You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
sampleddreads 's review for:
No Country for Old Men
by Cormac McCarthy
i got this book recommendation from the ~summer book recommendations~ youtube video by the booktuber johanna st john and i owe johanna my LIFE. this book is so far outside my comfort zone. heavy gun descriptions (that i know zero about), southern white men doing southern white man things, a lot of what i’d usually call ♡dude bro♡ plot beats. and yet i ate it up. no country for old men is a brutal, meditative, and strangely beautiful novel that secured one of the easiest 5 stars i've ever given.
you can tell from mccarthy's prose and overall authorial voice that he trusted the reader to keep up with zero handholding (which i loved). it took me a bit to adjust to the lack of quotation marks and shifting povs, but once i did, it was a rewarding experience. the story swings between moments of incredibly brutal violence and long stretches of stillness or introspection. i kept highlighting every time moss was "just sitting" or "just staring" because it felt funny at first, but all these moments of stillness were so intentional. it all felt so deliberate and human.
chigurh is arguably the best antagonist i've encountered in any media i've consumed. he's terrifying not just because of what he does, but because of how he thinks. cold, "principled", completely unreadable. he was just insane, but there were times where he gaslit me into thinking he's anything but. moss felt deeply real and so human. making choices that were sometimes smart, sometimes doomed, but usually incredibly stupid. sheriff bell didn’t fully click for me until i sat with the ending (and reddit lol).
his narrative hit hard once i realized he’s not just a lazy, tired old man. he’s the voice of a dying era, trying to make sense of a world that doesn’t resemble the one he fought for. he represents a perceived death of “old america,” the inability to come to terms with a modern world that feels too fast, too violent, too broken.
there’s something almost tender in how the women are written too. or maybe i'm just a lover girl at heart and romanticized moments that weren't meant to be romanticized ‧⁺◟૮₍• ༝ •₎ა most of the relationships were flawed and sometimes even uncomfortably written, but often seen as love personified. the women in this story were seen as pillars, beacons or representing hope and grounding. these morally corrupt flawed men constantly admiting how they needed the women in their lives felt intentional and symbolic.
i absolutely adored the summer feel. the dry heat, small town texas, american decay, shitty motels, everything was so vivid. the author has a true gift for creating a vibe (🇺🇸)
this is the kind of book i want to revisit again and again for the feeling of it. the symbolism, the silence, the inevitability of it all. a story about violence, consequence, and the tragedy of trying to outpace a world that’s already moved on.
cw/tw: adult/minor relationship (married at 16 and 33), murder & attempted murder, blood, gun violence, injury (detailed), racism
you can tell from mccarthy's prose and overall authorial voice that he trusted the reader to keep up with zero handholding (which i loved). it took me a bit to adjust to the lack of quotation marks and shifting povs, but once i did, it was a rewarding experience. the story swings between moments of incredibly brutal violence and long stretches of stillness or introspection. i kept highlighting every time moss was "just sitting" or "just staring" because it felt funny at first, but all these moments of stillness were so intentional. it all felt so deliberate and human.
chigurh is arguably the best antagonist i've encountered in any media i've consumed. he's terrifying not just because of what he does, but because of how he thinks. cold, "principled", completely unreadable. he was just insane, but there were times where he gaslit me into thinking he's anything but. moss felt deeply real and so human. making choices that were sometimes smart, sometimes doomed, but usually incredibly stupid. sheriff bell didn’t fully click for me until i sat with the ending (and reddit lol).
there’s something almost tender in how the women are written too. or maybe i'm just a lover girl at heart and romanticized moments that weren't meant to be romanticized ‧⁺◟૮₍• ༝ •₎ა most of the relationships were flawed and sometimes even uncomfortably written, but often seen as love personified. the women in this story were seen as pillars, beacons or representing hope and grounding. these morally corrupt flawed men constantly admiting how they needed the women in their lives felt intentional and symbolic.
i absolutely adored the summer feel. the dry heat, small town texas, american decay, shitty motels, everything was so vivid. the author has a true gift for creating a vibe (🇺🇸)
this is the kind of book i want to revisit again and again for the feeling of it. the symbolism, the silence, the inevitability of it all. a story about violence, consequence, and the tragedy of trying to outpace a world that’s already moved on.
cw/tw: adult/minor relationship (married at 16 and 33), murder & attempted murder, blood, gun violence, injury (detailed), racism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Racism