Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype?

Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by muststopmyths on Thursday December 24, 2020 @11:50AM (#25529076)

Cormac McCarthy. Finally started "bingeing" his books from the local library and not since Virginia Woolf has a writer's use of words to paint pictures made such an impression on me.

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by Baeocystin on Thursday December 24, 2020 @02:29PM (#25530613)

That's an apt description. His use of language is remarkable. The hapax legomenon Salitter, and this brief post about it, are what convinced me to read his books. https://thefirstmorning.com/2008/09/11/salitter/

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by d_burfoot on Thursday December 24, 2020 @02:04PM (#25530342)

Is McCarthy hyped...? I read Blood Meridian because a pretentious literature/philosophy snob I knew in college told me it was good. I was also pretentious, so I read it. Other than that, I've almost never heard anyone talk about his work, other than briefly when the movies came out.

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by redisman on Thursday December 24, 2020 @05:18PM (#25532003)

He was for a bit with a Oprah book of the month (the road) and no country for old men getting made into a movie

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by muststopmyths on Thursday December 24, 2020 @02:41PM (#25530724)

hmm, good question. I guess I'd heard for a while that he was one of the best writers out there. Maybe he's just hyped in the corners of the internet that I wander.

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by throckmortra on Thursday December 24, 2020 @12:41PM (#25529572)

Blood Meridian is a top 3 book for me. Just fantastic. With one of those endings that takes the book from a 4.5/5 to a 5/5

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by muststopmyths on Thursday December 24, 2020 @11:03PM (#25534094)

If anyone takes this book up, avoid at all costs the foreword in the 25th anniversary edition. It gives away the ending !

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by gbjw on Thursday December 24, 2020 @01:17PM (#25529891)

I also love Blood Meridian -- curious what your other two would be? Mine are probably Moby-Dick and The Brothers Karamazov.

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by throckmortra on Thursday December 24, 2020 @02:36PM (#25530678)

Stoner by John Williams and Crime & Punishment. I love TBK and other of Dostoyevsky's works but C&P really resonated with me

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by mFixman on Thursday December 24, 2020 @12:14PM (#25529305)

I was looking for some English language fiction literature. Any book you'd recommend?

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by muststopmyths on Thursday December 24, 2020 @12:26PM (#25529423)

From McCarthy ? I'd start with his Border Trilogy which is 3 books sold together. Or just All The Pretty Horses if you want to dip your toes to see if you like his writing.

I've also enjoyed Elmore Leonard quite a bit recently. More pulpy I suppose, but well written. Out of Sight is a good one with a somewhat faithful movie version as well.

Normal People by Sally Rooney is something I read recently that I liked.

Unless by literature you actually mean classic literature, in which case I'm really not qualified to recommend anything :-)

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by germinalphrase on Thursday December 24, 2020 @12:34PM (#25529501)

No Country for Old Men is the most accessible. Blood Meridian is harder, but very good.

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by gonzo41 on Thursday December 24, 2020 @09:52PM (#25533780)

Gotta be careful reading those, they are very good by can be a little...bleak.

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Re:Ask HN: What Lived Up to the Hype? by sogen on Thursday December 24, 2020 @11:59AM (#25529170)

upvoted

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