A review by lbykes
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

After talking with Sam (hi Sam) about how Cormac McCarthy loves people who are built different, that framing was rolling around in my head for the last 100 pages or so. And I think there's a huge amount of affection for his built-different protagonist here, which makes the ultimate conclusion that being built different is not enough to sustain you in a broken and fallen world more effective. Also interesting to me, in thinking further, that the majority of regular people John Grady encounters are decent. There is evil certainly but outside of people in positions of power it's not something to necessarily expect. A lot of loveliness and gentleness here, and I think his being so concise makes the beauty sharper.

Only my second McCarthy but I'm very confused about his reputation - there is bleakness and violence but also sincere belief in the transformative power of love and of horses?