The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I just started this novel today and at first it was hard to get through, but after a bit I'm starting to get more into it.

worst book by McCarthy. In fact it was the first book I read by him and I almost never read another, but an English professor friend kept telling how great he was so then I read the Orchard keeper and fell in love, and then read Blood Meridian which is IMO one of the top 10 American Novels, then a few more. Felt it was based on the book of Isaiah, and that it would've accomplished just as much as a short story, and that its somber and terse tone was simply languid rather than eldritch or bemusing. as for the disaster, 4 theories come to mind- Super Volcano, brontolite, Polar inversion [when the magnetic poles reverse polarity] or nukes; but in my opinion i like to think it was a natural disaster, what with CM's usual take on- to phrase it insipidly- struggle of man and nature

I am sad to say I could not finish it..

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Originally Posted by arrytus

worst book by McCarthy. In fact it was the first book I read by him and I almost never read another, but an English professor friend kept telling how great he was so then I read the Orchard keeper and fell in love, and then read Blood Meridian which is IMO one of the top 10 American Novels, then a few more. Felt it was based on the book of Isaiah, and that it would've accomplished just as much as a short story, and that its somber and terse tone was simply languid rather than eldritch or bemusing. as for the disaster, 4 theories come to mind- Super Volcano, brontolite, Polar inversion [when the magnetic poles reverse polarity] or nukes; but in my opinion i like to think it was a natural disaster, what with CM's usual take on- to phrase it insipidly- struggle of man and nature

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Interesting thought on Blood Meridan. I agree with you, it's one of the top American novels ever. I just wish it wasn't so degrading and had some moments of salvation in it, but it is what it is. I disagree with you on The Road. It's not the "great American novel" but it's a damn good read. :wink5:

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Originally Posted by Virgil

Interesting thought on Blood Meridan. I agree with you, it's one of the top American novels ever. I just wish it wasn't so degrading and had some moments of salvation in it, but it is what it is. I disagree with you on The Road. It's not the "great American novel" but it's a damn good read. :wink5:

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To make it clearer I almost put Blood Meridian down several times just because I found the content so repulsive and overwhelming. But his writing, and perhaps a tacit theory of both sociology and history submerged in the text, as well as the part when he's being chased by the Judge and the Fool through the desert is just amazing writing about terrible things, sort of like- in a very broad juxtaposition- Capote's In Cold Blood.

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Originally Posted by arrytus

To make it clearer I almost put Blood Meridian down several times just because I found the content so repulsive and overwhelming. But his writing, and perhaps a tacit theory of both sociology and history submerged in the text, as well as the part when he's being chased by the Judge and the Fool through the desert is just amazing writing about terrible things, sort of like- in a very broad juxtaposition- Capote's In Cold Blood.

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We had a lengthy discussion of Blood Meridian here:
http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=56406, if you're interested in looking through it.