Very well written! I can't say that I have enjoyed reading any of McCarthy's novels, but I did really enjoy Lonesome Dove....one of my all-time favourites.
I could definitely believe Lonesome Dove inspired McCarthy. I recently read a Louis L'Amour book and I found it very McCarthy-esque, which was interesting for just bucketloads of reasons, but it did suggest an interesting literary lineage to late-McCarthy.
The Crossing grows on me more and more. I think All the Pretty Horses is better and I like it more, but there's something sort of brutal and ominous about The Crossing, combined with utter absurdity and sort of haphazard plotting, which makes it feel more like his older work.
Also, I believe McCarthy's Spanish is quite good. He apparently became fluent (no idea if anyone, like, tested him on this claim) when he moved to the Southwest. At any rate, I've never seen anyone critique his Spanish.
Hondo, right? Would you believe it if I told you that I started reading it literally three hours ago? I haven't gotten far enough into it yet to comment on its McCarthy-ness, but I can see some similarities.
You're right in that there's a kind of dazed, shambling quality to The Crossing which reminds me specifically of Suttree. I feel more fond of The Crossing though than I did or do about Suttree.
I'm excited to see how my relationship to all of these books changes over time, as I am with all books that affect me deeply.
Thanks for picking up on the Spanish thread as well. I've never seen anyone critique it either, but I do hope to dig into the issue a little more deeply. I find his use of untranslated Spanish fascinating, especially because, in The Crossing at least, he actually does translate a small percentage of it in his descriptive paragraphs.
Yeah, Hondo. It reminded me of him in strange ways that I don't think would have been apparent had I not been reading a bunch of McCarthy back to back.
Suttree is also the one The Crossing made me think of! Though, yeah, I felt more reading this one.
Very well written! I can't say that I have enjoyed reading any of McCarthy's novels, but I did really enjoy Lonesome Dove....one of my all-time favourites.
Great stuff, as always.
I could definitely believe Lonesome Dove inspired McCarthy. I recently read a Louis L'Amour book and I found it very McCarthy-esque, which was interesting for just bucketloads of reasons, but it did suggest an interesting literary lineage to late-McCarthy.
The Crossing grows on me more and more. I think All the Pretty Horses is better and I like it more, but there's something sort of brutal and ominous about The Crossing, combined with utter absurdity and sort of haphazard plotting, which makes it feel more like his older work.
Also, I believe McCarthy's Spanish is quite good. He apparently became fluent (no idea if anyone, like, tested him on this claim) when he moved to the Southwest. At any rate, I've never seen anyone critique his Spanish.
Thank you for always reading.
Hondo, right? Would you believe it if I told you that I started reading it literally three hours ago? I haven't gotten far enough into it yet to comment on its McCarthy-ness, but I can see some similarities.
You're right in that there's a kind of dazed, shambling quality to The Crossing which reminds me specifically of Suttree. I feel more fond of The Crossing though than I did or do about Suttree.
I'm excited to see how my relationship to all of these books changes over time, as I am with all books that affect me deeply.
Thanks for picking up on the Spanish thread as well. I've never seen anyone critique it either, but I do hope to dig into the issue a little more deeply. I find his use of untranslated Spanish fascinating, especially because, in The Crossing at least, he actually does translate a small percentage of it in his descriptive paragraphs.
Yeah, Hondo. It reminded me of him in strange ways that I don't think would have been apparent had I not been reading a bunch of McCarthy back to back.
Suttree is also the one The Crossing made me think of! Though, yeah, I felt more reading this one.