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acogna 's review for:
Blood Meridian
by Cormac McCarthy
dark
tense
slow-paced
I mean, goddamn.
This is one of the few times reading a book that was recommended to be my edgy internet users as a dark, gruesome and disturbing piece of media ended up meeting those dark, gruesome and disturbing expectations, and then more, if you can believe it. This is not for the faint of heart. I will admit, there were some grotesque moments that I questioned the gratuitous violence of in particular (I don't mind gratuitous violence in my fiction as long as it proves a point, and there are no doubts that McCarthy's violence serves the themes of his novel, but holy shit does some of it still get difficult to read), however ploughing through all the mud and blood and dirt really leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth.
There's something special about this novel, though. McCarthy's narration is almost biblical in its long run-ons and ominous and omnipresent villain (seriously, Holden is one of the creepiest villains I've ever had the displeasure to read), and the lengths that the narrative will go on to confirm that man is merciless and unforgiving are immense and devastating. I think literature is meant to extrude and elicit feelings in readers, and tell stories. Meridian's story is not one about goodness, nor is it about good men. In fact, goodness is explicitly weakened and absent in its characters and landscape. But it is a story worth telling.
This is one of the few times reading a book that was recommended to be my edgy internet users as a dark, gruesome and disturbing piece of media ended up meeting those dark, gruesome and disturbing expectations, and then more, if you can believe it. This is not for the faint of heart. I will admit, there were some grotesque moments that I questioned the gratuitous violence of in particular (I don't mind gratuitous violence in my fiction as long as it proves a point, and there are no doubts that McCarthy's violence serves the themes of his novel, but holy shit does some of it still get difficult to read), however ploughing through all the mud and blood and dirt really leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth.
There's something special about this novel, though. McCarthy's narration is almost biblical in its long run-ons and ominous and omnipresent villain (seriously, Holden is one of the creepiest villains I've ever had the displeasure to read), and the lengths that the narrative will go on to confirm that man is merciless and unforgiving are immense and devastating. I think literature is meant to extrude and elicit feelings in readers, and tell stories. Meridian's story is not one about goodness, nor is it about good men. In fact, goodness is explicitly weakened and absent in its characters and landscape. But it is a story worth telling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape
Minor: Child abuse