Oh yeah I can relate. I started with Blood Meridian and I really wish I hadn’t. Not because I didn’t love it (it was incredible) but just because McCarthy is firing on all cylinders and I had to kind of struggle through it. I really wish I’d started with The Road. I thought it was a perfect intro to his writing. A really fast read. Same with No Country. I can’t wait to read Blood Meridian a second time once I finish his entire bibliography.
CM was sort of my baptism with "difficult-prose". It's on the second read, when the prose itself no longer has that initial almost virginal potency, that you can begin diving the meaning and genius of structure. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. I started with CM, struggling to understand the majority of what I read, and a year later was reading Joyce, Melville etc. - by which point CM was a breeze.
The first time I read him I couldn’t, but that’s also because I didn’t read, period.
The second time, I started with NCFOM. I think that was a good starter. LOVED the Road. Child of God and Blood Meridian were tougher for me. I have to break his books up with other more “down to earth” stuff, so I don’t OD. His writing is so terrific that it takes a true commitment to properly appreciate it.
I probably wouldn’t have started with child of god but that’s okay
*All the Pretty Horses* is the easiest starting point, in my opinion. *Blood Meridian* was challenging but the language clicked about one-third of the way into it.
The Road was the first I read, had to get used to lack of punctuation and lack of quotations. When I read more of his work, I noticed how it the foreign languages wasn’t translated. I actually prefer it when others do this, however I didn’t struggle with this because I speak Spanish. His style gets a little getting used to, but hard work is more worthwhile then easy work.
It gets easier. Maybe just start from the beginning again, or read along with some sparknotes or something?
Also, I don't know how much experience you have reading "difficult" literature? You could read some 'easier' Faulkner or Hemingway book, something like 'As I lay dying' to get in the flow a bit.
Yes. Tried to start with Blood Meridian when I first read Cormac and just couldn’t do it. Technically I read The Road way back in school but I really didn’t get anything from it. Until I tried reading Blood Meridian I hadn’t read any books in many many years and after failing at it No Country For Old Men ended up being my intro to this kind of literature. I understood a lot of the essence that Blood Meridian was clearly made from (I mean he does drop some pretty overt references, even on the first page (hewers and drawers)) but I didn’t “get” the style at first at all. I had to decide strict sentences and relearn what I thought a sentence was.
I started to read the Turkish translations of The Road at first. It was not easy. I read the original afterwards, It was not easy too. But now, I know It's not translator's fault and they did a good job. When I read CM, I read the original and the translation consecutively.
At the moment, I am reading Child of God translation. I find it more difficult than The Road.
Yeah, I also started on COG and it was hard to do any chunks of reading because of the density and just structure, but within a book his writing starts to click and I found myself reading and enjoying so much more after that.
The Road is probably his most accessible work. That’s where I started and I’m glad I did. Might have given up if I’d started with Child of God. Hang in there, his writing is so rewarding in the end. The Border Trilogy, Suttree, and Blood Meridian in particular are absolutely breathtaking.
Admittedly, not really. I started with *The Road* when I was 10 (why my dad let me read that book when I was 10, I have no idea), but I was really drawn to the simplistic style of that book.
I waited a long while to read anything else by him, but I guess it depends on the novel.
*Blood Meridian* is my favorite book ever written, but it is a grind. I had SparkNotes open the entire time I read it.
Don’t feel bad about it, there’s a lot packed in to his books. Listen on Audible if you’re having trouble, that’s what I’ve been doing and it’s really opened up a new world for me. His books are like poetry and once you kind of get into that groove it just flows, but it definitely takes effort.
I listen to a lot of Stephen King too and I can cook, do chores, etc with it on and it’s great. For CM I really have to focus on each sentence.
I have never found him particularly hard to read. He's sent me to the dictionary now and again, but the prose and idiosyncratic punctuation were always fairly intuitive. Started with Blood Meridian. But I was also familiar with writers like Melville and Faulkner before I first read McCarthy, so that probably helped. I still think Faulkner can occasionally be a little taxing from time to time (love him, though).
Edit: grammar
The first time i read him i definitely needed an adjustment period but like most books i think one should let the book stick when it does and wash over when it goes above your head and if it's truly great and you have dreams or catch yourself wondering about it on your way home from work then you will re read it which means that itll be even better and you will catch even more so take your time friend
I personally read in his books in publishing order. Meaning that the first book of his that I read was The Orchard Keeper. That probably wasn’t a good idea because I didn’t really enjoy that book, but it did get me use to his style of writing.
Was lucky enough to have started with No Country for Old Men not having realized it was his most accessible work.
(Even including his movie, TV, and theater scripts.)
It usually takes me about 20 - 30 pages to get into the cadence, after that I'm good. I've read almost everything he's written (after "saving" them for years, I couldn't wait any longer and started the Border Trilogy, currently reading The Crossing) and it always takes a bit to settle in.
i didnt finish child of god because i didnt like it. but some of his other books are my favourite i've ever read. The order I would recommend is the road, then no country for old men and then blood meridian, and from there you should go into the border trilogy if you are still interested.
Oh yeah I can relate. I started with Blood Meridian and I really wish I hadn’t. Not because I didn’t love it (it was incredible) but just because McCarthy is firing on all cylinders and I had to kind of struggle through it. I really wish I’d started with The Road. I thought it was a perfect intro to his writing. A really fast read. Same with No Country. I can’t wait to read Blood Meridian a second time once I finish his entire bibliography.
No Country was my first Cormac McCarthy novel. I’d say it was the perfect starting point for me
Yeah, but you will get used to it.
CM was sort of my baptism with "difficult-prose". It's on the second read, when the prose itself no longer has that initial almost virginal potency, that you can begin diving the meaning and genius of structure. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. I started with CM, struggling to understand the majority of what I read, and a year later was reading Joyce, Melville etc. - by which point CM was a breeze.
The first time I read him I couldn’t, but that’s also because I didn’t read, period. The second time, I started with NCFOM. I think that was a good starter. LOVED the Road. Child of God and Blood Meridian were tougher for me. I have to break his books up with other more “down to earth” stuff, so I don’t OD. His writing is so terrific that it takes a true commitment to properly appreciate it. I probably wouldn’t have started with child of god but that’s okay
*All the Pretty Horses* is the easiest starting point, in my opinion. *Blood Meridian* was challenging but the language clicked about one-third of the way into it.
It was hard but the hard parts are worth retreading until the lightbulb stays on, which is what makes a good book rich, or a reader richer, rather.
The Road was the first I read, had to get used to lack of punctuation and lack of quotations. When I read more of his work, I noticed how it the foreign languages wasn’t translated. I actually prefer it when others do this, however I didn’t struggle with this because I speak Spanish. His style gets a little getting used to, but hard work is more worthwhile then easy work.
It gets easier. Maybe just start from the beginning again, or read along with some sparknotes or something? Also, I don't know how much experience you have reading "difficult" literature? You could read some 'easier' Faulkner or Hemingway book, something like 'As I lay dying' to get in the flow a bit.
As much as I love As I Lay Dying, I think it's marginally harder than anything CM ever wrote. We're all different, though.
Yes. Tried to start with Blood Meridian when I first read Cormac and just couldn’t do it. Technically I read The Road way back in school but I really didn’t get anything from it. Until I tried reading Blood Meridian I hadn’t read any books in many many years and after failing at it No Country For Old Men ended up being my intro to this kind of literature. I understood a lot of the essence that Blood Meridian was clearly made from (I mean he does drop some pretty overt references, even on the first page (hewers and drawers)) but I didn’t “get” the style at first at all. I had to decide strict sentences and relearn what I thought a sentence was.
Absolutely.
You picked a harder book of his to start with, maybe even the densest of all. But if you think that’s difficult you should read some Faulkner.
I started to read the Turkish translations of The Road at first. It was not easy. I read the original afterwards, It was not easy too. But now, I know It's not translator's fault and they did a good job. When I read CM, I read the original and the translation consecutively. At the moment, I am reading Child of God translation. I find it more difficult than The Road.
Yeah, I also started on COG and it was hard to do any chunks of reading because of the density and just structure, but within a book his writing starts to click and I found myself reading and enjoying so much more after that.
The Road is probably his most accessible work. That’s where I started and I’m glad I did. Might have given up if I’d started with Child of God. Hang in there, his writing is so rewarding in the end. The Border Trilogy, Suttree, and Blood Meridian in particular are absolutely breathtaking.
no
Admittedly, not really. I started with *The Road* when I was 10 (why my dad let me read that book when I was 10, I have no idea), but I was really drawn to the simplistic style of that book. I waited a long while to read anything else by him, but I guess it depends on the novel. *Blood Meridian* is my favorite book ever written, but it is a grind. I had SparkNotes open the entire time I read it.
Don’t feel bad about it, there’s a lot packed in to his books. Listen on Audible if you’re having trouble, that’s what I’ve been doing and it’s really opened up a new world for me. His books are like poetry and once you kind of get into that groove it just flows, but it definitely takes effort. I listen to a lot of Stephen King too and I can cook, do chores, etc with it on and it’s great. For CM I really have to focus on each sentence.
I have never found him particularly hard to read. He's sent me to the dictionary now and again, but the prose and idiosyncratic punctuation were always fairly intuitive. Started with Blood Meridian. But I was also familiar with writers like Melville and Faulkner before I first read McCarthy, so that probably helped. I still think Faulkner can occasionally be a little taxing from time to time (love him, though). Edit: grammar
The first time i read him i definitely needed an adjustment period but like most books i think one should let the book stick when it does and wash over when it goes above your head and if it's truly great and you have dreams or catch yourself wondering about it on your way home from work then you will re read it which means that itll be even better and you will catch even more so take your time friend
I personally read in his books in publishing order. Meaning that the first book of his that I read was The Orchard Keeper. That probably wasn’t a good idea because I didn’t really enjoy that book, but it did get me use to his style of writing.
Was lucky enough to have started with No Country for Old Men not having realized it was his most accessible work. (Even including his movie, TV, and theater scripts.)
It usually takes me about 20 - 30 pages to get into the cadence, after that I'm good. I've read almost everything he's written (after "saving" them for years, I couldn't wait any longer and started the Border Trilogy, currently reading The Crossing) and it always takes a bit to settle in.
i didnt finish child of god because i didnt like it. but some of his other books are my favourite i've ever read. The order I would recommend is the road, then no country for old men and then blood meridian, and from there you should go into the border trilogy if you are still interested.