"Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy is brutal, violent, and awesome. Its a bloody retelling of manifest destiny, and i would like to think that its a pretty accurate portrayal of the scalp trade in Texas/Mexico during the mid 1800's. Reading this book was very humbling. It is without a doubt the most difficult novel i've read so far. Cormac McCarthy is a great storyteller with an insane vocabulary and a style all his own. People seem to dislike his lack of punctuation, but i enjoy it. Its confusing at times, but when you go back and reread a passage you realize that not only does it make perfect sense, but its incredibly written. The extreme environments are painted with words, and the characters are so hardened and fierce without any remorse. They are disgustingly violent and their pure bad-assness makes it perfectly acceptable.
"Blood Meridian" is a classic Western without all the hokey Western stereotypes getting in the way. This book is totally worth reading if you're into westerns, great storytelling, amazing writing, or just in the mood to read some gut-wrenching violence. There are some slow parts in the first half, but the second half flies by with tons of action and an ending that i found to be perfectly satisfying. The caliber of writing multiplied by the sheer fucked up-ness of the story makes the book one of my favorites. I enjoyed reading "The Road" but after reading "Blood Meridian" I am now a fan of Mr. McCarthy and plan on celebrating his entire catalogue.
Final Grade: 5 Bloody Scalps out of 5
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment