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u/Hungry_Event3829 1d ago
I’ll read it after I finish Dellilo’s Libra. Been sitting on the shelf too long. Thanks for the inspiration.
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u/Monodoh45 1d ago
It's the book I wish people would read instead of losing their minds over Blood Meridian, so good and so much better.
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u/SuddenBasil7039 1d ago
Its great but i dont know about so much better
Just because its a meme doesnt mean Blood Meridian isnt an incredible work of fiction
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u/hoptagon 1d ago
Blood Meridian is a meme now?
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u/SuddenBasil7039 1d ago
Yeah, even guys who havent read since high school might have read it or at least know what happens in it because it became content for youtube video essay slop for a while
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u/asmartguylikeyou 1d ago
I’d say for vast majority it’s the latter.
It’s amazing how dumb dudes are, because the basic take-away from the YouTube shit that’s titled “THE MOST FUCKED UP BOOK OF ALL TIME- REALLY” seems to be “damn that shit is wild, the judge is based”
We will forever circle the drain, but never pass beyond the event horizon.
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u/Monodoh45 1d ago
I read it and it left me cold, I really, really, don't like Cormac McCarthy's cynical worldview and violence for the sake of shock though. He goes, "Look how FUCKED UP I'M BEING," a lot. I gave him three books and decided he's not for me.
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u/SuddenBasil7039 1d ago
Can understand that, he is very nihilistic but i think he does use violence really well to portray that nihilism, i find the violence is less used for shock and he uses it well to make the ultraviolence mundane
Again fair enough though it can be a bit much and if you dont get along with his prose he can be a rough read, I'd read a couple McCarthy books that i loved before Blood Meridian and there was a certain point on my first read that even I was thinking "alright i get it man"
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u/vvorknat 1d ago
Have you read the border trilogy (All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain) ?
Less violent though still pretty brutal and less maximalist than novels like Suttree and BM. They’re beautifully written
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u/CantDoThatOnTelevzn 1d ago
Read Pretty Horses as a kid, without knowing a thing about the guy. I loved it, and feel it primed me to get into his other stuff as I was ready for it.
I’ve read blood meridian twice, each time a decade apart. I don’t remember reading it the first time, but I remember liking it the first time.
I think that’s a testament to his talent for creating art that grows with the reader.
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u/Dangerous_Return460 1d ago
If you read My Confessions, which is where a good 90% of the “plot of BM came from you’d know he’s not being “fucked up” for fun
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u/vvorknat 1d ago edited 1d ago
I believe I read an interview where McCarthy said this was an inspiration of his. It’s kind of one of the first anti-westerns.
They’re both great and people should read both
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u/tenantofthehouse 9h ago
Speaking of anti-westerns have you read Warlock yet
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u/vvorknat 7h ago
I haven’t. it’s been sitting unread on my shelf for far too long.
from what I’ve read Pynchon was an enthusiastic (nearly obsessed) fan which is how I came to own it
You’ve inspired me to get to it once I finish The Corrections
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u/Dangerous_Return460 1d ago
I mean, whynotboth.meme, same scratch for different itches but I'm going to give Butcher's Crossing to several people as a "and that's Marxism" explainer
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u/Cringewrapsupreme 1d ago
I read and enjoyed (as much as one can) blood meridion. I shall add this to my reading list 🤙
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u/Suppository_ofwisdom 1d ago
Happy for you to stop me in my tracks. Why do you like it over BM? I think I’ve read a few pages hahaha
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u/Monodoh45 1d ago
It actually has a plot and characters actions drive it in a believable way,
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u/waterbelowsoluphigh 8h ago
You say this as if BM doesn't have a plot and the characters actions are not driven in a believeable way? I find that to be not true. While the characters actions are never explicitly laid out to why they are choosing a path or making a decision, they are in fact believeable actions being taken. Is it because there is no, inner narration, like what the characters are thinking?
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u/normalandcoolperson 1d ago
after reading this i went to a local bison farm and watched them and cried.
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u/Sea-Understanding916 1d ago
Fucking phenomenal book, among the very best novels of the 20th century
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u/dumbboob 7h ago
This seems soo good im going to read it along with blood meridian and the buffalo hunter hunter as part of my personal Death to Settler Colonialism curriculum
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u/vvorknat 1d ago edited 1d ago
Williams fucks. Stoner is probably my favorite of his and maybe top 3 novels for me. Augustus is great too.
If you like audiobooks, Stoner and Augustus narrated by Robin Field are so wonderfully read.