Cormac McCarthy Is Dead

Cormac McCarthy passed away today at the age of 89.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/books/cormac-mccarthy-dead.html

I have yet to read any of McCarthy's works and was already thinking about picking up the two Folio editions of his books with my sale order. What impact has his work had on you? Where would you recommend someone start who's never read his works before?

>1 sdg_e: "No Country for Old Men" and "The Road" are his most accessible. "Blood Meridian" is the only work of his that really impressed me. I still have 2-3 of his to go. RIP.

I saw the news of his passing a couple hours ago and gasped. He was 89, so no one can be surprised by his death. Yet I feel very sad all the same. Regarding his fiction, at some point, I want to read Blood Meridian and some of his early Appalachian novels. Rather than reading the early novels, I've only read the four books he published this century. The worst of them (No Country for Old Men) is solid, but it's probably that rare case in which the film is better than the book. The best of them (The Road) is extraordinary. I still think about it, its bleak vision of the world ("There is no God and we are his prophets."), and its final paragraph, a meditation on the beauty, fragility, and mystery of the natural world that I want read aloud at my wake when my time comes. So, I'd suggest starting with The Road.

Blood Meridian is my favorite of his - and one of my favorite books.
The border trilogy is also excellent.
I didn’t really understand what was so great about The Road, but that’s presumably my fault.
No Country was a fun read, but not as rich as the others. Agree about the movie — very good.
I read a couple of his earlier works, set in Appalachia, which are quite different from the later Texas/Mexico novels — but still quite good.

>1 sdg_e: The Road is chilling. I seriously considered arming myself with a firearm after I read it.

I've only read Blood Meridian and thought it was incredible. Perhaps only diminished by its persistently bleak and violent outlook, which can test one's wellbeing! But wonderful, poetic writing...

I bought both of his final releases - The Passenger and Stella Maris, which I'll get to soon. Apparently they're a bit different in style/subject.

Not sure I would go back to his earlier work...agree that No Country film was excellent.

>1 sdg_e: Not unexpected but sad nonetheless. One of my favourite authors. RIP.
I agree with >2 PartTimeBookAddict: about "No Country For Old Men" being the most accessible. The Coen movie is a close adaptation, and it was popular. "Blood Meridian" is his most notable literary work though, but it's not an easy one to start with. "The Road" is hard hitting thematically but with a clearer morality than Meridian (which trips a lot of people up trying to read it). The Border Trilogy starting with All the Pretty Horses is far less bleak and violent than his other books, if that's a major obstacle but you still want to try his prose.

>6 Jeremy53: The Passenger/Stella Maris was a divisive release but fairly plainspoken about his big themes. I think people will appreciate it more with time. The Sunset Limited is also a work dealing directly with the questions of life and death, and meaning.

I realize I've soon namedropped everything he's written. I hope there's no rights issue looming upon his passing as it was with Pratchett. I'd really like to see a few more of his in Folio editions. Suttree would be a nice choice given the autobiographical nature. Damn.

>1 sdg_e:
>7 A.Godhelm:

Suttree is an excellent entry into McCarthy, and like A. above, I hope Folio gifts us with it next.

Were I to draw up a McCarthy syllabus, I'd follow Suttree with NCFOM - I like it more than the folks above for what it is, Texas Noir. Then Blood Meridian - Moby Dick if Ahab were hunting humans in northern Mexico in the 1840s. Finally The Road, with similar themes but McCarthy leaves us with some hope. There is no hope in Blood Meridian beyond the chance of a quick end.

I agree with A. about Passenger/Stella Maris, contemplating a reread already.

Edited for spelling

Cormac McCarthy died today and it hit me more than I thought possible. When I got home I grabbed The Stonemason because I knew I could finish it before bed. Perhaps I'll revisit Stella Maris/The Passenger sooner than I would have otherwise.

CMcC published two plays. I saw Sunset Limited performed in Tacoma right after we moved so I zagged here. We can never know, of course, but this might be close:

Act V, Scene 1

The big elm tree died. The old dog died. Things that you can touch go away forever. I dont know what that means. I dont know what it means that things exist and then exist no more. Trees. Dogs. People. Will that namelessness into which we vanish then taste of us? The world was before man and it will be again when he is gone. But it was not this world nor will it be, for where man lives is in this world only.

Ultimately there is no one to tell you if you are justified in your own house.

The people I know who are honorable never think about it. I think of little else.

RIP. Blood Meridian and The Road are personal favorites. Hopefully, Folio gets around to The Border Trilogy and No Country For Old Men as well.