into the film.
For starters, the narration of the sheriff that weaves in and out of the early part of the book begins to take over in the later half (up until the final pages where that's all it is) and that is just really rough old man yelling at cloud stuff. I get that's literally the title of the book but I think the idea of society leaving its elders behind is far more interesting when its less didactic and when the guy yammering on about it keeps griping about people with "green hair and bones through their nose." Yikes.
Second, McCarthy is definitely one of those older white dude writers that should maybe just no write women...and frankly, most of the time he doesn't and the book is better for it. There's only a few women in this book and when they aren't teenagers (one of whom, it's stated, was 16 when she got married three years ago to a now 36-year-old character—blech), they're dutiful women that are largely praised for what great wives they are...not characterization really to speak of, just "what a great wife."
Credit for being a really taught thriller when it's not doing those intensely boring and predictable things.
For starters, the narration of the sheriff that weaves in and out of the early part of the book begins to take over in the later half (up until the final pages where that's all it is) and that is just really rough old man yelling at cloud stuff. I get that's literally the title of the book but I think the idea of society leaving its elders behind is far more interesting when its less didactic and when the guy yammering on about it keeps griping about people with "green hair and bones through their nose." Yikes.
Second, McCarthy is definitely one of those older white dude writers that should maybe just no write women...and frankly, most of the time he doesn't and the book is better for it. There's only a few women in this book and when they aren't teenagers (one of whom, it's stated, was 16 when she got married three years ago to a now 36-year-old character—blech), they're dutiful women that are largely praised for what great wives they are...not characterization really to speak of, just "what a great wife."
Credit for being a really taught thriller when it's not doing those intensely boring and predictable things.
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Love the noir vibe and the dark storytelling. Good characters and love to hate the villain in particular.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
I have read other books by this author and went in knowing it would be bleak, but it all just felt pointless, which was maybe the point. But really, it wasnt for me.
An amazing depiction of a true sociopath and a man who should have left those bodies well enough alone
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No