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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
Bleak as all hell, and about the driest coming of age novel you'll ever read. Lots of silence, lots of short terse dialogue, lots of Spanish to work through...
Desolate, cold and with a heavy melancholy throughout, this is not for the fainthearted. I loved it, but it's probably not the book for someone looking for some kind of hope or redemption in the human condition.
Desolate, cold and with a heavy melancholy throughout, this is not for the fainthearted. I loved it, but it's probably not the book for someone looking for some kind of hope or redemption in the human condition.
I was surprised to find the second book in McCarthy's "Border Trilogy" picked up a completely different set of characters in the same country (America's SW border with Mexico), but quickly found myself caught up in Billy and Boyd's story. Deadly tough, with none of the romantic element of the first book in the series, yet poetic and moving.
Equally as good if not better than "All the Pretty Horses"
I'm sad to say I'm very mixed on this book, after I absolutely loved 'All the Pretty Horses'.
There are moments of absolute brilliance. The existential, pessimistic themes and melancholic atmosphere grabbed me and kept me reading. The ending is brutally heartbreaking. McCarthy's unique command of the english language is so good it's unreal.
But I really wish this frontier tale wasn't so laborious to read. I'm not a master like McCarthy so maybe I didn't get it, but the wonderful character moments from 'All the Pretty Horses' is replaced here by constant descriptions of the landscape and characters moving through the landscape. It was great the first few scenes, but it just got too much. The experience of reading this is oppressively slow. This matches the thematic and literal journey of Billy, our protagonist, which I totally get - but it made for an overall unengaging read.
If if were a shorter book with less of the fat, I'd consider this the masterpiece it's already been labelled. Maybe if I reread it when I'm older I'll probably think different, but for now I'm considering this a flawed work of art.
There are moments of absolute brilliance. The existential, pessimistic themes and melancholic atmosphere grabbed me and kept me reading. The ending is brutally heartbreaking. McCarthy's unique command of the english language is so good it's unreal.
But I really wish this frontier tale wasn't so laborious to read. I'm not a master like McCarthy so maybe I didn't get it, but the wonderful character moments from 'All the Pretty Horses' is replaced here by constant descriptions of the landscape and characters moving through the landscape. It was great the first few scenes, but it just got too much. The experience of reading this is oppressively slow. This matches the thematic and literal journey of Billy, our protagonist, which I totally get - but it made for an overall unengaging read.
If if were a shorter book with less of the fat, I'd consider this the masterpiece it's already been labelled. Maybe if I reread it when I'm older I'll probably think different, but for now I'm considering this a flawed work of art.
I absolutely loved All the Pretty Horses. I did not enjoy this book. This story just never grabbed me. I kept thinking, “Oh, now it seems like something is about to happen!” But alas. Things would be interesting for just a moment before they were quickly wrapped up and we’d ride on to the next dismal musing. Not sure if I will finish this trilogy now, even though there is only one book left.
Gorgeous as always.
I kept being surprised when things got more bleak. I should have my head examined as I’ve read four other McCarthy novels and this should not be shocking.
I found the stranger story vignettes a little contrived.
I reckon I’ll get back to the Chihuahuan desert with the Cities of the Plain, but I need a little while to breathe between McCarthy books.
I kept being surprised when things got more bleak. I should have my head examined as I’ve read four other McCarthy novels and this should not be shocking.
I found the stranger story vignettes a little contrived.
I reckon I’ll get back to the Chihuahuan desert with the Cities of the Plain, but I need a little while to breathe between McCarthy books.
I'm not a big fan of either of these sequels in the border trilogy. The Crossing was a good read but felt derivative compared to other McCarthy works.
I don't get the fascination with this trilogy. I loved The Road and No Country for Old Men. These on the other hand seem like endless narration of what the protagonist had to eat and how to handle horses.