Cormac McCarthy

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doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
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I am a fan of Cormac McCarthy. His books, at least to me, are about the writing than the story. He writes about episodes in someones life. Not necessarily beginning, middle and end. Just a bit in the middle. But the writing is so beautiful. You can smell the horses and feel the heat coming off the pavement.
 

MadamMack

M e m b e r
Apr 11, 2006
17,958
45,138
UnParked, UnParked U.S.A.
I am a fan of Cormac McCarthy. His books, at least to me, are about the writing than the story. He writes about episodes in someones life. Not necessarily beginning, middle and end. Just a bit in the middle. But the writing is so beautiful. You can smell the horses and feel the heat coming off the pavement.

Exactly . . .on the old board there was a thread about him and I'm glad one was started again.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
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USA
I am a fan of Cormac McCarthy. His books, at least to me, are about the writing than the story. He writes about episodes in someones life. Not necessarily beginning, middle and end. Just a bit in the middle. But the writing is so beautiful. You can smell the horses and feel the heat coming off the pavement.

That's what I meant about him being a good storyteller :) Not a huge fan of his writing style, but I keep reading them because his characters are so interesting.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
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USA
I'm surprised so many people like his writing. Has anyone read or seen the movie The Road.
Read and seen. Mortensen deserved an Oscar nod (at least) for his role--he was AMAZING, and I rarely use that word--but I think the movie was so damned depressing that Oscar voters just couldn't do it. I know I've seen all of it once and tried to watch it again but couldn't. Too, too sad. I could probably read the book again, but not the movie.
 

Walter Oobleck

keeps coming back...or going, and going, and going
Mar 6, 2013
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I've read The Road and Blood Meridian, enjoyed both stories, enjoyed the format of The Road, none of the usual grammatical marks commonly placed around dialogue and this contributed to the bleak atmosphere. You got the man...the boy...nothing fancy...almost Hemingway-esque in the telling. See the child. He is pale and thin. Blood Meridian has that same no-nonsense approach. Reminds me of this painting on display at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming...I believe the depiction is Custer's Last Stand and it is a simple painting a kind of eagle's eye view of the aftermath
bloody genitals draped from pierced mouths splotches of red
on the canvas. Never saw the movies...and I'm thinking I ought to download Suttree to the kindle...read reviews that praised the story...he hasn't had anything out since 2006, The Road? Must be about due, hey?
 
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Demeter

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Apr 23, 2008
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I'm surprised so many people like his writing. Has anyone read or seen the movie The Road.

I haven't read the book but I've seen the movie. Very dark but excellent. (Hmm, the same words could be used to describe dark chocolate. ;-D)

I've read Blood Meridian. Now I'm a fan of horror, Gothic, vampires, you name it, but this book....it was difficult to read at times. All that violence...
 
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Prescott fry

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Oct 8, 2014
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I haven't read the book but I've seen the movie. Very dark but excellent. (Hmm, the same words could be used to describe dark chocolate. ;-D)

I've read Blood Meridian. Now I'm a fan of horror, Gothic, vampires, you name it, but this book....it was difficult to read at times. All that violence...

Haha remember the part when the father and boy discover all the naked people in the cellar of the cannibals. Shoo, very dark indeed. Anyhow, I've heard a lot of good things about blood meridian. What's it bout?
 
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staropeace

Richard Bachman's love child
Nov 28, 2006
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I have this problem with suicidal ideation after reading him lol. I did like The Road...but it left a dreary aftertaste in my mouth. He is not about hope....that is for sure.
 
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Demeter

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Apr 23, 2008
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Haha remember the part when the father and boy discover all the naked people in the cellar of the cannibals. Shoo, very dark indeed. Anyhow, I've heard a lot of good things about blood meridian. What's it bout?

It's about "the kid", an orphan boy, traveling with a pack of outlaws in the Wild West in the 1800s. It has very disturbing acts of cruelty towards people and animals - scalping, rape, murder, mutilation - to the point where I considered just giving up. But the writing is strangely beautiful, partly I think because of lack of commas and quotation marks which somehow don't hinder the story in any way but actually enhance it. Still, I felt depressed when I finished it. This is the kind of book that makes me want to read some silly chick lit just to get that horrible feeling out of my head.
 
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morgan

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Jul 11, 2010
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I'm surprised so many people like his writing. Has anyone read or seen the movie The Road.

The Road movie was very depressing . . .my goodness.


Read and seen. Mortensen deserved an Oscar nod (at least) for his role--he was AMAZING, and I rarely use that word--but I think the movie was so damned depressing that Oscar voters just couldn't do it. I know I've seen all of it once and tried to watch it again but couldn't. Too, too sad. I could probably read the book again, but not the movie.
I have this problem with suicidal ideation after reading him lol. I did like The Road...but it left a dreary aftertaste in my mouth. He is not about hope....that is for sure.
The Road is the most depressing movie I've ever seen. Left me with an unshakable and overwhelming feeling of despair...:(
 

Bryan James

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Apr 3, 2009
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The Road is excellent in both forms, but definitely depressing...unless you are going through a rough patch in your own life and they lend perspective.

Some folks appreciate a terse writing style, knowing how hard it is to cut words.

And some think that Pat Conroy is da bomb.

Oh, and also:
BOOOOO-gainvillea:bat:
 

Mr Nobody

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Jul 9, 2008
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I should have liked The Road, since I like apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic fiction and usually find that a dollop of darkness goes a long way...but I didn't.
Some of that could have been down to the style. It was my first by him, so I had (and have) nothing to compare it to, but I'm hoping it was just the way that book was written and it's not his usual/typical way. A lot of it was The Story. I've not been as bored by chunks of a book since I forced myself to get through LOTR just to see what all the fuss was about (IMO, not much), and because Tolkien is said to have been inspired by things he'd seen during his time round my neck of the woods, back when heavy industry ruled the roost.
That's not to say I couldn't appreciate the language McCarthy used. I just couldn't get on with the (style of) delivery.
But, everyone deserves a second chance, so I'm picking up a few 'maybes' here.
 

Prescott fry

Well-Known Member
Oct 8, 2014
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I should have liked The Road, since I like apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic fiction and usually find that a dollop of darkness goes a long way...but I didn't.
Some of that could have been down to the style. It was my first by him, so I had (and have) nothing to compare it to, but I'm hoping it was just the way that book was written and it's not his usual/typical way. A lot of it was The Story. I've not been as bored by chunks of a book since I forced myself to get through LOTR just to see what all the fuss was about (IMO, not much), and because Tolkien is said to have been inspired by things he'd seen during his time round my neck of the woods, back when heavy industry ruled the roost.
That's not to say I couldn't appreciate the language McCarthy used. I just couldn't get on with the (style of) delivery.
But, everyone deserves a second chance, so I'm picking up a few 'maybes' here.

I was feeling the same way. The sentence structure seemed long and cumbersome. As a story though, it wasn't too bad for how short it was