Cormac McCarthy

[Brodie]

Over the past few months I've taken on the task of reading all of Cormac McCarthy's novels.....which has proved to be really rewarding, although pretty emotionally taxing. Constant exposure to things in the vain of The Road and Child of God are the literary equivalent of seasonal affective disorder. So....so bleak. A perfect example of this came up recently when I finished Blood Meridian which promptly threw me into a funk for almost 2 weeks.....seriously, the end of that book really fucked me up. So I'm taking a break and reading something to cleanse my pallet (William Gibson). I intend to start back up with The Border Trilogy soon. (All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing and Cities of the Plain)

So yeah. Fuck yeah, Cormac McCarthy. That guy writes some good books.

[Woebin]

I absolutely loved The Road, and I've been meaning to read some more of his stuff, but his aversion to proper punctuation and use of apostrophes is really offputting to me. Why does he do that? Is it unique to The Road, or is it an authorial quirk he keeps up through all his books? I finished the book despite of it and am very glad I did, but it kept pulling me out of the narrative and breaking the flow of the text. The book would have been much better served by his editor going "what is this shit?" and fixing it.

[David Foster Wallhacks]

Over the past few months I've taken on the task of reading all of Cormac McCarthy's novels.....which has proved to be really rewarding, although pretty emotionally taxing. Constant exposure to things in the vain of The Road and Child of God are the literary equivalent of seasonal affective disorder. So....so bleak.

If you want some McCarthy that doesn't leave you totally despondent upon completion then I recommend the hell out of Suttree. I've only read a few of his books so far, so I don't want to make any definitive statements about where it ranks in his body of work, but it's really good (also, I think Ebert repped it as his favorite McCarthy book, so there's that, too).

I absolutely loved The Road, and I've been meaning to read some more of his stuff, but his aversion to proper punctuation and use of apostrophes is really offputting to me. Why does he do that? Is it unique to The Road, or is it an authorial quirk he keeps up through all his books? I finished the book despite of it and am very glad I did, but it kept pulling me out of the narrative and breaking the flow of the text. The book would have been much better served by his editor going "what is this shit?" and fixing it.

Yeah, that's just kind of his thing. You get used to it.

[gregbrown]

Suttree is my wife's favorite McCarthy book so far, though she described it as a month-long trip.

[Brodie]

Right on! I'll bump it up my reading list.

[Squid Division]

I've read a bunch of his novels, and I think All the Pretty Horses is definitely up there for one of his best. It's easily his most 'normal' book of those that I've read, but it's also the most personal. Given the themes and young characters, it was also surprisingly brutal, especially the prison scene.

[makingmatter]

Never read any of his works through, because what I did read of The Road really intimidated me. Not in a reading sense (I actually enjoy how he doesn't use quotation marks) but because I knew it wasn't bound to end well, and I really wasn't in the mood for it.

If I do dive back in, what would you say is the best place to start?

[David Foster Wallhacks]

If I do dive back in, what would you say is the best place to start?

Again, I would recommend Suttree as a fairly pleasant novel in his oeuvre. There's definitely an element of tragedy to it, but compared to The Road and Blood Meridian in particular it's pretty chill.

[Ride Rise Roar]

I didn't really become emotionally affected by Blood Meridian, after a while I just distanced myself from all the violence and it became almost mythical or comic. While I really appreciated McCarthy's eloquence I don't think that book is as monolithic as people make it out to be, I found myself engaging in All the Pretty Horses much more. I'm going to read some of his earlier stuff eventually, Outer Dark/Child of God/Suttree all sounds compelling.

[chickenontheceiling]

i really like his lack of proper punctuation. makes me feel like i'm reading a story rather than enacting a play in my head (if that makes any sense at all)

just started no country for old men and absolutely love it so far. i've heard it gets pretty bleak but surely it can't match the road? that had me staring at walls.

[thefrozenpoison]

The Crossing was my introduction to McCarthy, and I'm really glad of it. Blood Meridian is still my favorite, but I certainly welcome anyone who wants to make a case for The Crossing being his best.

[Max Ernst]

Blood Meridian is a masterpiece from start to finish. It's basically Moby Dick in the West, but instead of following an emotionally driven madman, they are following a figure who represents cold rationality.

Besides, "Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent" is the coolest fucking line.

[jennoa]

I read The Road during a really dark period of my life. and oddly enough when I was at my bleakest, when nothing was going my way and things only looked to be getting worse. I could read a passage and think to myself, "we'll, at least I'm not them."