A review by quesogard
Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy

2.0

I was hoping Stella Maris would provide more context or nuance to The Passenger, but what I got was largely the same; a largely pointless story that goes nowhere and seems to be just a vehicle for McCarthy's dissertation on 20th century mathematics and physics. Stella Maris gets a few more points for being a more daring format and somehow more readable than The Passenger, but it still suffers from many of the same issues. This one was at least nice and short, but it reads like a long, one-sided conversation with the most insufferable person you know. Just like the passenger, the main character is also effortlessly beautiful, genius, and magnetic. These are things that Cormac McCarthy tells us about the characters, but I found it to be irritating and not really believable. I don't find people who dominate conversations, shoehorn pointless screeds, and humble-brag about their "intelligence" while trying to remain painfully aloof particularly interesting.

Though, just like The Passenger, I feel like there is something that will stick with me about Stella Maris, and despite how painful of a read both of them are, I'm sure I will revisit both books and perhaps change my mind.