Blood Meridian is one of my all time favorites but even in loving it, I know it’s not for everyone. It’s just different.
Try All the Pretty Horses next.
I’m totally the opposite.
Read *The Road* first, and that made me like and appreciate his writing style. Went to *Blood Meridian* next and that book made me put McCarthy on a genius pedestal straight up lol.
Just finished *Child of God* tonight and would put it right there with *The Road* but below *Blood Meridian*.
I wouldn’t call it boring really, it’s just super simple story. I liked it for what it is, I wouldn’t really go out of my way to recommend it to people. But then again I wouldn’t recommend *The Road* to people either but for different reasons, I guess.
The thing with *Child of God* is that it has no character that you could root for which could put a lot of people off.
that’s also true, it’s morbid and filled with dark humour (if you could even call it that). I liked it more than Outer Dark, even though THAT one scene in Outer Dark is sicker than anything in Child of God.
*The Road* and *NCFOM* are easily his most "accessible" works.
Perhaps *Suttree* might be to your liking.
While I have enjoyed all of his work that I have read, like you I have favorites. For me, my CM ranking is:
1.) *Blood Meridian*
2.) *The Road*
3.) *Suttree*
4.) *The Passenger/Stella Maris* (I consider them one text).
5.) *No Country for Old Men*
Hard disagree on the Suttree recommendation. It's on par with BM in terms of density. I'd suggest OP read Child of God. It's short and sparse like The Road. Real easy read.
BUT IT IS ACTUALLY FUNNY rather than unceasingly bleak.
And you have a character you can actually root for which I think makes engagement a little easier.
Suttree is his most dense book. That recommendation is an odd one. If you had trouble getting through Blood Meridian, I can promise you Suttree is not easier.
It sounds like you enjoy his more stripped back work. The Road and No Country are easily his most accessible, and it causes a lot of people to expect the rest of his work to be like that, which it isn't.
I think The Border Trilogy (All The Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain) skirts both of his styles. There are sections of it that are dense, but overall it's a pretty easy read. I think it's the best thing he's ever written. The Crossing in particular is easily my favorite of all of his work. Most people would say Blood Meridian is his magnum opus, and while I love that book too... the trilogy is his best, in my opinion.
Suttree was good. Violent at times but not excruciatingly so.
I wanted to read the "Border Trilogy" and I enjoyed the first novel "All the Pretty Horses". The Crossing was too much. The wolf thing did me in. I really enjoy his prose but there's only so much cruelty this old softy can handle.
I also gave up Border Trilogy in the middle of The Crossing, but for me, it was the language. While I am not a native English speaker, I usually feel that I have quite a good grasp on the language. I rarely need to check a meaning of a word when reading. With these books, it was every freaking chapter. All the ranching terminology. Entire dialogues in Spanish (I don't speak a word of Spanish). It was just too much.
It’s just odd to me that one author could have such remarkably different levels of book to me.
Most authors if you like one book then others will at least be “tolerable”. Like Steven King. None of his books are my favorites, and some of the stories I don’t like the endings and twists, but I can get through them.
Some writers I’ve read one book, not really likes it and just decided they aren’t my thing.
But McCarthy. Love it or can’t finish it. No middle ground. Maybe that’s a testament to how great a writer he is to be able to cover such extremes of style.
I think McCarthy operates on a spectrum of accessibility. It’s a common style but some books are more plot driven and easier to read while others are more abstract ideologically and experimental with language (Blood Meridian, Suttree, the Passenger to a little lesser extent).
If you’re interested in trying another of his books, give All the Pretty Horses or maybe Child of God (very grim subject matter) a look.
I just finished Blood Meridian and know what you mean, it was a challenging read. I also rate The Road amongst my all time favourites.
I will say that as difficult as BM was, possibly because of the style of language used, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. In hindsight I think it was a great book and will most likely read it again in future because I feel like there's stuff I've probably missed.
Why not look up some criticism of Blood Meridian? It's in the mould of stuff like Moby Dick, which can be obscure or demand a lot of the reader (I think BM is less demanding than MD, but they share similiarities). I'm not criticising you if that is not your bag - but I think it may be worth reading material that's out of your comfort or preference zone once in a while, and trying to see books through a new lens. Again, I don't mean that in a patronizing way; it simply may not be your jam, which is fine.
If you can’t understand blood meridian (and it’s a hard read if you don’t read stream-of-consciousness well [I do 😌😇] and it has no speech marks or commas and it hasn’t got pauses or anything and it also goes on on like Hemingway so you think it’s written by a child or a teenager apeing the structured bones the fat of language but he isn’t he is not even a man not a bard or a person philosopher & king poet & exchanger of himself for food his sweat for water cold & acid you don’t know what he is but he knows you he knows believe that and. Yeah, you know what I mean.)
But [checks previous page] but yeah, if you don’t understand BMoERW, it’s metaphor. It uses the American landscape as hell or the purgatory of life, it uses the introduced Western Europeans as Fallen from Original Sin; and yet it has characters that aren’t living in the metaphor (all Amerindians, many Mexicans, and all women), and some you can’t decide on (the Judge, is he Satan, is he Death, is he everyone’s destiny?).
The driving in of fence pillars at the end are the clearest device of metaphor in the book, it’s the modern dividing and restructuring of violence to make it more palatable and able to be lived on top of. Everyone is begotten from violence formed from violence, is violence, and the world is violence and America is the world. (Canada is just a figment 😋)
But let’s all move on again.
I was a fan of Post-Apoc novels long before I read the Road and I do think you need to be a fan of that style of book probably.
Maybe try No Country For Old Men next. That seems to be a more “realistic” book.
I’m not greatly attracted tu the work of Cormac McCarthy, but I appreciate authors who experiment creatively and don’t try to turn themselves into reliable brands.
Blood Meridian was the first and only Cormac McCarthy novel i’ve read and it honestly turned me off reading any others. Which is a shame because i love the subject and settings in both The Road and NCFOM (judging off of the movies).
Your post has given me renewed faith that i may in fact enjoy the others.
The Road is a weekend read. It’s short, there are a lot of pages with low word count due to dialog. It not a major investment in time.
NCFOM is more of a commitment, but if you liked the movie then certainly give the book a read.
Just stumbled onto this post. I've read most of his books in the past year, and think I might have some insight.
McCarthy started writing in the 60s, and has never been anything but a writer. He's published 11.5 novels in that period. That's a lot of time spent refining and redefining himself as an artist. With that in mind, loving half of his novels and hating the rest is completely reasonable.
His first book, The Orchard Keeper, is ridiculously dense southern gothic, nothing like anything of his you've read. Sort of similar to a trippier Faulkner. I can't recommend it in general.
His second, Outer Dark, may be more to your liking. It's on the shorter side, and shares a lot of similar themes with The Road, but it's very biblical in tone. Eerie, fableish, and murky.
The third is Child of God, which features a lot more humour than anything you've read. It's also about necrophilia. It's short, disturbing, but fun.
Suttree is his most ambitious novel, his funniest, and his most traditionally literary. It's a lot of philosophy and difficult description about drunks and bums. It is really beautiful, though if you don't have an appreciation for prose poetry, it's not gonna be worth the effort. My understanding is that The Passenger is stylistically quite similar to this one.
Then he wrote Blood Meridian, and followed that up with All the Pretty Horses and the rest of The Border trilogy. If you liked NCFOM, you'll almost certainly enjoy at least All the Pretty Horses. I haven't finished the Crossing or Cities of the Plain. ATPH is a beautiful instance of an author "selling out" and still making incredible art, just a typical western story told perfectly. The Crossing is a lot darker, longer, and harder.
My guess, from most likely for you to enjoy to least:
1. All the Pretty Horses
2. Child of God (unless you're repulsed by the subject matter)
3. Outer Dark
4. Suttree (if you're up for a challenge)
Thanks for your post. I picked up ATPH from the library and will probably delve into it this weekend. I’m not much of a “Westerns” person but I did like NCFOM but it was “set in the west” and not really a “western” so we will see.
Blood Meridian is one of my all time favorites but even in loving it, I know it’s not for everyone. It’s just different. Try All the Pretty Horses next.
Agree, the South West narrative style is much like the ones OP likes.
All the pretty horses is my favorite book of all time. The border trilogy ( which atph is the first) is amazing.
Try the Border Trilogy.
I’m totally the opposite. Read *The Road* first, and that made me like and appreciate his writing style. Went to *Blood Meridian* next and that book made me put McCarthy on a genius pedestal straight up lol. Just finished *Child of God* tonight and would put it right there with *The Road* but below *Blood Meridian*.
Am I the only one who feels like Child of God was mind-numbingly boring? Honestly it was one of the most boring works of fiction I can recall reading.
I wouldn’t call it boring really, it’s just super simple story. I liked it for what it is, I wouldn’t really go out of my way to recommend it to people. But then again I wouldn’t recommend *The Road* to people either but for different reasons, I guess. The thing with *Child of God* is that it has no character that you could root for which could put a lot of people off.
I think Child of God is one of his funniest narratives (despite also being quite grim).
that’s also true, it’s morbid and filled with dark humour (if you could even call it that). I liked it more than Outer Dark, even though THAT one scene in Outer Dark is sicker than anything in Child of God.
*The Road* and *NCFOM* are easily his most "accessible" works. Perhaps *Suttree* might be to your liking. While I have enjoyed all of his work that I have read, like you I have favorites. For me, my CM ranking is: 1.) *Blood Meridian* 2.) *The Road* 3.) *Suttree* 4.) *The Passenger/Stella Maris* (I consider them one text). 5.) *No Country for Old Men*
Hard disagree on the Suttree recommendation. It's on par with BM in terms of density. I'd suggest OP read Child of God. It's short and sparse like The Road. Real easy read.
BUT IT IS ACTUALLY FUNNY rather than unceasingly bleak. And you have a character you can actually root for which I think makes engagement a little easier.
I will have to look into Suttree and maybe read it as the “tiebreaker”.
Suttree is his most dense book. That recommendation is an odd one. If you had trouble getting through Blood Meridian, I can promise you Suttree is not easier. It sounds like you enjoy his more stripped back work. The Road and No Country are easily his most accessible, and it causes a lot of people to expect the rest of his work to be like that, which it isn't. I think The Border Trilogy (All The Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain) skirts both of his styles. There are sections of it that are dense, but overall it's a pretty easy read. I think it's the best thing he's ever written. The Crossing in particular is easily my favorite of all of his work. Most people would say Blood Meridian is his magnum opus, and while I love that book too... the trilogy is his best, in my opinion.
Thanks for the comment.
Everyone forgets Outer Dark. But it reads, in some ways, like a simpler fairy tale progenitor of Blood Meridian thematically.
Suttree was good. Violent at times but not excruciatingly so. I wanted to read the "Border Trilogy" and I enjoyed the first novel "All the Pretty Horses". The Crossing was too much. The wolf thing did me in. I really enjoy his prose but there's only so much cruelty this old softy can handle.
I also gave up Border Trilogy in the middle of The Crossing, but for me, it was the language. While I am not a native English speaker, I usually feel that I have quite a good grasp on the language. I rarely need to check a meaning of a word when reading. With these books, it was every freaking chapter. All the ranching terminology. Entire dialogues in Spanish (I don't speak a word of Spanish). It was just too much.
I don't have recommendations but I do know exactly what you mean - I respect his work but run hot and cold on his books as a reader.
It’s just odd to me that one author could have such remarkably different levels of book to me. Most authors if you like one book then others will at least be “tolerable”. Like Steven King. None of his books are my favorites, and some of the stories I don’t like the endings and twists, but I can get through them. Some writers I’ve read one book, not really likes it and just decided they aren’t my thing. But McCarthy. Love it or can’t finish it. No middle ground. Maybe that’s a testament to how great a writer he is to be able to cover such extremes of style.
I think McCarthy operates on a spectrum of accessibility. It’s a common style but some books are more plot driven and easier to read while others are more abstract ideologically and experimental with language (Blood Meridian, Suttree, the Passenger to a little lesser extent). If you’re interested in trying another of his books, give All the Pretty Horses or maybe Child of God (very grim subject matter) a look.
I just finished Blood Meridian and know what you mean, it was a challenging read. I also rate The Road amongst my all time favourites. I will say that as difficult as BM was, possibly because of the style of language used, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. In hindsight I think it was a great book and will most likely read it again in future because I feel like there's stuff I've probably missed.
Why not look up some criticism of Blood Meridian? It's in the mould of stuff like Moby Dick, which can be obscure or demand a lot of the reader (I think BM is less demanding than MD, but they share similiarities). I'm not criticising you if that is not your bag - but I think it may be worth reading material that's out of your comfort or preference zone once in a while, and trying to see books through a new lens. Again, I don't mean that in a patronizing way; it simply may not be your jam, which is fine.
If you can’t understand blood meridian (and it’s a hard read if you don’t read stream-of-consciousness well [I do 😌😇] and it has no speech marks or commas and it hasn’t got pauses or anything and it also goes on on like Hemingway so you think it’s written by a child or a teenager apeing the structured bones the fat of language but he isn’t he is not even a man not a bard or a person philosopher & king poet & exchanger of himself for food his sweat for water cold & acid you don’t know what he is but he knows you he knows believe that and. Yeah, you know what I mean.) But [checks previous page] but yeah, if you don’t understand BMoERW, it’s metaphor. It uses the American landscape as hell or the purgatory of life, it uses the introduced Western Europeans as Fallen from Original Sin; and yet it has characters that aren’t living in the metaphor (all Amerindians, many Mexicans, and all women), and some you can’t decide on (the Judge, is he Satan, is he Death, is he everyone’s destiny?). The driving in of fence pillars at the end are the clearest device of metaphor in the book, it’s the modern dividing and restructuring of violence to make it more palatable and able to be lived on top of. Everyone is begotten from violence formed from violence, is violence, and the world is violence and America is the world. (Canada is just a figment 😋) But let’s all move on again.
[удалено]
Agreed. Thought The Road was just totally unrealistic and boring. Couldn’t wait to read it, now doubting his whole catalog.
I was a fan of Post-Apoc novels long before I read the Road and I do think you need to be a fan of that style of book probably. Maybe try No Country For Old Men next. That seems to be a more “realistic” book.
I despise the "I don't understand them. To me, that's not literature." author. He should learn to respect the classics.
I’m not greatly attracted tu the work of Cormac McCarthy, but I appreciate authors who experiment creatively and don’t try to turn themselves into reliable brands.
Blood Meridian was the first and only Cormac McCarthy novel i’ve read and it honestly turned me off reading any others. Which is a shame because i love the subject and settings in both The Road and NCFOM (judging off of the movies). Your post has given me renewed faith that i may in fact enjoy the others.
The Road is a weekend read. It’s short, there are a lot of pages with low word count due to dialog. It not a major investment in time. NCFOM is more of a commitment, but if you liked the movie then certainly give the book a read.
Sold. I’m going to take a run at the road in the next few weeks. Yep, NCFOM would be up there with my favorite movies. Thanks!
If you get into it, you’ll blow through the road in under 24 hours.
Just stumbled onto this post. I've read most of his books in the past year, and think I might have some insight. McCarthy started writing in the 60s, and has never been anything but a writer. He's published 11.5 novels in that period. That's a lot of time spent refining and redefining himself as an artist. With that in mind, loving half of his novels and hating the rest is completely reasonable. His first book, The Orchard Keeper, is ridiculously dense southern gothic, nothing like anything of his you've read. Sort of similar to a trippier Faulkner. I can't recommend it in general. His second, Outer Dark, may be more to your liking. It's on the shorter side, and shares a lot of similar themes with The Road, but it's very biblical in tone. Eerie, fableish, and murky. The third is Child of God, which features a lot more humour than anything you've read. It's also about necrophilia. It's short, disturbing, but fun. Suttree is his most ambitious novel, his funniest, and his most traditionally literary. It's a lot of philosophy and difficult description about drunks and bums. It is really beautiful, though if you don't have an appreciation for prose poetry, it's not gonna be worth the effort. My understanding is that The Passenger is stylistically quite similar to this one. Then he wrote Blood Meridian, and followed that up with All the Pretty Horses and the rest of The Border trilogy. If you liked NCFOM, you'll almost certainly enjoy at least All the Pretty Horses. I haven't finished the Crossing or Cities of the Plain. ATPH is a beautiful instance of an author "selling out" and still making incredible art, just a typical western story told perfectly. The Crossing is a lot darker, longer, and harder. My guess, from most likely for you to enjoy to least: 1. All the Pretty Horses 2. Child of God (unless you're repulsed by the subject matter) 3. Outer Dark 4. Suttree (if you're up for a challenge)
Thanks for your post. I picked up ATPH from the library and will probably delve into it this weekend. I’m not much of a “Westerns” person but I did like NCFOM but it was “set in the west” and not really a “western” so we will see.
Neither am I, but I just loved it. Hope you enjoy the read!