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A review by ianlukemorel
Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy
4.0
There are some artists that I trust more than my own aesthetic sense. It is a small list including Sufjan Stevens, T.S. Eliot, Kendrick Lamar, etc. and most recently, Cormac McCarthy. I think of this artist-consumer relationship as artistic trust. I trust these artists to make something beautiful even when I can't see the beauty. Maybe I am not getting the reference. Maybe I need more years on my life to appreciate the reverence.
McCarthy's work here is obviously the work of an aged artist. I couldn't help but think the whole time through Passenger/Stella Maris, 'Why is this what he left us with?' What provokes an aged author of neo-westerns and existentialist apocalypses to write us a dialogical novel about math? There is a presumption of violence but mostly this novel is about math.
I say all of that to say I trust McCarthy. I will be dwelling on this for months ahead. I frankly did not "get it" but I know the gravity of this work. This is one I will be revisiting in the very near future.
McCarthy's work here is obviously the work of an aged artist. I couldn't help but think the whole time through Passenger/Stella Maris, 'Why is this what he left us with?' What provokes an aged author of neo-westerns and existentialist apocalypses to write us a dialogical novel about math? There is a presumption of violence but mostly this novel is about math.
I say all of that to say I trust McCarthy. I will be dwelling on this for months ahead. I frankly did not "get it" but I know the gravity of this work. This is one I will be revisiting in the very near future.