Blood Meridian is a hard book to recommend to people. It is brilliant and unforgettable. It is violent and gruesome. Those things are not separable. It’s a post-Civil War tale of The Kid (never named) as he joins a marauding band of scalp hunters in the borderlands between Mexico and what will eventually become part of the United States. Led by John Glanton, this gang commits atrocities everywhere it goes while it hunts down assorted bands of Apaches and Comanches committing comparable … [Read more...] about Apathy in the Face of Evil
Cormac McCarthy
Destiny and the Coin Flip
“Most people dont believe that there can be such a person. You can see what a problem that must be for them. How to prevail over that which you refuse to acknowledge the existence of.” No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy Anton Chigurh is what you, Dear Reader, would call a homicidal psychopath. That is not what he would call himself. The difference between your description and his description reveals much about how you see the world. (Side note: Chigurh is pronounced something like … [Read more...] about Destiny and the Coin Flip
Child of God
When I am asked to pick one contemporary author whose books are most likely to be called Great Books in a hundred years, the answer is easy. Cormac McCarthy. The best thing about making predictions for 100 years from now, is that there is no chance of having to explain how I could have been so wrong. Child of God is not McCarthy’s best novel, but it is brilliant in its laser–like precision in asking a question. The novel is about a social outcast, a homeless guy who is loved by nobody, … [Read more...] about Child of God
The Undesired Crossroad
Sometimes you are faced with a really lousy set of options.Sometimes that lousy set of options is your own fault.Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor wrestles with exactly that problem.A brilliant book. Just brilliant. You won't forget it. First though, we need to straighten one thing out. This book is called a screenplay. Don’t even think about watching the movie. It’s awful. Just read the book. McCarthy is an amazing novelist, perhaps the greatest living … [Read more...] about The Undesired Crossroad