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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
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
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Suicide
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. I'm absolutely stunned, and also very sad upon the completion of Stella Maris. You can palpably feel McCarthy approaching his own end as Alicia approaches hers. The desperation and pain and fear as it all closes in. That this is the last McCarthy book there will ever be is so painful and sad, and that this is the perhaps the most vulnerable and personal of them all makes for an immense experience. It's interesting that this is all dialogue, and the protagonist is a woman; two very un McCarthy things.
All in all, I've loved McCarthy over the years, and that at the very end, that he was able to reinvent his style with the Passenger and Stella Maris is incredible. These two books complement themselves so beautifully, and are full of ravings about math and philosophy and yet at the end, what means the most to Alicia?Love, and Bobby.
Reading to me is about as close to the spiritual or religious that I can get right now, and while most books fall short of the form, reading is about discovering the books that don't, like Stella Maris and the Passenger. Because of this, in many ways, I am unwilling to recommend, or discuss, or analyze books like this. Ultimately they just are and I adore them for it. I do not desire your opinions about such books unless they are likewise adulation.
Sigh, the end of McCarthy, and the end of Alicia.
All in all, I've loved McCarthy over the years, and that at the very end, that he was able to reinvent his style with the Passenger and Stella Maris is incredible. These two books complement themselves so beautifully, and are full of ravings about math and philosophy and yet at the end, what means the most to Alicia?
Reading to me is about as close to the spiritual or religious that I can get right now, and while most books fall short of the form, reading is about discovering the books that don't, like Stella Maris and the Passenger. Because of this, in many ways, I am unwilling to recommend, or discuss, or analyze books like this. Ultimately they just are and I adore them for it. I do not desire your opinions about such books unless they are likewise adulation.
Sigh, the end of McCarthy, and the end of Alicia.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. I thought Stella Maris was excellent and it retroactively deepened my understanding and enjoyment of its companion novel, The Passenger. I'm going to go back and bump up my rating of The Passenger one star. I now want to go back and listen to it again.
Stella Maris conists entirely of dialogue between Alicia Western from The Passenger and her psychiatrist ,Dr. Cohen, at the Stella Maris mental hospital in Black River Falls WI. There is a very short preamble (one minute in the Audible book) read by the doctor describing the circumstances of her arrival at Stella Maris, and the rest is just the uncut conversations from seven counseling sessions between of Alicia and the doctor. I read bits of the book on Kindle as well, and McCarthy wrote it with no punctuation or quotations marks, just purely the words of the two charachters. The audiobook was narrated by Julia Whelan, also Alicia in The Passenger, and Edoardo Ballerini as Dr. Cohen. It was a fantastic narration, with Whelan perfectly capturing the many (mostly sad) moods of Alicia.
The novel really fleshed out Alicia's side of the story. I have a much better understanding of her life, struggles, and motivations now. Bobby Western got most of the attention in The Passenger and this novel is 100% about Alicia's perspective. There are deep dives in to her parents' history, math, physics, her struggles growing up a genius, and her complicated relationship with Bobby. It's a very sad novel. Alicia's story in The Passenger was complicated and gloomy, but hearing her describe her life experiences in her own words and knowing her ultimate fate from the prior novel was somewhat distressing.
I believe this is an important companion to The Passenger and would 100% recommend reading both together, they really compliment each other. This is a much shorter book, only five hours in audio. After finishing I wondered if McCarthy could've somehow incorporated this look in to Alicia's mind and life in to The Passenger to have it make more sense, but they really work so well as companion works that I guess he knew what he was doing. But I'm guessing a lot of people may not move on to Stella Maris if they were left a bit confused or unsatisfied with The Passenger.
Stella Maris conists entirely of dialogue between Alicia Western from The Passenger and her psychiatrist ,Dr. Cohen, at the Stella Maris mental hospital in Black River Falls WI. There is a very short preamble (one minute in the Audible book) read by the doctor describing the circumstances of her arrival at Stella Maris, and the rest is just the uncut conversations from seven counseling sessions between of Alicia and the doctor. I read bits of the book on Kindle as well, and McCarthy wrote it with no punctuation or quotations marks, just purely the words of the two charachters. The audiobook was narrated by Julia Whelan, also Alicia in The Passenger, and Edoardo Ballerini as Dr. Cohen. It was a fantastic narration, with Whelan perfectly capturing the many (mostly sad) moods of Alicia.
The novel really fleshed out Alicia's side of the story. I have a much better understanding of her life, struggles, and motivations now. Bobby Western got most of the attention in The Passenger and this novel is 100% about Alicia's perspective. There are deep dives in to her parents' history, math, physics, her struggles growing up a genius, and her complicated relationship with Bobby. It's a very sad novel. Alicia's story in The Passenger was complicated and gloomy, but hearing her describe her life experiences in her own words and knowing her ultimate fate from the prior novel was somewhat distressing.
I believe this is an important companion to The Passenger and would 100% recommend reading both together, they really compliment each other. This is a much shorter book, only five hours in audio. After finishing I wondered if McCarthy could've somehow incorporated this look in to Alicia's mind and life in to The Passenger to have it make more sense, but they really work so well as companion works that I guess he knew what he was doing. But I'm guessing a lot of people may not move on to Stella Maris if they were left a bit confused or unsatisfied with The Passenger.
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
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