Early Cormac McCarthy Interviews Rediscovered

Re:Early Cormac McCarthy Interviews Rediscovered by sn41 on Wednesday October 05, 2022 @07:25AM (#33093970)

I first heard of Cormac McCarthy when Harold Bloom raved about his "Blood Meridian". I am sorry to say this, I was not moved by Cormac McCarthy. I read "All the Pale Horses", and "No Country for Old Men". I started reading "Blood Meridian", but there was a gruesome scene involving infants. I never saw the point of Judge Holden, even though in my mind, I kept visualizing him being played by Daniel Day-Lewis. My plan is to read "Cities of the Plain" and "Outer Dark" - they are poetic titles, but I wonder whether I should spend the time.

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Re:Early Cormac McCarthy Interviews Rediscovered by ne8il on Wednesday October 05, 2022 @09:40AM (#33095453)

I think you will find those two novels similar to his other work. Also, there is a book in the Border Trilogy between "All the Pretty Horses" and "Cities of the Plain" - "The Crossing".

"Suttree" doesn't come up as often as his other work but is my personal favorite. There are some darker moments but it's a very funny book - a lot of "Charles Portis"-esque conversations and encounters.

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Re:Early Cormac McCarthy Interviews Rediscovered by johnvaluk on Wednesday October 05, 2022 @08:25AM (#33094528)

Blood Meridian left me with the feeling that Judge Holden was originally multiple characters turned into a composite to serve as a narrative device and metaphor. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it had been a straightforward odyssey of the kid, involving the many people and situations he encountered along the way. Using the Judge as a thematic binder sort of ruined it for me.

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Re:Early Cormac McCarthy Interviews Rediscovered by richardatlarge on Thursday October 06, 2022 @01:32AM (#33104720)

This comment reminds me of a song by CT Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet

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Re:Early Cormac McCarthy Interviews Rediscovered by CPLX on Wednesday October 05, 2022 @10:06AM (#33095757)

There’s a lot of interpretations and I don’t know if he’s ever endorsed one, but I see the judge as a general representation of a concept I’d describe loosely as capitalism, or the Industrial Revolution, or western technological progress in general.

He’s the embodiment of a force that just overtops and envelops everything in its path. It’s doesn’t even make sense to consider him moral or immoral or amoral (as many do when considering him a stand in for the devil) but more as a force that just transcends morality completely and makes it irrelevant, a force that has no other purpose but to expand and consume resources, indifferent to death or convention or tradition. A force that never sleeps.

I think the scene where he calmly ignores the Indian attack while making explosives is probably the most literal example but the theme runs through his character.

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