First off, I’ll get the obvious out of the way: This book deserves the praise it gets. I get it.
However
Maybe this is just an age maturity thing (I’m 23, thought I was relatively smart until I saw people dissect this book in ways my tiny mind could ever comprehend) but so much of this book, particularly the writing itself, has gone completely over my head. And yet I can still see how jaw dropping some sections are. I just don’t totally get them.
The violence really hasn’t bothered me all that much. In fairness I have about 100 pages left, but I really can’t see it getting much worse than I’ve already read. Sure it’s totally brutal and horrible and gross to read such senseless violence, but it makes sense. The Wild West was an absolute inhumane time in history, and this book portrays that very well. Maybe I’m numb to it at this point.
But I’d be lying if I said I gave a shit about the characters. I don’t. And maybe that’s the whole point, but being true to myself, my favourite part of stories is the characters. These are underdeveloped (again, maybe on purpose) names on a page. Glanton and the Kid are the names I know most, and of course the Judge. The Judge is the only character in this book I could even call a character. And a fucking creepy one as well. His monologues that I can hardly decipher? Amazing.
Blood Meridian is a draining book. The prose is bleak and brutal, people die constantly in horrible ways, the language is so hard to follow, and yet I do, despite everything I’ve said, look forward to seeing how this ends. Maybe I would “get it” if I was 20 years older, but it has been a reading experience I won’t forget for a long time.
by devou5
4 Comments
Yeah I got on a very short stint of listening to Jocko Willink podcasts this is one of his top three reads that speaks volumes.
I appreciate that there are hard as steel men like Jocko protecting us from evil and securing oil interests in the Middle East but I can only take so much hyper macho drivel.
The book is brutal but if you want a serious man’s read it’s for you.
Took me three times. Twice in my 20’s and once in my 30’s to finally get it. Maybe you’ll revisit it one day. Absolutely get your viewpoint though.
I gave up on it in the second chapter
I’ve tried and failed to read many of cormacs books and I just can’t get past the violence and bleakness and confusion.
And I honestly think his books are similar to the bible in that people take their own meanings from them. Many of my friends rave about them and can pick apart so many things that I just can’t see.
All in all not my cup of tea. But i still wish it was