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Loading... Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West (original 1985; edition 1992)by Cormac McCarthy
Work InformationBlood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (1985)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Not for me. Wordy purported literature but it left me cold. Bloody to say the least. Grim, confusing writing. ( ) I loved The Road. I think it is absolutely one of the best books to hurt you with depression. And yet...and yet...there is hope. McCarthy's writing always has some touch of that and Blood Meridian does as well. This was an earlier novel of McCarthy and one not well received in 1985 which is to be expected. In the '80's you probably didn't have the nihilism of today from the mainstream thought whereas today the book wouldn't work well because of the bad words being the most offensive part of the book. McCarthy definitely pulls from Paradise Lost and Heart of Darkness. Especially with Milton, I see why people want a backstory to why Satan did what he did. However, when I hear the story, my questions are to why God did what He did. The fallen state of man makes Satan too relatable a character. I want to know what the "alien" mind thinks and why. McCarthy is never not going to be a talented writing. I may have found this book more middle of the road but that's mostly due to what the author attempted to do with theme and plot and not with talent and phrase. There is some great moments of the story and those exist mostly in the subtly of letting the reader draw conclusions that could be debated among superfans. Some good speeches and dialogue by The Judge and some clear references to Prometheus and Paradise Lost story elements. The Judge will probably be on a number of lists for the greatest villains in media. He's clearly a personification of the devil/evil but I think he also portrays the flaws with McCarthy's story. The Judge, like the story, relies too much on "man is ultimately evil" and while The Boy can be read as taking part in the evil or not, this type of story never highlights the other side of the metanarrative - if there is a devil then there is a God and the devil is God's devil. This aspect is what made The Road so amazing - that hope could be found where none should exist and anything that did at the time was burned up. Unless you have The Boy take no part in any of the violence, which is hard to make that argument, the ending only works if he remained pure and then gave up. All this to say that it doesn't offer the reader, who can read the ultraviolent and racism, can see some good storytelling here. Maybe in 1985 there weren't enough "ya, but what's the devil's side of the story" and I'm just burned out on the "villain is the person to root for" grimdark from those of less talent than McCarthy. I'll leave the Blood Meridian and take The Road out. Final Grade - B-
This latest book is his most important, for it puts in perspective the Faulknerian language and unprovoked violence running through the previous works, which were often viewed as exercises in style or studies of evil. ''Blood Meridian'' makes it clear that all along Mr. McCarthy has asked us to witness evil not in order to understand it but to affirm its inexplicable reality; his elaborate language invents a world hinged between the real and surreal, jolting us out of complacency. Virtually all of McCarthy's idiosyncratic fiction (The Orchard Keeper, Child of God, Suttree) is suffused with fierce pessimism, relentlessly illustrating the feral destiny of mankind; and this new novel is no exception—though it is equally committed to a large allegorical structure, one that yanks its larger-than-life figures across a sere historical stage. Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inHas the adaptationWas inspired byInspiredHas as a studyAwardsNotable Lists
Fiction.
Literature.
Author of the National Book Award winner All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy is one of the most provocative American stylists to emerge in the last century. The striking novel Blood Meridian offers an unflinching narrative of the brutality that accompanied the push west on the 1850s Texas frontier. His birth ended his mother's life in Tennessee. Scrawny and wiry, he runs away at the age of 14. As he makes his way westward, the impoverished and illiterate youth finds trouble at every turn. Then he's recruited by Army irregulars, lured by the promise of spoils and bound for Mexico. Churning a dusty path toward destiny, he witnesses unknown horrors and suffering-and yet, as if shielded by the almighty hand of God, he survives to breathe another day. Earning McCarthy comparisons to greats like Melville and Faulkner, Blood Meridian is a masterwork of rare genius. Gifted narrator Richard Poe wields the author's prose like a man born to speak it. No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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