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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
“In the end this strange new code [language] must have replaced at least part of the world with what can be said about it.”
Stella Maris is much briefer and much better than the Passenger. After reading the Passenger I almost didn't want to read to read Stella Maris, but I'm glad I did. McCarthy is a fantastic writer and clearly a genius and the content of Stella Maris feels like McCarthy showing off his intellect to his readers through the voice of his main character Alicia Western. Alicia is a math prodigy and brilliant, though extremely troubled, and the entire book is a dialogue between her and her psychologist. There really isn't a narrative in Stella Maris and it is clear from the beginning that there won't be. The book is a giant mathematical, scientific, religious, and philosophical treatise, whereas the Passenger had elements of this, it also had the start of a plot that was abandoned. Because of what is said of Alicia's brother in The Passenger, everything about Stella Maris and The Passenger are thrown into question. What was the point of it all? I suppose smarter people than me will figure it all out, but for now Stella Maris is a much better read than The Passenger, though I suppose it would read better now that I have read Stella Maris.
Been a while since I jotted a few things down about a book. I struggled with Faulker’s first book in the Snopes trilogy and decided life was too short and moved on. The Passenger and Stella Maris were the two books I turned my effort toward. In the context that this was released late in 2022 and McCarthy died this past June, its difficult not to view these books as the product of a complex mind who was reflecting on their life and attempting to fold the whole, messy nature of existence into a treatise partially submerged within a narrative. David Bowie died two days after the release of his final LP, Blackstar — a curious parallel to the second volume here Stella Maris (aka Polaris, the Star of the Sea). What is it about celestial creatures that serve as a point of orientation?? His previous book, The Road (2006) had stripped his language down something like Raymond Chandler writing haikus. McCarthy stretches things out again here. He abandoned most punctuation long ago, but would help the reader with small things things like “…,said Bill.” at end of a statement to aid in tracking the snappy repartee. That is all gone now, leaving the text as almost one fluid voice, despite being organized as dialog. It’s incredible to get lost within the words where the voices of the characters meld with the authors and, somewhat, your own. The story is a mystery, a romance and a Socratic dialog (Stella Maris, in particular, is the ‘transcript’ of the patient’s sessions with her psychiatrist). Heavy duty brain food here, where wheat is stripped from chaff to make an existential cereal of things like madness vs reality, social isolation, complex love, and evil’s necessity. Like Bowie’s Blackstar, this may never be considered core and canonical. But, also like that starry-named LP, it is a moonshot of effort, endearing it to the reader who, when they close the last cover, can only thank the universe for giving us McCarthy.
Cormac spends most of his career writing about cowboys who barely grunt at each other, then in his last book you have to follow some deep philosophical and mathematical conservation that you need a doctorate in both to fully follow.
Not much of a story as opposed to a dissertation on his view of life, but better than The Passenger.
Not much of a story as opposed to a dissertation on his view of life, but better than The Passenger.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes