Newsweek piece on "No Country for Old Men"

There is an interesting article in the latest addition of Newsweek about the upcoming film adaptation of McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." It looks at the genre of Westerns in general and then specifically at the film. It briefly mentions Blood Meridian, citing it as the moment when McCarthy "took possession" of the border country as a literary genre.
The article is an enjoyable read and timely given our book group selection!

Epic Nature of Blood Meridian

I have to say that one of the things that has struck me most about Blood Meridian is the epic quality of the narrative. The long descriptive scenes of the the countryside, as well as the striking similes and metaphors are worthy of the Homeric and Virgilian epics. Likewise, it seems as if some of the "minor" characters truly come to life on their deathbeds ... a device Homer frequently employed in the Iliad. Blood Meridian encompasses many of the overarching themes of the ancient epic -- it is simultaneously a tale of war, travel, loss and discovery. What I haven't figured out yet is who is the hero of our tale. Any nominees?

Content Management

Hello all, and welcome to your first PSA. Now we all know that we can relax and relieve our stresses put forth by Cormac's vision of the scalp trade in this blog however; I would like you to know that the world can still see it. This would not be a serious problem if Miller was not apart of the title but since it is we need to make sure that our posts are somewhat clean. In addition, this does not mean that we need to make any sense....wooha no.

Prediction/Favorite Phrase

Simple prediction: McCarthy wins the Nobel Prize for Lit. When? Soon. I read to my A.P. kids today the Comanche onslaught on page 52-3..and will allow them to read the subsequent pages on their own. Mike and I were talking about how this prose represents a painting....and what a painting that would be. My favorite phrase: "death hilarious" at the top of page 53.
Let's shoot for a meeting over lunch this coming Wednesday? Please pass the word to those who've not reached the blog page yet.
Oh, yeah--awesome Seal Braden!!!

Poetic violence in a desolate world

This is only the second McCarthy novel I've read so far. I must say that I was taken aback, at first, by his writing style. You have to be a careful reader to enjoy his work. This isn't just some Harry Potter skim-fest where you can skip to the good parts. For me, so far, this book is a sumptuous, bloody feast and I'm enjoying my journey through "a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane." Not that McCarthy would ever set anything off with quotes. I'm about 2/3 of the way through. Like Braden said, Glanton and the Judge, the Delawares and others in the scalping party are all historical figures from the 1840s.

Judge

I am sure most of you are not very far into the novel however, I would like you all to take care and mark where "The Judge" or Judge comes up. He is by far one of the most intriguing characters and in many regards he is definitely the playful protagonist. He leads the reader into often hilarious, unexpected situations that are key to understanding the time period and location of the entire story. So take note, and do not repress the likely ensuing laughter.

In addition, Diesel has been doing his homework and said that many of these characters had lives in the real world. So just some food for thought.

McCarthy's moral vision

First off, I agree with the clip on the cover of the novel that this is a novel about regeneration through violence. A very common, it seems, theme of his works in general. I also love how, every once in a while, his narrators extoll upon the basic human capacities to know or not know the capacity of the human heart. For instance, I believe in chapter 2, he has a paragraph that asks, in general, what is in the midst of a man's heart? (I think this is right when the hermit holds up the dessicated heart to him while they sit next to the fire). This little treatise on the heart, immediately brings to mind the short story of Flannery O'Connor, when a rambling, one-armed handyman, on his way to seducing an old crone's daughter, asks the very same questions about how possible it is to see into the heart of a human being. That story was called "Good Country People"....

New York Times

Anyone who is new to the book and wants a good, unbiased review can click here

Welcome All

This blog was created in conjunction with our Book club or "guild" (as it should be called) at The Miller School. In dreaming this up I see everyone having access to post, comment and modify the blog at will. I truly think that this will be a wonderful outlet for the books to come. We can all ask thoughtful, mindful questions which hopefully will invoke responses that are completely ridiculous. So for this to really work I need you all to have some type of GMail address. This will allow us to access this blog and if you give me the complete address I can make everyone able to post, comment and modify. Please feel free to NOT correct people's grammar, change posts / comments that are not yours, or "duck" others work. Thanks, ciao.