This is the most impressive novel I have ever read, and I mean that.
It is the 1850s; the Mexican-American War had ended, and westward expansion was at its tail end. The kid runs away from home and heads west. There, he happens upon a group of scalp hunters known as the Glanton gang. Among them was Judge Holden, who led them up and down the Texas-Mexico border, scalping Indians in exchange for money. In this novel, McCarthy turns the genre of the western on its head, exploring the nature of violence and how it takes shape in the human heart.
Like I said before, this is the most impressive novel I have ever read. McCarthy’s style of prose and use of description paint a vivid yet nightmarish picture of what life in the West was like. His ability to coat the shocking and senseless violence in beautiful prose was nothing short of masterful. As someone who knows how hard it is to write beautiful prose, I could tell that he wrote and rewrote until he got it exactly how he wanted it. While some find his lack of punctuation jarring, I found it enhanced his style of writing. Despite its sparseness, the use of dialogue was well crafted. It had wit, great use of accents for each author, and it sounded like real human speech.
A problem I had with the story, however, and what could turn most people off, is the lack of plot and interiority of the characters. Sure, we have an idea of what some are like based on their actions, but it would be nice to see what each member’s psychology was like throughout their journey. Perhaps this was McCarthy’s way of saving us from the thoughts of such deplorable men, but I still think interiority would have been an amazing plus.
Despite all of that, I think the ending made up for all of it as I was left stunned. I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks now, and it makes me want to do a deep dive into what McCarthy was trying to say. I went to Reddit and forums just to read people's interpretations, and it seemed each individual had their own views. I think that's what makes the novel such a memorable experience because the reader is expected to come up with their own interpretations.
It took me three tries to finish this novel. I gave up after a hundred pages in the first two tries. On the third, I made it a point to read one chapter a day, and was glad I did.
If you’ve already read a few of McCarthy’s books and liked them, you should definitely give this one a try.
For those wishing to get into the corpus of McCarthy, you're welcome to try this novel first, but I'd advise against it. The Road, All the Pretty Horses, or No Country for Old Men are better starters.
If you need your books to have plot and character interiority, skip it, as the story has more of a thematic narrative.
I think history buffs would gravitate toward this novel, considering McCarthy did a lot of research while writing this book.
“He watches, pale and unwashed. He can neither read nor write and in him broods already a taste for mindless violence. All history present in that visage, the child the father of the man.”
“A man's at odds to know his mind cause his mind is aught he has to know it with. He can know his heart, but he dont want to. Rightly so. Best not to look in there. It aint the heart of a creature that is bound in the way that God has set for it. You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it.”
“It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way.”
“Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent.”
Novel: Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Original Publisher: Random House
Current Paperback Publisher: Vintage International
Date of Publication: April 1985
ISBN: 9780679728757
