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/lit/ - Literature

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5261291 No.5261291[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

I'm currently reading "Blood Meridian" and just read the Comanche scene. Pretty cool so far, I think, but is it worth reading on?
Also, what's with the fragmented b.s. in the beginning of each chapter?

>> No.5261318

> Pretty cool so far, I think, but is it worth reading on?

Yes.

>Also, what's with the fragmented b.s. in the beginning of each chapter?

It's Cormac McCarthy

>> No.5261324

>>5261318
I read "The Road" and it didn't do that, though. Was this a style he carried on into his other work, or just an experimental phase?

>> No.5261350

>>5261324
The Road is very sparse. That's typically not his style. Blood Meridian is lyrical and grandiose.

>> No.5261366

>>5261350
I think I'll continue "Blood Meridian". Any other works of his which stand out for you?

>> No.5261396
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5261396

>>5261291
>Also, what's with the fragmented b.s. in the beginning of each chapter?
you're fucking retarded

>> No.5261409

>>5261366
Suttree maintains the same style as Blood Meridian, and is just as good imo. Very different though. It's a portrait of miscreants and degenerates in Tennessee, but there's a gentle undercurrent of melancholy to it that I haven't found in any of his other works, except maybe Child of God. It's a very personal work, and you can feel it.

The Crossing is my other favorite of his. It's an absolutely devastating book. Beautiful and tragic.

>> No.5261432

>>5261409
Thanks, I'll be sure to add those to the queue.

>> No.5261455

Why would you decide partway through that you like a book and then ask a bunch of strangers on the internet to give you the "thumbs up" to finish it?

Just fucking read the book.

>> No.5261473

>>5261455
Why would you reply, especially when you've wholly added nothing to the conversation?
Just shut your fucking mouth and resume being the pitiable piece of shit you are.

>> No.5261475

>>5261291

>Pretty cool so far, I think, but is it worth reading on?

This ain't War and Peace, just finish it and find out.

yes

>> No.5261479

>>5261475
Thanks, I had a little trouble in the beginning, as it fought to pick up momentum. Now that the pace is picking up again, it's getting interesting.

>> No.5261483

>>5261479
It'll get boring again. But if you stick with it till the end, you will be rewarded.

>> No.5261541

>>5261479
It's a slow burner until they get to a ferry. Then the pace doesn't let up.

I'm going chronologically through his books and he is so fucking good.

>> No.5261570
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5261570

>>5261541
His writing is pretty awesome, I have to say.
For me, "The Road" went through a rollercoaster of boring and thrilling parts as well. But even after I shut the cover, I wanted to recommend McCarthy to as many friends as possible solely due to his tight prose and colorful descriptions.

>> No.5261578

>>5261570
I read Outer Dark and Child of God in one day. I just couldn't stop. His dialogue is amazing. I'm English but whenever I read his dialogue it's impossible not to feel a part of a conversation.

>> No.5261596

>>5261578
I see those as sister novels.

Outer Dark was kind of puzzling, but I really enjoyed it. Child of God was great too.

>> No.5261597

>>5261578
Exactly -- his writing is...immersive. Seldom have I come across a story which can pull me from reality and saturate me in an atmosphere like McCarthy's bleak landscapes.

>> No.5261634

>>5261291
Who the fuck pauses in the midst of a book they're enjoying (and one as well regarded as Blood Meridian no less) to wonder if he should continue?

>I like this but maybe I should arbitrarily stop doing it

This thread quite frankly made me pretty angry.

>> No.5261638

>>5261634
Scroll up a bit and you'll understand why I held my doubts.
McCarthy doesn't promise a page-turner, his writing has its ups and downs. The reason why I asked was to see if it'd be worth it until the end.

>> No.5261642

>>5261479
>as it fought to pick up momentum
The scene where the judge stirs the crowd's wrath upon the reverend happens literally on page 3. Then there's the hotel arson and all that. It hits the ground running.

>> No.5261650

>>5261638
But what are you going to find out in this thread that stacks up against the general consensus that it's one of the best novels of the last half century? Why would you privilege the opinion of a couple assholes on /lit/ above the novel's well cemented reputation?

>> No.5261676 [DELETED] 

>>5261650
Because I (generally) respect the opinions of others and try to keep an open mind. Good or bad, I want to hear what people have to say. Not everything is DYI (in respects to thinking/decision-making); most times, I prefer counsel, whether it be through the collective opinions of my friends or those of strangers.
As cynical as most have become nowadays, especially in the States, I'd rather maintain open discussion and form my own, final opinions in remembrance of others'.
>tl;dr imho, it's all an experience to me. That's just how I do things.

>> No.5261695

>>5261650
Because I (generally) respect the opinions of others and try to keep an open mind. Good or bad, I want to hear what people have to say. Not everything is DIY (in respects to thinking/decision-making); most times, I prefer counsel, whether it be through the collective opinions of my friends or those of strangers.
As cynical as most have become nowadays, especially in the States, I'd rather maintain open discussion and form my own, final opinions in remembrance of others'.
>tl;dr imho, it's all an experience to me. That's just how I do things.

>> No.5261696

>>5261676
I'm glad you deleted this post because it clearly doesn't address what I was fucking asking.

>> No.5261703

>>5261695
...But then you posted it again.

Obviously if you respected the opinion of others, you wouldn't be wondering if Blood Meridian was worth your time.

>> No.5261714

>>5261703
In what sense? Do I have to side with everyone in order to respect the opinions of others? Or is it better to keep an open mind and see what others have to say?
If most lean towards "Don't read it; it's slow," then I'll be inclined not to read beyond a few chapters.
If most lean in the opposite direction, advising me that it will in fact pick up, then I'll be more inclined to stick with it.

>> No.5261738

>>5261714
>Or is it better to keep an open mind and see what others have to say?
Sure. And the vast majority of people who have read Blood Meridian think it's worthwhile. If you are going to privilege the opinion of a handful of respondents in this thread above the thread's reputation, that's silly.

>If most lean in the opposite direction

They do, and you already knew that before you started the thread, and if everybody itt said otherwise it wouldn't change that.

>> No.5261781

>>5261738
Tbh, I didn't know "Blood Meridian" was that favored. Reading, as far as recreationally, is relatively new to me. I'm in my mid-twenties, and only started reading for fun after I'd graduated high school.
I guess I don't frequent /lit/ as often as I should?/like?, but I learned more about Cormac McCarthy in this one thread than I would've had I not made it. I know which books to queue up, and I have a better understanding of the direction of "Blood Meridian" thanks to the opinions of a few anons.

>> No.5261820

Nobody is gonna remember this book. Christ, nobody but critics and entry level lit-snob wannabes know about this book today.

And do you want to know why? It's because it's a shitty book. It fails on every possible level a book can fail on. The plot is weak. The characters are wooden. The subtext is something that sounds like it billowed out of a college kid's bong. The hilariously ostentatious prose. Litcritics love it because it 'evokes' past literature, and they get to sound really smart referencing Paradise Lost and Moby Dick.

Meanwhile, people who judge literature objectively know what a turd smells like.

>> No.5261851

>>5261820

I can't argue the first part, as I've little in the ways of referential material in which to compare.

However...
>It's because it's a shitty book. It fails on every possible level a book can fail on. The plot is weak. The characters are wooden...
-Comparing that to "The Road," it seems pretty apt. However, I'd argue plot and characters (as odd as this is about to sound) wasn't McCarthy's prime objective. I feel atmosphere was his strong hand.

>The subtext is something that sounds like it billowed out of a college kid's bong. The hilariously ostentatious prose...
I'd have to disagree on this point, but, then again, I could have little evidence to compare and contrast. As far as it goes, I think McCarthy is a great writer, esp. with his prose.
Do you have a better alternative? And no, I'm not coating this question with sarcasm -- it's a legitimate inquiry.

>> No.5261915

>>5261851

Take your pick. Any writer is better than McCarthy. And his prose isn't good. It's meant to impress empty-headed people who just like to read pretty words and not think about what they're reading. It's a masturbatory, weak shadow of literary prose. He doesn't use it to highlight any important moments or ideas, because his books don't have any important moments or ideas. He uses it to drive the narrative. It's pure self indulgence, it has zero value to an objectively critical reader. It's a novel, not a poem.

>> No.5261932

>>5261915
It may seem masturbatory due to the fact that he doesn't place emphasis on plot or characters, though. You don't enjoy the atmosphere?

>> No.5261962

>Pretty cool so far, I think, but is it worth reading on?

You stopped reading a book you like to ask if you should keep reading the book you like?

>> No.5261966

>>5261915
>It's meant to impress empty-headed people who just like to read pretty words and not think about what they're reading.
You're saying this like pretty words are inherently bad. Cormac paints a picture with them, this ties into the epic look he's going for.

>He doesn't use it to highlight any important moments or ideas
Do you need things spelled out for you? Listen to any of Holden's campfire monologues if so.

>> No.5261980

>>5261932

It was okay, but it takes much more than that to keep my mind happy, and even more to give a book the reputation this one does.

>> No.5262002

>>5261966

I did, thus the 'subtext that billowed out from a college student's bong' comment.

>> No.5262014

>>5261980
What're some books that you think deserve the respect "Blood Meridian" has earned?

>> No.5262023

I think OP is under 18 year old.

>> No.5262030

>>5261291
>Pretty cool so far, I think, but is it worth reading on?

No, it's not. Do NOT finish it.

/thread

>> No.5262032

>>5262023
I would agree.

>> No.5262046

>>5261820
naw tho, it's a pretty powerful book

>> No.5262144

>>5262014

Catch 22, 1984, Farewell to Arms, Grapes of Wrath... all I can think of at the moment. There are probably other books that deserve it, too, that I just didn't read because I simply didn't like them. I read for pleasure as well as for literary appreciation, which is why I'm disgusted by McCarthy's books. They're made with this misguided disdain of entertaining the audience. You could write the wisest fucking book ever (an achievement beyond McCarthy judging from his most popularly mentioned works) and it should still rightfully be shunned as worthless Literature if nobody is gonna read it beyond a bunch of really opinionated book nerds. I understand if you're a violence fetishist or something, I guess, I don't know. I also see it this way; If the Author doesn't understand enough about the audience to entertain them, how is he going to understand them enough to say anything relevant to them? Maybe if your bar for Literature is really low you could be happy with a book like Blood Meridian, but some of us just want something more to sink our teeth into than a banal exploration of humanity's dark side set to over described violence, landscape masturbation, and the most unnatural sounding dialogue ever seen in the history of the novel.

I can think of a million other books that are more worth your time, too. Never mind part of the American canon, as a tiny minority of these jerk-off Professors and pop critics want.

>> No.5262165

>>5261820
>5

#rekt

You're right, though. And McCarthy's inability to use a comma gives me aneurysms.

>> No.5262170

>>5262144
i was entertained by blood meridian. i was moved by it too. why do you think this is impossible, and that i only like the book to feel smart?

>> No.5262198

>>5262165
There is nothing of substance in that post. Baseless attacks against its status and cliche critiques about lack of plot and character.

>> No.5262206

>>5262165
>McCarthy's inability to use a comma gives me aneurysms
jesus fucking christ plebs sometimes dude

>> No.5262228

>>5262023
Scroll up, bud.

>> No.5262230

>>5262170

Well, tell us what you liked about it. I'm more raging against the fact that it's so well regarded than the idea that anyone could like it. I'm okay with people really liking books I don't like. I can admit I'm being a bit of a snob myself at the moment, but I'm passionate about Literature and I think it's being held down and raped by popular literary critics. I would talk about American Psycho as a part of American literary canon before I talked about this book anywhere near a canon that it isn't being shot out, preferably into a vat of pig shit and Jonny Franzen novels. I think the American novel is in the toilet right now. Young American men and women would rather write for the screen imo. The Coen brothers would probably have been brilliant novelists.

>> No.5262242

>>5262230
And yet the Coen Bro's best films is a word for word adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel.

>> No.5262243

>>5262198

If a criticism against a book is so universal that it's become cliche, maybe it's because it's 100% completely right. This book has no plot or characters, even the people who like it will admit this. Holden is embarrassing, he's like a comic book villain. The Kid is a tofu square.

>> No.5262262

>>5262243
this child is serious

>> No.5262282

>>5261291
>Also, what's with the fragmented b.s. in the beginning of each chapter?

Apparently that's how chapters in books started in the time Blood Meridian takes place, McCarthy copies the form that novels back then took

>> No.5262287

>>5262242

>best film

No. The movie was mediocre outside of any scenes involving Javier Bardem. It had one of McCarthy's shallow psychopath characters paired with the perfect actor, so it was memorable. And the coin flipping scene was a really transparent literary ploy, which is exactly why I think The Old Man and the Sea is obvious, entry level Literary shit. I mean it wasn't terrible but it didn't impress me much. I wouldn't watch the movie a second time. It was also my first McCarthy novel, and I was left with this overwhelming feeling after reading it that it was a thoroughly okay book.

Fargo and Lebowski had richly rendered characters and at least a plot to even speak of, two things I think we should all agree on as aesthetic prerequisites for writing. If they were novels they would probably be dismissed as genre crap in Fargo's case or 'not serious' in Lebowski's case. Because apparently laughter and comedy isn't a part of the human equation.

>> No.5262288

>>5262198

lel, if the critiques are so invalid, why don't you refute them? Should be easy, Uncle Pat.

>>5262206

If you don't understand prosal flow, don't try to defend McCarthy.

>and
>and
>and
>and
>and

Old guy needs to put away his thesaurus and read some poetry.

>> No.5262291

>>5262282
why the "apparently"? does /lit/ not read books from the 19th century? It was in huck finn for fuck's sake. "Fragmented" what the fuck. Its a fucking summary. People are so stupid

>> No.5262297

>>5262288
That hack Hemingway did that, too! And that Steinbeck! God, what has literature become?

>> No.5262300

>>5262287
you sound like a major pain in the ass

also
>millers crossing
>a serious man
>barton fink

>> No.5262309

>>5262288
are you trolling or just a teenager?
>prosal flow
>this is my narrow conception of what
literature should be and blood meridian
doesnt meet it therefore it's bad I mean like I didn't even car about the kid lol

>> No.5262318

>>5262288
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysyndeton
You fucking retard.

>> No.5262319

>>5262291
>reading books written by people who are now dead

How disrespectful

>> No.5262320

>>5262288
you can't invalidate someone just saying "x is bad"

here: hamlet is a shitty character.

even though that's obviously false try to prove me wrong

>> No.5262326

>>5262297

But those two authors had other things going for their work, so that we're willing to tolerate the self indulgent overuse of the word 'and' every now and then. They aren't authors that stand entirely on prose like McCarthy tries to.

>> No.5262327

>>5262297

Hemingway, yes; don't care for Hemingway, dry as a desert -- Steinbeck, not as much -- and neither as much as McCarthy.

>> No.5262339

>>5262327
excellent sentence construction

>> No.5262362

>>5262326
dude youre just parroting that shit article complaining about prose in literary fiction today. when really mccarthy's prose is superb. why get get butthurt about asyndeton? the man channels fucking milton, melville, the old testament, faulkner, without coming off as contrived or affected. how can you be mad at idiosyncratic prose when its that fucking good?

>> No.5262364

>>>5262318

Any device used in excess becomes obnoxious. For example, try to imagine a story written with overbearing alliteration; e.g. the snake slithered steathily so silly sapiens couldn't see it. Imagine that for three paragraphs straight, then replace alliteration with polysyndeton, and you'll understand why McCarthy drives me up the wall.

>> No.5262369

>>5262320

Ok, you want me to really analyze why they're bad characters?

The Kid is a protagonist with no defining characteristics. We can't see ourselves in him, nor can we see other kinds of people who might be different from us. We see nobody. He's a shallow literary prop.

Same goes for Holden, a seven foot tall man with no eyebrows. He's a prop, not a man. Everything he does is part of some lightweight literary statement McCarthy's trying to throw at us. It's insulting to think we need to be so nakedly spoon-fed.

They're inhuman charactures. Novels and writing are part of an academic discipline called THE HUMANITIES, for crying out loud. How many different ways do I have to look at it before you admit the characters are just plain bad?

>> No.5262373

>>5262364
I think this boils down to you having limitited tastes

>> No.5262380

>>5262369
>he doesn't realize the anonymity is intentional

>> No.5262388

>>5262369
how can you think that judge holden has no defining characteristics. holden is a great character

>> No.5262393

>>5262362

>without coming off as contrived or affected

No. 'Channeling' is contrived and affected by its very nature. It's nostalgia at best, and name dropping at worst, and completely empty-headed no matter how you look at it. How boutcha try something new? You know, like.. creative?

Trying to roll around in the piss of other authors so you can smell like them... who is that supposed to impress?

>> No.5262398

>>5262393
lol, all styles have influences. The point is Mccarthy does make something new. It'sa synthesis, is what I don't think you understand.

>> No.5262399

>>5262373

No, because I admitted it, like any device, can be used to aesthetic effect. The problem comes when it is abused.

That's not having limited taste -- that's having taste, period.

>> No.5262402

>>5262393
It's virtually impossible to be completely unique. Art is imitation. Go ahead, try to write something. A critic will inevitably pop up and say you write like Stephanie Meyer. If you want to go pro about it, go over to the "narramemes" thread for good times.

>> No.5262407

>>5262393
Is this faggot serious? I doubt highly that you've read any of McCarthy's precursors, or you'd know how stupid you sound.

>> No.5262412

>>5262393
but it is new

>Trying to roll around in the piss of other authors so you can smell like them... who is that supposed to impress?
rhetoric like this is why you are so annoying

>> No.5262418

>>5261781
Came back to this thread after several hours and a nap. I see now that I was being irritable and presumptuous. I wish you lucky in your reading endeavors

>> No.5262424

I'm gonna stop posting, I'm trying to keep three different conversations going and I just have other shit I want to do with my day. Goodbye.

>> No.5262425

>>5262399
Youre criticizing a nigh on universally acclaimed book for not having "good characters" and using too much asyndeton. Youre not exactly convincing. Have you considered that you have failed some way in your reading of the book

>> No.5262434

>>5261396
based butterfly, putting plebs in their place

>> No.5262441

>>5262002
I'd love to hear your analysis of the book's subtext and themes and why you find it juvenile (seriously).

>> No.5262443

>>5262424
read it again fuccboi, and ignore that hairbrained article

>> No.5262451

>>5262441
violence is for silly bois

>> No.5262469

>>5262144
I just don't get a post like this at all. I'm fairly pleb when it comes to literature (my favorite novelist is Neal Stephenson) and I found Blood Meridian as entertaining as crack. My pleb girlfriend who would never read something for hipster or elitist cred devoured the book with me.

It's funny, it's devastatingly sad, it's grandiose at times and fanciful at times, it's a pretty good book man. I shed a tear when the kid offered to help the old woman and she turned out to be dead. The judge was every bit as scary and outrageous as his reputation would have you believe. I'm in no position to tell you whether it's a Great American Novel but I don't get why somebody wouldn't at least enjoy it.

>> No.5262479

>>5262425

First, I wasn't the one arguing about the characters, though it's true they're paper-thin.

But yes, I'm criticizing a nigh-on universally acclaimed book -- you seem to be under the impression that renders it off-limits. The majority have been wrong before, and will be again. I don't think a "failed reading" is prerequisite for a divergent opinion.

>> No.5262482

>>5262369
>The Kid is a protagonist with no defining characteristics. We can't see ourselves in him, nor can we see other kinds of people who might be different from us. We see nobody. He's a shallow literary prop.
WRONG WRONG WRONG.

The fact that you are denied access to the kid's character for so much of the book means that the glimpses you DO get into it land with all the more weight.

Minimalism IS a viable approach and you just seem to have no taste for it.

>> No.5262508

>>5262479
I'm only saying you haven't made any thoughtful criticism. You have every right to not like it but you seem confused in your reasoning as to why it's bad.

>> No.5262543

>>5262508

But I have made thoughtful criticism. You've just failed to refute it. Telling me I "have narrow taste" is not an argument.

Nothing about my reasoning was confused. I clearly stated my points of contention.

>> No.5262576

>>5262543
You want me to "refute" your frankly idiotic complaints about the characters?

>> No.5262587

>>5262576
In all fairness (and I strongly disagree with this guy who doesn't like Blood Meridian) it's hypocritical to call him out for having a shallow criticism when your own criticism of the other anon is equally shallow.

>> No.5262600

>>5262576

Again, I wasn't the one talking about the characters.

But yes, calling someone else's argument "idiotic" doesn't mean you've won the debate -- it means you have no coherent argument of your own. (... and if the opposing party's argument is self-evidently stupid, it will be absolutely no trouble to point out why, for the slower minds among us.)

>> No.5262601

>>5262587
Explain.

>> No.5262606

>>5262600
what do you even want dude

>> No.5262613

>>5262601
Anon A: Blood Meridian isn't a substantive book.
Anon B: That's not a substantive criticism.

Neither anon has said anything substantive. Anon B has not won the debate.

>> No.5262617

>>5262606
He presumably wants you to engage with the points that he's made and, if you're going to take the time to state that you disagree with them, offer explanation and evidence and argument in support of your view.

>> No.5262639

>>5262613
Why do you keep framing it as a debate? Its fucking 4chan. Some anon has said Blood Meridian is shit and has no real reason other than it offends his taste. Im not tryin to "win" shit. My fuck. There is no debate. You dont even know what Ive said

>> No.5262651

>>5262617
I already have fuccboi. Why play devil's advocate for an idiot? (Don't reply)

>> No.5262653

>>5262639
Sounds to me like you're trying to pussy out of the fact that you've contributed nothing whatsoever to this thread.

>Its fucking 4chan
And 4chan has numerous other boards that might be more your speed.

>> No.5262673

OP here. I just wanted to discuss "Blood Meridian," not start arguments. Though, seeing as how this is /lit/, that's probably inevitable, as everyone here seems to think they're the epitome of literature and intellect.

>> No.5262677

>>5262653
ok bud

>> No.5262685
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5262685

>>5262673
"Arguments were always here. Before /lit/ was, arguments waited for it. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner."

- Judge Holden

>> No.5262703

>>5262685

/thread

>> No.5262766

>>5262685
I've yet to reach that point. As such, keep the dick-measuring contest to a minimum. Nobody cares who ends up being right -- if anything, it's obnoxious.

>> No.5263017

>>5261932
le atmosphere meme
o back to /v/

>> No.5263020

>>5263017
Cancer

>> No.5263078

I felt very detached while reading Blood Meridian, it never once moved me emotionally. It's like Jazz music, all intricate technical style over substance.

>> No.5263099

>>5263078
maybe you're just emotionally barren...?

>> No.5263105

>>5263078
>It's like Jazz music, all intricate technical style over substance
lol

>> No.5263109
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5263109

>>5263078
>It's like Jazz music
>Jazz music
>It's like Jazz
>style over substance
>Jazz

>> No.5263111

>>5263078
You must not know much about Jazz...

>> No.5263141

>>5263105
>>5263109
>>5263111
That's how I feel when I hear all kinds of Jazz music, it goes in one ear and out the other and never stirs me emotionally.

>> No.5263150

>>5263141
>hear
maybe the problem is you don't listen

>> No.5263163

>>5263150
Yeah. Well my lack of knowledge of jazz still doesn't change the fact that McCarthy deliberately wrote Blood Meridian with unknowable characters and used a remote, detached, matter-of-fact style of narration

>> No.5263172

>>5263141
lol jazz is the opposite of cerebral music (some forms of modernist classical). it's primitive and purely based on emotions, the 'feel' of the players and the motion of swing. it's pretty pleb as shit.

>> No.5263186

>>5263172
a) what about my post suggests jazz is cerebral music

b) you're wrong

>> No.5263187

>>5263172
well I guess I really am an uneducated pleb
funny because contemporary minimalist classical is what I can 'feel' the most when listening to music

>> No.5263192

>>5263163
you're saying the violence didn't disturb you?

>> No.5263195

>>5263163
it sounds like you also have a lack of knowledge of literature ;)

maybe you should read more

>> No.5263196

>>5263172
Oh, lord. Please stop, Dillon the Hacker.

>> No.5263200

>>5263195
Indeed

>> No.5263205

>>5263192
Howard Bloom and I belong to very different generations. I have been immersed in 4chan, ultra-violent fantasy novels,and violent video games since childhood. Of course it didn't disturb me. It wasn't written in a way that would lend itself to be disturbing to the reader anyway, very sterile matter-of-fact third person narration of violence just desensitized me more.

>> No.5263211

>>5263205
>howard bloom
btw the sterility of the description is part of what makes it disturbing

>> No.5263218

>>5263211
Harold Bloom was a pussy who couldn't finish it because the violence made him queasy.

>> No.5263225

>>5263205
It's not the Gore and Blood that are supposed to disturb you, he doesn't describe those for the most part. Is the nature of their acts that is supposed to disturb you. If they don't then you will never understand the book, go ahead and put it down.

>> No.5263230

>>5263205
4chan and vidya did not prepare me for Blood Meridian. Maybe you're somewhat detached by nature

>> No.5263231

>>5263225
I actually plan to reread it in the future because I feel like it was mostly lost on me.

>> No.5263624

Ultra-mega bump.

First time on /lit. Came on here specifically because I just finished "Blood Meridian" and just fucking knew someone on here would be talking about it.

....
This book is going to take me months to come to grips with...

What is crazy is that at about chapter 20ish, I seriously told my gf that "I hate every single one of these characters. Seriously - if someone were to come in and drop an atom bomb on the entire cast of this novel, I would rejoice in their deaths. Every single character in this book deserves to die."

Then the bear got shot in the second to last chapter. I felt more sympathy for this bear than I did for the violence bestowed upon any of the human beings depicted in the book. The poor bear got shot in the guts and it just keeps on dancing, possessed with a singular focus to satisfy it's wretched trainer, despite pain, despite its anguish it just keeps dancing...

...

I dunno. too drunk to comment further, i guess. This book is a fucking riddle.

>> No.5264012

...

>> No.5264146

>>5262144
the troll shows his hand

should've picked less /rebbit/ tier books to list, but they took the bait anyway so congrats

>> No.5264164

>>5262144
this is wrong on so many points. where do i even start.

>> No.5264169

You guys all just got dominated by an alpha nerd, lmao.

>> No.5264170

>>5262287
>mediocre
>Won 4 Oscars. Another 143 wins & 69 nominations.

>> No.5264180

I liked Glanton. Everyone complains that the characters in the book are evil and unlikeable (even though that's obviously intentional), but I still felt some bit of sorrow when Glanton got his fucking head chopped in half, despite the fact that he was a horrible person and very much deserved it

I'm assuming McCarthy wanted me to feel emotionally conflicted in that sense, though

>> No.5264189

I find it funny that people in this thread have criticized Judge Holden as being a 2-dimensional, cartoonishly villainous character considering he was a real person.

>> No.5264228

>>5263624
Please keep posting, I actually never thought about it that way. I felt very empathetic for the cast though, I didn't want anyone to die, despite how despicable they were. I came away from Blood Meridian heart broken at the fact that in the end, it was just bastards versues bastards. Holden, Glanton, and the rest of the gang had no place in the world, but neither did the Indians. I saw both parties as confused outcasts trying to find their way in a world that was never meant for them, and in the Indians case, a world that was taken from them.

>> No.5264243
File: 990 KB, 295x293, 1384640893111.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5264243

>>5261291
james franco is fucking killing mccarthy for me. i don't know what to do. he's everywhere talking about it. it makes me want to die.

>> No.5264291

Heart Of Darkness 2: Wild West Boogaloo

>> No.5264401

>>5264180
>He rode out alone on the desert and sat the horse and he and the horse and the dog looked out across the rolling scrubland and the barren peppercorn hills and the mountains and the flat brush country and running plain beyond where four hundred miles to the east were the wife and child that he would not see again. His shadow grew long before him on the banded wash of sand. He would not follow.
Almost of the characters are tragic villains apart from The Judge.
The Kid was raised by a drunk and left home early, the Delawares were from butchered peoples. Toadvine and Bathcat both have missing ears. Dan Brown leaves his brother behind.