RE: Cormac McCarthy and Other Musings
Wonderful review, @xanderslee. I’m inspired to read something by this author. Interesting that he breaks rules and gets away with it. I find that is often the case with great writers. Perhaps it is true across all works of art. But I think it’s true what people say that if, like Picasso, artisans study the art form’s fundamentals for many years, then they have certainly earned the right to judiciously bend the rules to establish a unique artistic style.
and made me actually enjoy reading literary fiction
Just had to point out that line and tell you it made me laugh! I think it is good to read outside one’s favored genres from time to time, as you suggested, more or less.
It’s only a “wall of words,” in my opinion, when it is too many words for the topic, or it is poorly written or poorly formatted. None of those are the case with this post. It was a joy to read.
Aw, shucks Jayna. Thanks for the kind words!
Cormac tends to be an acquired taste. It took some getting used to for me to finish The Road. Blood Meridian and Suttree are generally regarded as his best, though that hardly means the rest of his body of work is some sort of 'slouch' effort. I have heard that The Orchard Keeper is his weakest but worth reading anyway (it was his first novel, so that makes sense).
Outer Dark is highly controversial, if I'm not mistaken, as well as Child of God.
No Country for Old Men has a brilliant movie adaptation and I have zero doubts as to the quality of the literature of which it's derived.
I can gush about this old coot all day. (He's 84 last I checked, which scares me at times)
I have definitely heard of No Country for Old Men. Maybe I'll try one of his books on Audible. Sometimes it's the better way in the case of an acquired taste!
Definitely give it a shot! :D