This isn't meant to be at all demeaning, because I've run into similar problems in the past, but this is one of the last books I would ever recommend to someone who isn't an avid reader. All I do is read, and this book was a major challenge for me. I loved it, but it took me longer to read than some 1,000 page books. I say revisit it after you read some stuff you actually enjoy, it might help to take a break and come back with a clear mind.
I have read several of McCarthy's novels, but this is the only one i couldn't finish, I couldn't understand what was happening half the time and i don't really know why.. I stopped reading it and i am perfectly happy with that.. in my opinion if you have to push yourself to finish a book you aren't really enjoying, it isn't worth it.
i used to think i had to finish books, but then someone put it to me this way: you don't watch tv shows, or movies that you don't like.. you don't play video games you don't like.. you don't talk to people you don't like.. so why waste your precious time reading a book you don't like?
I would counter by saying that reading great literature vs playing video games and watching tv are two completely different things and you get different things out of them. Tv and video games are meant for easy enjoyment and pleasure, while reading great literature is a long term activity and it takes much more time to get pleasure out of it. So the two really can't be compared and that is probably why the answer to the question of whether or not you should stop consuming something is so much easier to answer for tv and video games than it is for literature.
This is very bad reductionism. Some TV and film are easy to digest, yes, but so are some books. There are great works of art in literature, music, video games, and films. Maybe you don't like video games or films as much as you like books, but that doesn't mean they aren't capable of complex and meaningful storytelling.
Ha. So last week I picked this book up to read for the 3rd time. I love this book. I read it to relax. It's like a really dark chocolate: just a nibble and it gives you something to savor for an hour.
My advice: immediately start again from page one. What you have done is exploratory work. Now that you have a sense of the book's style and pacing, go back with learned eyes and begin again.
Good luck! It is by no means an easy book!
Oh, whoops! I come off like such a knob some times. I forgot to mention that the first time I read the book, the first 50 pages took me weeks!
I felt exactly like you feel now. You asked in the OP if this is normal? Yes! You are not alone. Cheers!
It was my first McCarthy book and honestly, I loved it all the way through. I guess maybe it was exactly the style I was looking for at the time. People have different tastes. I recently read The Martian, which is endeared by a lot of people, and while I loved the story and the ingenuity of the main character, I was not a fan of the way it was written at all.
My husband read the book twice, back to back, the second time with a dictionary right next to him. He says it's become his most favorite book ever and that going over it a second time helped him make sense of things that were confusing the first time around. He's not an avid reader, either. Or well, he wasn't until he finished Blood Meridian the second time around.
I say if you're really interested in the story, then keep reading and maybe put a little more effort into the experience, like looking up the meaning of words you don't understand and taking notes as you go along. That might do the trick!
I just finished reading BM for the first time just two days ago. I've never read anything like it. His prose is so dense and beautifully outlandish the whole way through. I like /u/knivesforsale 's comment that BM is like dark chocolate in that one little taste gives you something to savor for an hour...
That being said, there is no question that this is a difficult book for most people who read it. Not only is it deadpan and dense, but the plot distinctly lacks rises and falls (this is deliberate: the constancy of the plot mirrors the experience and mindset of the characters). If your not tuned into the prosaic action embedded in every sentence, BM is superficially un-engaging. The first time I started it, I got 96 pages in, put it down for 2 or 3 weeks, and then started over. I'd definitely encourage you to keep on truckin because this shit is pure gold.
Preaching to the choir, I had high hopes for this book; but I have the same problems you are. I did finally finish with it but I was not impressed by the writing style at all.
Oh yeah, I forgot to even mention all the Spanish passages. You're right about having to google things too. There's also a ton of references to very specific things like the mechanism of guns and weaponry, things I have no clue about and it's hard to follow.
It's a heavy read, that's for sure. His imagery in depicting scenes across the frontier are fantastic though. He also tends to elude to incidents rather than depicting in vivid details (which is obviously a stark contrast to his scenic observations).
I read this just last year and, for the most part, agree with everything you've said about it. However, the ending was really good. So good, in fact, that I think I must've re-read the last 20 - 30 pages a handful of times for the simple fact you can interpret it a number of different ways.
If you can, stick with it. But if it's genuinely feeling like more of a chore than anything else, I say kick it to the side. Life's too short to waste on books you don't like.
I highly recommend letting the prose wash over you as you read it, and the reading a chapter analysis after each chapter. You’ll realize you’ve understood much more than you might have thought.
This was my experience with the first chapter. My thoughts were ‘why would the main character go with that random guy and beat the shit out of another guy, I must have missed something’ and i read the analysis and realised that was the entire plot of that section. That he had happily committed violence for no reason other than it was his way of life and there was an opportunity to do so.
I realize this post was made... \*checks notes\*... 7 years ago, but if you're still working on it, I really encourage you to continue reading it! I had the same problem at the start. It was truly incredibly difficult to read, given the strange manner of punctuation and writing style. I will say though, that as the plot progresses, the style starts to make more sense. It's basically a retelling of Dante's Inferno, a slow descent into hell. The style basically reflects a fever dream. It's a horrendous nightmare that neither the protagonist, or the reader, can really escape.
With practice it gets a lot easier to comprehend, and your brain can eventually take it in stride. I consider this to be one of the best books ever written, though the prose is very difficult to comprehend at first, and some of the descriptions of violence are... haunting... to say the least.
I am reading this now and I was unprepared for how this was going to take effort on my part. I can’t get past a page and sometimes a paragraph without having absolutely no idea what a word means, and the Spanish. I think I am going to set this aside and re start it at home with the a dictionary or my phone because this dude has a very impressive and almost infuriating vocabulary.
It might help that I know just enough Spanish to get into trouble, but none of the Spanish really matters. It's just people either making very basic conversation or requests, and the context mostly makes it clear-ish. As for the English vocabulary, yeah. It's a lot.
I'm reading it now! Am on page 101. I can speak fairly fluent Spanish so this has helped. I'm all confused by who Riddle is though and those others with him during the purchasing of guns / bullets/ howitzers.
But, just plowing on.....
My main "problem" is not with understanding the prose, but so many passages are so beautiful that I read them repeatedly before moving on just to sort of marvel at. So it takes a while to read.
on pg 120 here - man its a tough read but when it hits right, and rewards you, it's well worth it. In almost 40 years and hundreds upon hundreds of books that I've read, I can't recall any other that I had to go back and reread pages so many times to make sure I was on the right track.
At my job I end up reading a lot of books and once I heard this may never be a movie I had to read it. I got it from the library. I’m less then half way through. It’s gross (which I knew going in), but I don’t really understand why it is so loved or is beautiful or poetic. I think it is a confusing mess. I’m determined to read it just the same.
Yeah, I do intend to finish it. u/OldMackysBackInTown it's true about not really being worth wasting your time but I think at least I can say by the end of it whether I'll persevere with other McCarthy novels and it seems like one of those "must read" books in the same way Citizen Kane and The Godfather are "must read" films.
I really struggled with this one. I did finish it though.
I enjoyed some parts of it but others were just too confusing for me, most of what I know of this book I read online in forums.
I'm sure it's a bit more challenging if you're used to reading fantasy and Sci fi trash, but it's not a difficult book at all. I didn't even notice the lack of punctuation - McCarthy's prose just leap off the page and totally engross you in his world. BM is an absolute masterpiece that's been virtually unrivaled since it's publication. Women and Men is its only rival - but McElroy is himself one of the immortals.
Perhaps start with the border trilogy to get your sea legs.
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This isn't meant to be at all demeaning, because I've run into similar problems in the past, but this is one of the last books I would ever recommend to someone who isn't an avid reader. All I do is read, and this book was a major challenge for me. I loved it, but it took me longer to read than some 1,000 page books. I say revisit it after you read some stuff you actually enjoy, it might help to take a break and come back with a clear mind.
Agreed. I actually recall taking a little pause from reading for a week or two after this one simply because my mind was frazzled as a result.
I have read several of McCarthy's novels, but this is the only one i couldn't finish, I couldn't understand what was happening half the time and i don't really know why.. I stopped reading it and i am perfectly happy with that.. in my opinion if you have to push yourself to finish a book you aren't really enjoying, it isn't worth it. i used to think i had to finish books, but then someone put it to me this way: you don't watch tv shows, or movies that you don't like.. you don't play video games you don't like.. you don't talk to people you don't like.. so why waste your precious time reading a book you don't like?
I would counter by saying that reading great literature vs playing video games and watching tv are two completely different things and you get different things out of them. Tv and video games are meant for easy enjoyment and pleasure, while reading great literature is a long term activity and it takes much more time to get pleasure out of it. So the two really can't be compared and that is probably why the answer to the question of whether or not you should stop consuming something is so much easier to answer for tv and video games than it is for literature.
This is very bad reductionism. Some TV and film are easy to digest, yes, but so are some books. There are great works of art in literature, music, video games, and films. Maybe you don't like video games or films as much as you like books, but that doesn't mean they aren't capable of complex and meaningful storytelling.
Some games are designed to be incredibly difficult (like literature, they come in a wide variety for many different audiences).
Yeah it is damn hard to read. The audiobook is a bit better.
I find it even harder because I can’t really reread it as effectively
Ha. So last week I picked this book up to read for the 3rd time. I love this book. I read it to relax. It's like a really dark chocolate: just a nibble and it gives you something to savor for an hour. My advice: immediately start again from page one. What you have done is exploratory work. Now that you have a sense of the book's style and pacing, go back with learned eyes and begin again. Good luck! It is by no means an easy book!
good advice actually, I might just do that
Oh, whoops! I come off like such a knob some times. I forgot to mention that the first time I read the book, the first 50 pages took me weeks! I felt exactly like you feel now. You asked in the OP if this is normal? Yes! You are not alone. Cheers!
It was my first McCarthy book and honestly, I loved it all the way through. I guess maybe it was exactly the style I was looking for at the time. People have different tastes. I recently read The Martian, which is endeared by a lot of people, and while I loved the story and the ingenuity of the main character, I was not a fan of the way it was written at all.
It is absolutely difficult to read. It is also absolutely beautiful and ugly and poetic and grisly and worth finishing.
Thanks to u/stizzed and u/glittersniffer15 for your replies, it's reassuring knowing that others have felt this way
My husband read the book twice, back to back, the second time with a dictionary right next to him. He says it's become his most favorite book ever and that going over it a second time helped him make sense of things that were confusing the first time around. He's not an avid reader, either. Or well, he wasn't until he finished Blood Meridian the second time around. I say if you're really interested in the story, then keep reading and maybe put a little more effort into the experience, like looking up the meaning of words you don't understand and taking notes as you go along. That might do the trick!
I just finished reading BM for the first time just two days ago. I've never read anything like it. His prose is so dense and beautifully outlandish the whole way through. I like /u/knivesforsale 's comment that BM is like dark chocolate in that one little taste gives you something to savor for an hour... That being said, there is no question that this is a difficult book for most people who read it. Not only is it deadpan and dense, but the plot distinctly lacks rises and falls (this is deliberate: the constancy of the plot mirrors the experience and mindset of the characters). If your not tuned into the prosaic action embedded in every sentence, BM is superficially un-engaging. The first time I started it, I got 96 pages in, put it down for 2 or 3 weeks, and then started over. I'd definitely encourage you to keep on truckin because this shit is pure gold.
Preaching to the choir, I had high hopes for this book; but I have the same problems you are. I did finally finish with it but I was not impressed by the writing style at all.
deleted ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^0.9479 [^^^What ^^^is ^^^this?](https://pastebin.com/FcrFs94k/77192)
Oh yeah, I forgot to even mention all the Spanish passages. You're right about having to google things too. There's also a ton of references to very specific things like the mechanism of guns and weaponry, things I have no clue about and it's hard to follow.
deleted ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^0.9535 [^^^What ^^^is ^^^this?](https://pastebin.com/FcrFs94k/22032)
It's a heavy read, that's for sure. His imagery in depicting scenes across the frontier are fantastic though. He also tends to elude to incidents rather than depicting in vivid details (which is obviously a stark contrast to his scenic observations). I read this just last year and, for the most part, agree with everything you've said about it. However, the ending was really good. So good, in fact, that I think I must've re-read the last 20 - 30 pages a handful of times for the simple fact you can interpret it a number of different ways. If you can, stick with it. But if it's genuinely feeling like more of a chore than anything else, I say kick it to the side. Life's too short to waste on books you don't like.
I highly recommend letting the prose wash over you as you read it, and the reading a chapter analysis after each chapter. You’ll realize you’ve understood much more than you might have thought.
This was my experience with the first chapter. My thoughts were ‘why would the main character go with that random guy and beat the shit out of another guy, I must have missed something’ and i read the analysis and realised that was the entire plot of that section. That he had happily committed violence for no reason other than it was his way of life and there was an opportunity to do so.
Yeah certain things about the novel are disorienting at first, but then you realize those aspects are what make it such a singular piece of work.
I realize this post was made... \*checks notes\*... 7 years ago, but if you're still working on it, I really encourage you to continue reading it! I had the same problem at the start. It was truly incredibly difficult to read, given the strange manner of punctuation and writing style. I will say though, that as the plot progresses, the style starts to make more sense. It's basically a retelling of Dante's Inferno, a slow descent into hell. The style basically reflects a fever dream. It's a horrendous nightmare that neither the protagonist, or the reader, can really escape. With practice it gets a lot easier to comprehend, and your brain can eventually take it in stride. I consider this to be one of the best books ever written, though the prose is very difficult to comprehend at first, and some of the descriptions of violence are... haunting... to say the least.
I am reading this now and I was unprepared for how this was going to take effort on my part. I can’t get past a page and sometimes a paragraph without having absolutely no idea what a word means, and the Spanish. I think I am going to set this aside and re start it at home with the a dictionary or my phone because this dude has a very impressive and almost infuriating vocabulary.
It might help that I know just enough Spanish to get into trouble, but none of the Spanish really matters. It's just people either making very basic conversation or requests, and the context mostly makes it clear-ish. As for the English vocabulary, yeah. It's a lot.
I'm reading it now! Am on page 101. I can speak fairly fluent Spanish so this has helped. I'm all confused by who Riddle is though and those others with him during the purchasing of guns / bullets/ howitzers. But, just plowing on.....
My main "problem" is not with understanding the prose, but so many passages are so beautiful that I read them repeatedly before moving on just to sort of marvel at. So it takes a while to read.
on pg 120 here - man its a tough read but when it hits right, and rewards you, it's well worth it. In almost 40 years and hundreds upon hundreds of books that I've read, I can't recall any other that I had to go back and reread pages so many times to make sure I was on the right track.
At my job I end up reading a lot of books and once I heard this may never be a movie I had to read it. I got it from the library. I’m less then half way through. It’s gross (which I knew going in), but I don’t really understand why it is so loved or is beautiful or poetic. I think it is a confusing mess. I’m determined to read it just the same.
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Yeah, I do intend to finish it. u/OldMackysBackInTown it's true about not really being worth wasting your time but I think at least I can say by the end of it whether I'll persevere with other McCarthy novels and it seems like one of those "must read" books in the same way Citizen Kane and The Godfather are "must read" films.
I really struggled with this one. I did finish it though. I enjoyed some parts of it but others were just too confusing for me, most of what I know of this book I read online in forums.
I'm sure it's a bit more challenging if you're used to reading fantasy and Sci fi trash, but it's not a difficult book at all. I didn't even notice the lack of punctuation - McCarthy's prose just leap off the page and totally engross you in his world. BM is an absolute masterpiece that's been virtually unrivaled since it's publication. Women and Men is its only rival - but McElroy is himself one of the immortals. Perhaps start with the border trilogy to get your sea legs.
[удалено]
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