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A review by dogofthesun
Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy
3.5
maybe i'm too McCarthy biased because I feel like this rating is generous even though another part of me knows it's just right. if anything, it's easier to read, but I didn't like it more than "The Passenger", even though together they make a magnificent final product (if i could, i'd rate the duology 4.5 stars). like in its twin novel, there's bits where the characters talk about stuff that i'm not the least knowledgeable about, the main thing being quantum mechanics. thing is, there's more of those in here, and sometimes Alicia goes on rants about philosophical approaches to mathematics that i'm sure are a metaphor for her way of seeing life (since her perspective of reality is purely based on hard mathematics, leaning on the metaphysical only to explain things like dreams and her mind), but it's too packed with theory and thus the interpretation of an unknowledgeable reader can be a bit muddled. still, it's not a bad novel. this is truly Alicia's book, while "The Passenger" was Bobby's, and we get to know her as much as she allows her therapist to know. she's caught lying a couple times and she admits it, for we don't know if at some point she lied, because here's the thing: some of the facts can be cross-referenced by checking "The Passenger", but some others can't and are fresh additions to the story of the Western siblings, and we can't know if she's telling the truth. maybe we don't even want to know, for some things are too sad to be brought into existence. Alicia is a heartbreaking character and so is her brother, except that here, we see her as fleshed out as possible. and in the end, she, like her brother, waits for the end. goddamit, McCarthy.
the only reason why i'm not giving it a higher rating is because it's sometimes too convoluted in the arguments presented (mainly due to unfamiliar terminology) and because I just didn't like it as much as the twin novel. the character work is phenomenal though. maybe i just miss John Sheddan. i might always miss John Sheddan.
the only reason why i'm not giving it a higher rating is because it's sometimes too convoluted in the arguments presented (mainly due to unfamiliar terminology) and because I just didn't like it as much as the twin novel. the character work is phenomenal though. maybe i just miss John Sheddan. i might always miss John Sheddan.