/lit/ - Literature

>oprahs_book_club.large.jpg

I feel sad for you, anon.

>>3232211
I too, can't get over the fact that the author of this book doesn't use proper punctuation. In fact, this enrages me so much that I base my entire criticism of the book around it. Also, Oprah is the devil.

He just does it because he doesn't like punctuation marks cluttering up the page I'm pretty sure. I'd argue that it brings his prose closer to the primarily oral traditions of the KJB and other epic poetry. You don't hear punctuation marks in speech.

But I'm pretty sure the first reason is more accurate.

>>3232256

>implying grammar can't be art

Better question: why can't autists into novelty?

>>3232235

This post is retarded, you are retarded.

Those who trouble over the lack of punctuation are endlessly vapid.


I got used to McCarthy's method instantly and have since read all his books (save Outer Dark).

If you don't like the Road for this, you'll hate his other works.

>>3232211
tbh mccarthy utilizes a lot of these "tricks" in his works to define a place in the readers mind. he tries to position himself as an origin (primal prose, absolutes, pentateuchal style, dismissing of human values ect) by which there is no base for comparison because if you really look at his work you'll find them shallow and lacking any true meaning. if you havent finished Blood Meridian or Sunset Limited you wont get a full grasp of it but pay attention to what he says in his works and really consider whether or not he brings up any valid points about the nature of death and meaning (these are really the core points of mccarthy "philosophy"). once youre out of the spell of his authority you'll find his works vapid really rather dismissable unless you're simply looking to be entertained and brought into a sense of childlike awe at the emptiness of meaning. i started a lot of serious reading with mccarthy and having grown out in lit i now see how shallow the work is.
modern nihilistic lit ... take it as you please

>>3232416

Blood Meridian is unironically brilliant. Vapidity is a fool's errand - a work's complexity or depth is hardly the locus of interest.

>>3232424
the prose are quite good i agree (Comanche attack, the atavistic egg, wry and grinning tradesmen) but next to that theres really no substantial questions answered. mccarthy "philosophy is a bad joke and his works are largely satire. reread the beginning of BM where he speaks about the father of the kid.

>>3232235

why? Was I supposed to save and post the image with the coolest file name?

>>3232416

I'm not searching for any deep meaning or themes. I just don't get why he punctuates some words and not others.

>>3232438

What is interesting about pretending to have answers to unanswerable questions?

The artistic experience isn't focused on philosophical intrigue, either.

>>3232440
>why cant into punctuation
it fits his more primal narritives and makes it seem like the origin of things. he actually does an interesting job blending the characters with the world in a (its been said) pagan way as to disregard any for of outside perspective. thats the "trick"
>>3232446
it is when youre claiming truths as mccarthy does. if you want an artistic experience read it till youre tired of it

>>3232459
narrative yah yah i know

>>So I'm reading pic related and I'm wondering what's the deal with the lack of punctuation

Phony "style," which means general laziness in an already-unoriginal novel.

I thought The Road was a good read. Depressing as all Hell but worth it in the end.

>>3232477

Does it work out better than No Country? The last two chapters of that were abysmal

>>3232477
>>3232501
the ending prose made The Road for me. still one of my favorite endings in a book

>>3232438
I've found that great art doesn't answer the questions, but frames the argument. It's not simply nihilism. The Judge dominates the entire book, but the epilogue provides the counter-argument.

The passage on Glanton as he watches the campfire near the end provides what I think is still the best answer the determinism/free-will question.

But even if you're right, the emptiness is sort of the point, too. "Your heart's desire is to be told some mystery. The mystery is that there is no mystery."

>>3232523

I agree. I rather fought to get through a lot of it, simply out of this heavy inertia that the dismal nature of the prose lends to it. But then the end came around, and everything tightened up and grew clearer and holy shit that ending. I like to swooned, one of the more moving things I've ever read.

I read The Road in one sitting. Loved it.

Too many pseudo-intellects in this thread over analyzing. But don't worry guys, you'll make for good English teachers.

I thought it was just meant to emphasize the bareness of the setting. The earth is bare. And the man and his son are absolute minimalists.

>>3232438
"no substantial questions answered"
What questions did you have?

>go on /lit/ for first time
>first thread I see is book I just finished reading
He doesn't use proper punctuation because it's supposed to give the book a desperate feel, as if there's no time for punctuation. As far as the book itself goes, I hated it. The plot was fucking retarded, and the dialogue was beyond repetitive, not to mention all the shit about the lack of punctuation.

Grade A faggotry indeed

>>3233478

Scathing commentary. You're just what the academy needs. A bold, fresh, provocative snowflake with oodles of original thoughts and a depth of approach that rivals the Mariana. They'll remember you, cowboy, because you were the one: the solitary flagstaff beating naked against the wind. They'd never get a hold of you. Be damned if they did. The snowflake presses on - through sleet, through dew, through fire - he alone divorces farce from clarity: the rawness of the never-vacant thought. He's doused in it. Drowsed in it. A vanguard, the watershed, the cleaving of the native veil: The Thinker, yes. That's what they'll call him.

>>3233486
hey, gotta start somewhere.

>>3232416
>having grown out in lit i now see how shallow the work is.

McCarthy is loledgy crap for people who didn't read Robert E. Howard as kids.

Disregard McCarthy and move on to better books.

>>3233537

Blood Meridian is a brilliant work and will very possibly be remembered for quite some time, regardless of what you think of it. It's easy to write him off for his popularity, but I'd count it a damn shame to do so. Still, you're free to do as ya do

>>3233571
>Blood Meridian is a brilliant work and will very possibly be remembered for quite some time

It's overrated. Like I said, people rave about it because they haven't been exposed to a wide variety of literature and philosophy.

>>3233615

I don't give a single shit about whether or not it's overrated or raved on incessantly - the quality of the text is apparent with a close read and an openness to an erotics of artistic experience. You don't have to agree with me, but I'd love to hear you say with clarity why you don't. What has a wide exposure to literature and philosophy done to your taste? Do you ignore works that are seemingly 'entry-level' or more easily accessible due to their nature as such? Or do you simply find that McCarthy is an example of hype over nothing? A cultural, academic phenomenon? Is there really nothing there, or is this just an assumption of yours?

>>3233486
Damn that was a witty reply. Bravo anon (not being sarcastic)

These threads keep happening for some reason.

>No quotation marks, wtf
>Book without proper punctuation? LOL WAT?

It's like these people have never picked up any works of modernism or post modernism...

Those criticizing his writing would do well to remember he has talent, and they don't.

>>3233671
It's a kind of trolling, and if it isn't an explicit trolling attempt, it should be

Same shit happens in /tv/

LOL I DON'T GET THE END SOMEONE SPLAIN

DERP WHY DIS TOTALLY REASONABLE SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF HAPPUN I CANT BELEAVE IT

The pseudo-intellectualism is strong in this one.
>>3232438
>>3232416

>>3233684
No, they would do well to remember that he is better than them because he has dedication and patience, and they don't.

Ghostface Killah is 42 years old.

>>3233709

CATCH THE BLAST OF A HYPE VERSE

OP, if you had any semblance of being able to understand the majesty that is The Road, you would understand the duplicitous reason for the lack of punctuation.

For starters, the Man and the Boy have to journey as lightly as possible, like nomads. The narration, the book, is a journey in itself, and it carries the bare bone essentials for conveying the story to you, therefore, lack of frilly punctuation is sacrificed because it isn't "absolutely" essential for the narrative to survive.

The is a great deal more to say about it, but do your own homework.

>>3234515

don't be such a stupid cunt. All his books are written the same way. OP was just asking a simple question.

also, McCarthy blows. Arrogant spunk bubble

>>3234515
I love the book but that's just bullshit.

>>3233696

couldn't agree more.

"I started a lot of serious reading with mccarthy.."

>mfw

>>3234515

oh, it's this guy.
how's working at denny's?

>>3233486
I like you.

>>3234519
so edgy though.

>>3233415

>too many pseudo-intellects

/lit/ in a nutshell.

ITT: People who think they know the first thing about McCarthy

I've read all of his books. As well as Samuel Chamberlain's My Confession. Have you?