Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian

[redjako]

He has the stature, the acting skills. They would just have to wax all of his hair off.

Did anyone else get the feeling that actions are just actions and could happen a million different ways or not at all and it still be an action? I just connected with the idea that everything could happen all at once, or nothing at all. But both are still things. Maybe there isn't a true reason or pattern for things when they happen, even if the "happening" is bad, or good. It just is. I get a heavy feeling of this every time I read this book. The feeling to just accept the things that happen, and it's ok to do things, even if you know you are doing it wrong the first time. It really relaxes my over analyzing and thinking about everything thats happening around me and encourages me to just go for it.

This is what I mostly took from the book, hence my earlier post cluttering up the thread on why the violence is so perfunctory. It just HAPPENS.

 

[new_mexico1]

Lol, wait. How did you see the ending? You saw the kid enter into full violence or exit violence? Or just exit the story?

 

[new_mexico1]

Im gonna read this

Do it up. It's a novel that can be dumped halfway through or hit you extremely hard and become one of your favorite books. Maybe even keep you up at night. It's crazy how there can be such a big difference in people's view of it.

One of my favorite books of all time and the inspiration for my username

Lol.

 

[redjako]

Lol, wait. How did you see the ending? You saw the kid enter into full violence or exit violence? Or just exit the story?

The last two. Yeh, should be confusing

 

[Toda Hiro-matsu]

Ugh. I feel so dumb after reading that book. Very difficult to grasp all the finer points. Still loved it. Absolutely amazing.

Why though, did the judge become adversarial at the well in the desert after they all met up after the Yuma attack? He seemingly goes from being on their side to trying to kill them as soon as Glanton dies.

 

[new_mexico1]

Ugh. I feel so dumb after reading that book. Very difficult to grasp all the finer points. Still loved it. Absolutely amazing.

Why though, did the judge become adversarial at the well in the desert after they all met up after the Yuma attack? He seemingly goes from being on their side to trying to kill them as soon as Glanton dies.

That's cool that you liked it after finishing.

He was trying to get stuff for himself while making them indebted to him by keeping them alive. He politely bulldogged Toadvine out of his hat which he didn't really want to give up and was gonna try to do the same to the kid.

 

[Toda Hiro-matsu]

That's cool that you liked it after finishing.

He was trying to get stuff for himself while making them indebted to him by keeping them alive. He politely bulldogged Toadvine out of his hat which he didn't really want to give up and was gonna try to do the same to the kid.

But why did he start shooting at the kid and the ex priest when he caught up to them at the creek. He tried to snipe them from afar.

I now understand why initially he wanted their stuff, but it seems like he was also intending to kill them regardless.

I realize he's a psychopath but why the dramatic switch from companion to enemy? I might just be missing a subtle nuance or two... Is it just that once the group was more or less wiped out, all bets were off? That's as close as my speculation can get, so far.

 

[new_mexico1]

But why did he start shooting at the kid and the ex priest when he caught up to them at the creek. He tried to snipe them from afar.

I now understand why initially he wanted their stuff, but it seems like he was also intending to kill them regardless.

I realize he's a psychopath but why the dramatic switch from companion to enemy? I might just be missing a subtle nuance or two... Is it just that once the group was more or less wiped out, all bets were off? That's as close as my speculation can get, so far.

I think some of this is about interpretation. The kid defied him and ran from him after Tobin wanted the kid to kill him. I think the whole need for it was because he recognized that humanity in the kid that he mentioned earlier. He called him mutinous and flawed for it. Like I posted in the other posts about how I saw the ending as metaphorical. I think the judge was just going for the kid to get that last bit of humanity. To finally overtake the kid and have him go fully to violence and evil. How were the kid and the judge these amazing shots, yet missing the crap out of each other? The kid couldn't kill the judge and the judge didn't want to kill the kid.

It seems this interpretation might be in the minority and most think the judge wanted him dead and the kid died in the end. . But if that's the case it just kinda does't make sense. If it was just about killing the Kid, the Judge could have done it probably a couple of times and would have continued to pursue him and Tobin during their chase. I think there were even some "sure things" in there that the judge kinda passed up on. The judge did say that about the kid as well.

And why not show the end after all the brutal violence? How could have this been so much worse than what was in the book already? That's also why don't buy the rape. Some make the claim that that was the most unspeakable thing during that time. So the book used that as some ultimate horror. But why show the Comanches raping dying U.S. soldiers and not now? I just see the literal ending making little sense while the metaphorical one making a lot.

 

[drowningidiot]

One interesting interpretation I've read about the ending is that kid has been corrupted and swallowed up and that culminates with him and the judge murdering the missing girl from the saloon. After her dancing bear gets shot there's mention of people searching for her. So when people are looking into the jakes in horror it's her they're seeing.

It kind of makes sense to me because that would be a lot more horrible than the kid dead with a broomstick up his ass or something. I think it would fit perfectly to how the onlookers react at the end. There's so much brutality throughout the book that one final vicious act by the judge against the kid just isn't going to add much. It's not really going to top all the stuff that's already happened.

The judge is too purposeful for it to be simply about killing or defiling the kid in the most terrible manner possible. I think it's more about him completely enveloping and corrupting him.

 

[punkmother]

Got about 1/3 into it and gave up- seemed like it was trying too hard. Every line seemed too analogous to the point of me rolling my eyes...

I know that the old authors like Melville and Cooper used very analogous language, but it just fits them so much more being that they were writers from an era that you would expect that from.

yeah, it is a bit of a step up from the archie comics you are used to.

 

[Toda Hiro-matsu]

I think some of this is about interpretation. The kid defied him and ran from him after Tobin wanted the kid to kill him. I think the whole need for it was because he recognized that humanity in the kid that he mentioned earlier. He called him mutinous and flawed for it. Like I posted in the other posts about how I saw the ending as metaphorical. I think the judge was just going for the kid to get that last bit of humanity. To finally overtake the kid and have him go fully to violence and evil. How were the kid and the judge these amazing shots, yet missing the crap out of each other? The kid couldn't kill the judge and the judge didn't want to kill the kid.

It seems this interpretation might be in the minority and most think the judge wanted him dead and the kid died in the end. . But if that's the case it just kinda does't make sense. If it was just about killing the Kid, the Judge could have done it probably a couple of times and would have continued to pursue him and Tobin during their chase. I think there were even some "sure things" in there that the judge kinda passed up on. The judge did say that about the kid as well.

And why not show the end after all the brutal violence? How could have this been so much worse than what was in the book already? That's also why don't buy the rape. Some make the claim that that was the most unspeakable thing during that time. So the book used that as some ultimate horror. But why show the Comanches raping dying U.S. soldiers and not now? I just see the literal ending making little sense while the metaphorical one making a lot.

Great. Thanks a lot. I'm really bad at interpreting anything metaphorical from literature so this helps.

 

[new_mexico1]

Great. Thanks a lot. I'm really bad at interpreting anything metaphorical from literature so this helps.

Well, it's how I saw it at least. Other people might give you different answers on the entire novel.

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

I own it, as well as All the Pretty Horses, so I'll get around to it eventually. I've already read No Country, which I thought was pretty good, and The Road, which was alright but undeserving of the hype. I read his play The Sunset Limited which was the most pretentious hunk of shit that I've ever read. Shallow and heavy-handed all wrapped into one succinct turd. I read a lot (25k pages last year, 11k so far this year), so I like to think it's not just that I'm not much of a reader and don't "get it."

And I've read Pound and Eliot, Madmick. Haha...

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

I just started reading Blood Meridian last night, and I'm about 60 pages in at the moment. I'm waiting for the part where this becomes a candidate for greatest novel of the 20th century, or "worthy of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick," as Harold Bloom seems to think. Because right now, I'm not chomping at the bit when I think of picking this one up. It doesn't repulse me due to the violence, it just bores me. The writing isn't very good, either. Maybe it's just taking me a while to get drawn in...

BTW, this is certainly not the first thing of McCarthy's I've read. In the past I've read No Country for Old Men, The Road, and The Sunset Limited. That's also the order of enjoyment, decreasing from left to right.

 

[EleazarI**]

here a good candidate for the role of the judge

 

[Zankou]

Breaking news on Cormac:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/cormac-mccarthy-flaunts-sexy-new-beach-body,32449/

 

[HOLA]

I just started reading Blood Meridian last night, and I'm about 60 pages in at the moment. I'm waiting for the part where this becomes a candidate for greatest novel of the 20th century, or "worthy of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick," as Harold Bloom seems to think. Because right now, I'm not chomping at the bit when I think of picking this one up. It doesn't repulse me due to the violence, it just bores me. The writing isn't very good, either. Maybe it's just taking me a while to get drawn in...

BTW, this is certainly not the first thing of McCarthy's I've read. In the past I've read No Country for Old Men, The Road, and The Sunset Limited. That's also the order of enjoyment, decreasing from left to right.

You have more fortitude than I. I couldn't get past page 50. I did finish The Road, though.

Would have made a decent short story if the editors removed 250 pages of repetitive descriptions of ash. Also little things like apostrophes and quotations would have helped a bit. And if the characters weren't so stupid. Ahh fuck it that book sucked.

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

You have more fortitude than I. I couldn't get past page 50. I did finish The Road, though.

Would have made a decent short story if the editors removed 250 pages of repetitive descriptions of ash. Also little things like apostrophes and quotations would have helped a bit. And if the characters weren't so stupid. Ahh fuck it that book sucked.

I'm starting to agree with you. I'm 120 pages in, and it hasn't gotten any better for me. Sometimes he'll craft a really beautiful sentence, but more often than not, they are just bombastic monstrosities. I don't see the comparison with Melville at all, unless you consider having a large vocabulary (even then, McCarthy has nowhere near the lexicon of Melville) the defining feature of Melville's oeuvre.

Of course, every writer pens a stinker. For me, Mardi was the worst thing of Melville's I've read yet. Incredibly bloated and overwritten. Maybe Blood Meridian is McCarthy's Mardi...:icon_surp

 

[Camus123]

I'm starting to agree with you. I'm 120 pages in, and it hasn't gotten any better for me. Sometimes he'll craft a really beautiful sentence, but more often than not, they are just bombastic monstrosities. I don't see the comparison with Melville at all, unless you consider having a large vocabulary (even then, McCarthy has nowhere near the lexicon of Melville) the defining feature of Melville's oeuvre.

Of course, every writer pens a stinker. For me, Mardi was the worst thing of Melville's I've read yet. Incredibly bloated and overwritten. Maybe Blood Meridian is McCarthy's Mardi...:icon_surp

To each their own. There are classics I struggle to see the greatness of. I for one found Blood Meridian to possess some of the finest prose ever penned in the English language.

 

[Ricky Spanish]

I'm starting to agree with you. I'm 120 pages in, and it hasn't gotten any better for me. Sometimes he'll craft a really beautiful sentence, but more often than not, they are just bombastic monstrosities. I don't see the comparison with Melville at all, unless you consider having a large vocabulary (even then, McCarthy has nowhere near the lexicon of Melville) the defining feature of Melville's oeuvre.

Of course, every writer pens a stinker. For me, Mardi was the worst thing of Melville's I've read yet. Incredibly bloated and overwritten. Maybe Blood Meridian is McCarthy's Mardi...:icon_surp

maybe you should read something by Danielle Steel or Grisham