April '13 / Cormac McCarthy Reading: All the Pretty Horses

[Scheherazade]

In April we will be reading All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.

Please share your thoughts and comments in this thread.

[neilgee]

Has anybody started reading yet?

[Paulclem]

I'm going to download it onto my lovely Kindle tonight.

[Snowqueen]

Has anybody started reading yet?

Yes, I’ve started reading the novel. It’s going well so far. The protagonist seems to be a fifteen years old boy, John Grady.
His relationship with his parents is rather cold one, as the beginning of the novel suggests. It looks like there is a lot of depth in his character. Hopefully it will become more interesting with the development of the plot.
I haven’t read much because I’ve been busy lately.

[neilgee]

I'm up to page 66 of my copy, did read it a couple of years ago but I've forgotten so much of the detail (esp here at the beginning) that it feels as though I'm reading it for the first time.

What strikes me on second reading is the sense of danger that always seems to be prevalent in McCarthy's novels is here in abundance. As John Grady, Rawlins and Blevins ride through untamed country there's a feeling anything could happen to them at any time.

This is a novel that it takes work to get into, but the effort is worthwhile, I think.

[Paulclem]

Yes, I’ve started reading the novel. It’s going well so far. The protagonist seems to be a fifteen years old boy, John Grady.
His relationship with his parents is rather cold one, as the beginning of the novel suggests. It looks like there is a lot of depth in his character. Hopefully it will become more interesting with the development of the plot.
I haven’t read much because I’ve been busy lately.

I've read about a third of it so far, and I agree. As in No Country for Old Men and Blood Meridian, the country figures large. It is a dangerous place.

I got the sense that they also seemed to travel back in time - they leave the modern Texas with the endless fences and enter Mexico where the villages are little more than they were 100 years before.

[Dark Muse]

I intentionally did not nominate or vote in this one because I did not know if I would have time to fit in the book in, I have been rather busy lately and behind on my reading, but I really have been wanting to read this one, and it is not that long, so I will try and see if I can join in.

[Snowqueen]

I haven’t any other by Cormac McCarthy, it is my first novel. I’m enjoying his prose style. His imagery and description both are wonderful.

Mexico has seemed to provide three men an opportunity of not only to explore a new land, but to discover their own personalities.
I like the character of Blevins, he is a bit strange but funny and now it seems the poor fellow is on the run.

[neilgee]

I haven’t any other by Cormac McCarthy, it is my first novel. I’m enjoying his prose style. His imagery and description both are wonderful.

Mexico has seemed to provide three men an opportunity of not only to explore a new land, but to discover their own personalities.
I like the character of Blevins, he is a bit strange but funny and now it seems the poor fellow is on the run.

I was wondering what you made of Blevins shooting skills. It makes Blevins seem like a superhero type character, which is odd considering what happens later (without giving anything away for those who haven't read that far yet).

The thing is that the guns available at that time are not known for that level of accuracy...



Nice to have you with us, Dark Muse, at least there will be more than just the two of us discussing this one.

[chrisvia]

I'm a little over 200 pages in, and I've already littered my copy with Post-it notes. Once I finish, I'll post the thoughts/contents of those notes.

So far I'm experienecing it like other McCarthy novels: it takes me about 30-40 pages to get into the rhythm and style of his prose, and then I'm off and running (it's like I'm a horse he's breaking in: http://instantrimshot.com/). It's always a slow star with McCarthy, but he forces me to slow down and take in the story and the aesthetics without letting the latter blind me from the former (a common error of mine).

This novel isn't as dark and brooding as some of his others--even in parts where it should be dark and brooding, McCarthy kind of skims over it and keeps a focus on the plight of the human spirit, on hope.

Overall, enjoying it very much and looking forward to reading through the following 2 installments.

[Paulclem]

I was wondering what you made of Blevins shooting skills. It makes Blevins seem like a superhero type character, which is odd considering what happens later (without giving anything away for those who haven't read that far yet).

The thing is that the guns available at that time are not known for that level of accuracy...



Nice to have you with us, Dark Muse, at least there will be more than just the two of us discussing this one.

I felt that the references to the old boys and the journey into Mexico seemed to be taking them back to a simpler time. Blevins is like one of those gunfighters in the cowboy films when he shoots Rawlin's book, but of course that reference is undermined by him being very unlike a gufighter/ cowboy icon. In Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men, I felt Mcarthy was subverting that cowboy image, and there seems to be an element of this here.

[Snowqueen]

I was wondering what you made of Blevins shooting skills. It makes Blevins seem like a superhero type character, which is odd considering what happens later (without giving anything away for those who haven't read that far yet).

The thing is that the guns available at that time are not known for that level of accuracy...



Nice to have you with us, Dark Muse, at least there will be more than just the two of us discussing this one.

I was surprised when Blevins showed off his shooting skills. I was under the impression that he is an outlaw or a cowboy, but his sensitive nature is revealed later on.
As far as Grady and Rawlins are concerned, I think their characters are still developing with the progress of story.

[neilgee]

I felt that the references to the old boys and the journey into Mexico seemed to be taking them back to a simpler time. Blevins is like one of those gunfighters in the cowboy films when he shoots Rawlin's book, but of course that reference is undermined by him being very unlike a gufighter/ cowboy icon. In Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men, I felt Mcarthy was subverting that cowboy image, and there seems to be an element of this here.

It is something the hero of a cowboy film would be expected to do, putting a hole through a dime at twenty paces, it's an iconic image of the Western gunslinger, I think, and considering Blevin's fate McCarthy must be as you say subverting it. He's also adding an element of unrealism for me amongst a realistically described countryside etc, the putting a hole through a dime at 20 paces is to me a Hollywood myth that the inaccuracy of the guns available at the time makes highly unlikely.

The unsophisticated novel reader in me can't help expecting that Blevin's unlikely skill will be utilised in some way now we know he has it, but McCarthy doesn't do conventional plots...(I'll stop there, wary of giving too much away).

[neilgee]

I was surprised when Blevins showed off his shooting skills. I was under the impression that he is an outlaw or a cowboy, but his sensitive nature is revealed later on.
As far as Grady and Rawlins are concerned, I think their characters are still developing with the progress of story.

Rawlins doesn't want Blevins with them at all, he thinks it's an association that will lead to trouble.

[neilgee]

I'm a little over 200 pages in, and I've already littered my copy with Post-it notes. Once I finish, I'll post the thoughts/contents of those notes.

So far I'm experienecing it like other McCarthy novels: it takes me about 30-40 pages to get into the rhythm and style of his prose, and then I'm off and running (it's like I'm a horse he's breaking in: http://instantrimshot.com/). It's always a slow star with McCarthy, but he forces me to slow down and take in the story and the aesthetics without letting the latter blind me from the former (a common error of mine).

This novel isn't as dark and brooding as some of his others--even in parts where it should be dark and brooding, McCarthy kind of skims over it and keeps a focus on the plight of the human spirit, on hope.

Overall, enjoying it very much and looking forward to reading through the following 2 installments.

It's not as grim to read as Blood Meridian and the story moves along quickly but there are still some very dark moments in the novel, don't know if you've reached them yet.