Not too long ago, I finished reading the aforementioned novels and really enjoyed the beauty of the prose and the tone and mood of the story. However, after finishing both, I still cannot really grasp what the underlying plot was. I understand the sequence of events which led to The Passenger’s fulfillment, as well as the much shorter Stella Maris, but what was the overall story? Western grapples with the death of his sister until he ends up in Spain wasting away until he meets his end, while we get a secondary POV of Alice’s experiences as a young teen and how she handled her intelligence and schizophrenia. Is there something I’m missing? Maybe I need to reread in the future.
by ApocalypseSunrise
3 Comments
That is the overall plot.
I’m just finishing Suttree and it struck me that the passage of time, and the inevitability of death is a common theme in McCarthy’s work. It was the same in No Country. Sometimes life takes on a momentum that cannot be stopped, and no matter how much, for example, Western, may want to change things that happened, he is destined to live out his life helpless because he is unable to do so.
I don’t think there is anything in the plot you’re missing, it’s a fairly basic structure but the ideas within are where the interest is.
Obviously this is subjective and I’m eager to hear what people think.
Short, not very insightful comment, but these novels were more about questions than answers the way I see it. Agree that it was a beautiful experience reading it.
There is a lot going on under the surface of these books. They can be interpreted through the lens of quantum mechanics, as an allegory of 20th century developments in physics and mathematics, the impact of the nuclear bomb on western society, etc.
But, on the surface, you’re not missing anything. In particular, the Passenger is a novel that seemingly sets up a straightforward narrative yet never resolves most of the early plot setup.