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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
McCarthy is a beautiful writer. I did not enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed All the Pretty Horses. Although the story was deep, heartfelt and intriguing it, for all its pages, lacked the action to complement the plot twists. By the end I was too distracted by each of the side "understand thyself" stories, that I found myself getting anxious and wanting to get on with the adventure. But all in all, I did enjoy where the characters took themselves.
A wildly effective book. Cormac is without a doubt one of the greatest 20th century American authors. He is right up there with Faulkner, Hemingway and Steinbeck. Even more than any of those men, he is a genius at tone. I have yet to read a book by him that misses or slips on tonal clarity. I always feel exactly how Cormac wants me to feel.
This is a longer book than I thought at first and that does bring with it some challenges. Some of his descriptive sections (someone lighting up a cigarette, pouring whiskey, riding a horse, etc.) can drag. I found myself skimming over some of the longer sections like that.
Another challenging part of this book is the Spanish conversations throughout. I do by and large think they are important for the tone. They started off as cool and interesting but by page 250 they felt tedious. I was so tired of working super hard to translate with my limited Spanish and I really didn’t want to stop and pull out my phone to look it up. I ended up translating what I could and just hoping I figured out what was important by context. I know I missed so much this way and I hate that! There should be an appendix with the translations.
All of that said, this book SHINES in story, tone and character. My personal favorite part of the book are the side characters and their narratives. The priest, the blind man and the Romany man really stand out in this book. The three of their narratives could be a short story collection totally independently from this book and they would still be beautiful. Within the grander narrative though, they add another dimension that I never would have expected. I found myself constantly referring back to those narratives as archetypes through which to read the rest of the book.
Read everything he has written.
3.8/5 because of how frustrating the Spanish gets if you’re a dumb American.
This is a longer book than I thought at first and that does bring with it some challenges. Some of his descriptive sections (someone lighting up a cigarette, pouring whiskey, riding a horse, etc.) can drag. I found myself skimming over some of the longer sections like that.
Another challenging part of this book is the Spanish conversations throughout. I do by and large think they are important for the tone. They started off as cool and interesting but by page 250 they felt tedious. I was so tired of working super hard to translate with my limited Spanish and I really didn’t want to stop and pull out my phone to look it up. I ended up translating what I could and just hoping I figured out what was important by context. I know I missed so much this way and I hate that! There should be an appendix with the translations.
All of that said, this book SHINES in story, tone and character. My personal favorite part of the book are the side characters and their narratives. The priest, the blind man and the Romany man really stand out in this book. The three of their narratives could be a short story collection totally independently from this book and they would still be beautiful. Within the grander narrative though, they add another dimension that I never would have expected. I found myself constantly referring back to those narratives as archetypes through which to read the rest of the book.
Read everything he has written.
3.8/5 because of how frustrating the Spanish gets if you’re a dumb American.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Just as good as “All the Pretty Horses,” maybe even better. It drags a bit in the middle, and with all the philosophical stories-within-the-story, it’s easy to get a little lost at times, but in the end, this is a fascinating and gripping story that only Cormac could tell.
I love McCarthy's writing but honestly there is no way to distinguish the personalities of the two protagonists of the Border Trilogy books I've read so far. If you gave me two random passages from each of the books I would not be able to tell you which character each was referring to.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
The Crossing almost makes more sense as a collection of short stories with atmospheric interludes, the themes coming out strongest in Billy's third crossing of the border. The meandering sections were a drag, especially Billy coming back from Mexico the first time took the most time to connect back to the main thread I felt.
The very strong connection to the Mexican revolution and its iconography were what really sold me on the moral I guess the most, the story of the blind man especially made the third act have an extra kick.
It could step up a star on a re-read if I ever get round to it because the stories of the preacher man and generally the first act might have some more impact given the foresight of the rest of the book.
Also I would've loved a map there are so many locations constantly spouted out it would've been nice to track the movement without opening up google maps.
The very strong connection to the Mexican revolution and its iconography were what really sold me on the moral I guess the most, the story of the blind man especially made the third act have an extra kick.
It could step up a star on a re-read if I ever get round to it because the stories of the preacher man and generally the first act might have some more impact given the foresight of the rest of the book.
Also I would've loved a map there are so many locations constantly spouted out it would've been nice to track the movement without opening up google maps.