Blood Meridian, Or The Evening Redness in The West by Cormac Mccarthy
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Web ID: 15624109Blood Meridian Review
Blood Meridian is a gritty tale of scalp hunting along the mexican border. The Book takes place in the early to mid 1800’s were the modern laws are nonexistent and the borderlands of texas are ruled by roaming gangs of natives. To rival this problem the government started paying gangs of criminals and rejects to hunt and scalp the Indians who ravaged the small towns and forts throughout Texas and Mexico. Blood Meridian follows the kid, an unnamed 16 year old who develops a taste for murder after joining The Glanton Gang. Blood Meridian is a modern analysis of the evil of man. This can be seen when Mcarthy writes “War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.” This quote shows how man will always be attracted to violence and war no matter how evolved we may be. Because of these gritty elements of the book which reveal the flaws of man I would highly recommend Blood Meridian to anyone. The one major downside of Blood Meridian is that it is a hard read in content and in dictation. Cormac Mcarthy has a very unique style of writing which at times can be hard to understand. On top of that the book is extremely violent to the point were at times I had to put it down and take a minute. Despite this is still a great book which will go down in history as an American Literature classic.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A book without a plot
I know this author has a great reputation, but I have never encountered a book that had so many unfamiliar words and a narrative that went nowhere. Each chapter was like a separate story with no connection to the succeeding chapter . I found the violence excessive and pointless and the characters confusing. This book would discourage me from reading any more of this author’s work, despite his reputation.
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Amazing, But A More “Advanced Read”.
This book and McCarthy’s writing style are absolutely beautiful! His descriptiveness and ability to paint such vivid scenes. One of the best books I’ve ever read.
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Themes and notable quotes
Four of the major themes of the novel are: Violence and brutality: The novel is filled with scenes of violent conflict, as the main character, the Kid, and his fellow scalp hunters roam the West, killing and scalping Native Americans for profit. The darkness of human nature: The characters in the novel are often depicted as cruel, selfish, and violent, with little regard for the lives of others. The futility of violence: Despite the violence and brutality depicted in the novel, it ultimately accomplishes nothing, with the characters continuing to roam the West in search of new victims. The loss of innocence: The Kid, who is the novel's protagonist, starts out as a naive young man but is ultimately corrupted and hardened by the violence and brutality he witnesses and participates in. Notable quotes from the book include: "The kid had thought it a mighty fine thing to be a scalp hunter. He had thought it a fine and noble profession. He had thought it a profession full of dignity and pride." (Chapter 1) "There is no god and there is no devil. There's only this." (Chapter 4) "All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes." (Chapter 14) "The man who believes that the secrets of the world are forever hidden lives in mystery and fear. Superstition will drag him down. The rain will erode the deeds of his life." (Chapter 25)
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McCarthy and His Violent Psychoanalysis
There likely isn’t a book not worth reading. As long as someone has something to say, what they write has a purpose; and Cormac McCarthy, through Blood Meridian, has a lot to say about the human psyche. His graphic imagery and gorey description are never fleeting and impossible to forget throughout his book-- perhaps serving a purpose to say humans always have one thing on the mind: violence. If war and chaos are always in a person’s subconscious, then McCarthy is making a point by writing every character as a bloodthirsty warmonger. The Judge, for example, has his whole philosophy revolve around violence. Nothing else matters to him, and he often takes joy in discrediting other institutions: like economics. For example, there is a confusing scene where he ends up buying the hat off Toadvine’s head for over a hundred dollars, unprompted (McCarthy, 295.) By refusing to recognize the value in money and spending it frivolously, the Judge upholds that violence is the only thing worth recognizing. At one point, the Judge also verbally expresses his inner beliefs; In speaking of the nature of man, and how they were “born for games,” he says, “War is the ultimate game because war is at last a forcing of the unity of existence. War is god,” (McCarthy, 261.) Through his posse’s trail of bodies and blood, and even after the objective is complete and the reward is over, humans drive for violence because of this core idea that war is the binding of the world and what gives it meaning. In referencing god, McCarthy also hopes to pull the reader’s pathos-- their own psyche-- into the argument. McCarthy wrote to show readers that this need for violence is in them too, showing that not even Christianity has footing compared to death and gore. Many symbols of Christianity are dragged through the mud and given no moral character in the book-- for example, at the beginning of the book, there is the reverend who speaks about people’s shame for their sins: “I said to him, said: You goin to take the son of God in there with ye? And he said: Oh no. I ain’t. And I said: Don’t you know that he said I will always foller ye…?” (McCarthy, 6.) His words, ironically, become meaningless when the Judge claims him to be a criminal and subjects him to a manhunt. After this, even when the Judge admits he never even knew the reverend or whether he was a criminal, the manhunters don’t care and laugh off the false killing (McCarthy, 9.) In the eyes of humanity, there is no place for anything but bloodshed and selfishness. In another scene, a festival is held for the dead where symbols of Christianity are all around; however, by the end of the night, “when the souls of the dead were rumored to be about the scalphunters were again howling in the streets and discharging their pistols in spite of rain or death,” (McCarthy, 199.) By chasing away and disrespecting Christianity and its symbols of purity and goodness, McCarthy appeals to the innate evil in his reader’s psyches and tells them there is room for nothing else-- and, he also proves that his book is worth reading.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
The best fiction in modern American Literature
Hey, guess what! I'm biased, but I personally believe this is among the best modern American literature has to offer. With McCarthy's unique format and style, this is sure to startle, provoke, and inspire readers. While not for the faint of heart or the casual reader, this novel emphasizes the state of humankind at its worst, and I believe every reader interested in westerns/history should take a look at this. You'll never see a western the same again.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Influential and Essential
The book “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy is a cornerstone of Modern Literature for many reasons, but the most important reason is that this book pushed the expectation of what is considered “fair game” to write about. This story was influential in the literary world because it contained content far more graphic than what has been previously published, and on top of that, Cormac McCarthy did an excellent job telling such a graphic story. To elaborate without providing too much detail into the plot racial-based trophy killing. Much of the book explores themes of racism, violence, and equality. Prior to the book's release in 1985, much of the literature produced focused on themes more consistent with the time, less progressive than today. Back to the topic of violence, part of the reason this book was so successful was also partly due to the controversial level of violence, shown by the following excerpt: “Dust stanched the wet and naked heads of the scalped who with the fringe of hair below their wounds and tonsured to the bone now lay like maimed and naked monks in the bloodslaked dust and everywhere the dying groaned and gibbered and horses lay screaming.” Another quote to consider is: “He took a skinning knife from his belt and stepped to where the old woman lay and took up her hair and twisted it about his wrist and passed the blade of the knife about her skull and ripped away from the scalp.” Very graphic, and America loved it. Aside from violence, the book also explores the important theme of racism. It is impossible to go into detail on this part, but the book does a very fine job of subtly addressing the issue, and showing the problems it creates. The following quote acknowledges the presence of racism: “The captain leaned back and folded his arms. What we are dealing with, he said, is a race of degenerates. A mongrel race, little better than racial-slur beginning with n in plural form. The next quote shows how racism has an impact on the book: “We are dealing with a people manifestly incapable of governing themselves.” Due to these 2 reasons, the book “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy is to be considered extremely influential upon the development of modern literature, and it should be considered absolutely essential to anyone with a desire to learn more about the world of literature.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Important yet challenging
Posing a great challenge to readers, Blood Meridian is ultimately a novel whose difficulty to read overshadows its message. Violence as portrayed in the Blood Meridian differentiates itself from any Western novel preceding it, and outright flips the concept of a western novel on its head. In the book, omnipresent violence plagues all characters, and if violence isn’t being committed directly by the protagonists (if one can even call the main characters of the story protagonists), then others bear witness to violence. An example of this is portrayed by the killing of an old Apache woman by the gang of scalp hunters, in which the narrator notes that a family of magicians stood nearby forced to witness (McCarthy 102). Senseless acts of ruthless violence like this serve to indoctrinate the reader into the violence of this world. While effectively communicating a powerful message, many readers will find this extremely disturbing as well as difficult to understand. Violence also seemingly entirely lacks motive throughout the book. Rather than a typical “good vs. evil” story of conflict, Blood Meridian makes it clear that no characters are heroic and thus may leave some readers wishing for a character to root for. As the main gang followed throughout the story ransack a Mexican village and purposely incite violence amongst the locals, the locals later burn down their own village saloon in rage (McCarthy 201-202). Here, the idea that no “good” side exists is emphasized. While one may cheer for the locals to finally defeat the ruthless gang readers are forced to follow, the locals fall victim to senseless violence as well and burn down their own saloon. The never-ending senseless violence of Blood Meridian serves to deconstruct a Western novel, but its methods make it difficult to recommend to a reader. Further challenges to the reader are presented by the unconventional structure and style found throughout the novel. Many passages are written in a past tense and an ultimately “passive” tone, throwing out the typical glorification of conflict. While effectively deconstructing typical Western literature through style and structure, long passages depicting numbing portrayals of horrific violence can make readers tune out the horrors presented. As the gang ransacks an entire village of innocent natives, violence is generalized and horrific, the narrator even directly stating, “Within that first minute the slaughter had become general” (McCarthy 161). While indoctrinating readers into the horrors of the west through desensitization is a powerful message, the difficulty in comprehending this message due to its challenging style of presentation is undeniable. Detailed descriptions of a desolate landscape also force the reader to feel numb, as a whole passage of the book dedicates itself to intricately describing a barren landscape acting as a dull backdrop to senseless, mute, and confusing violence between two unrecognizable armies (McCarthy 223). Again serving to communicate a strong message of deconstructing the glorified West, the message falls flat to readers not already dedicated to the messages of the book due to its challenging style. While an important piece of literature in deconstructing the glorified ideals of western expansion, make no mistake that Blood Meridian is an incredibly difficult read in both content and structure. Unless already committed to diving into the messages provided by this book, it is not recommended.
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