I finished Blood Meridian this weekend.

[UtahDan]

I really enjoyed it. The version I checked out from the library also had a forward by Bloom which greatly enhanced my understanding of the book, particularly the parallels drawn to Melville.

I don't yet know whether I "liked it" as entertainment value, but I definitely enjoyed the colloquies from the judge. I reflexively enjoyed the prose as something different than I am accustomed to reading. Interestingly, some person who had checked the book out previous to me had slipped a photograph into the dust jacket which appeared to be of high desert with mountains in the back ground, with a few small trees and mostly scrub brush.

I also found the themes of rebirth through bloodshed and war as the highest form of human expression to be thought provoking.

For those of you who are McCarthey fans, which book would you suggest I read next?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by UtahDan

For those of you who are McCarthey fans, which book would you suggest I read next?

The Road

then

No Country for Old Men or
All the Pretty Horses

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

The Road

then

No Country for Old Men or
All the Pretty Horses

Agree with this. However, Blood Meridian is worth reading more than once as is The Road. The glories of Blood Meridian that raise it to a masterwork are:

1) The judge

2) The descriptions of nature

3) The violence, which has an epic, biblical rendering.

I think it is very much an entertainment. One of the unexpected pleasures is a fair amount of (dark) comedy.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Agree with this. However, Blood Meridian is worth reading more than once as is The Road. The glories of Blood Meridian that raise it to a masterwork are:

1) The judge

2) The descriptions of nature

3) The violence, which has an epic, biblical rendering.

I think it is very much an entertainment. One of the unexpected pleasures is a fair amount of (dark) comedy.

I think I do need to re-read. One problem I had was all of the (intentionally) archaic language and expressions. I had to keep stopping to consult the dictionary which broke up the flow so to speak. I will probably ask someone to pick it up for me for Christmas.

I agree about the violence. Part of what makes it so powerful is how understated it is.