[steveri]

Pete was a true crag custodian and documenter, combining nostalgia for the past with enthusing the next generation.

[mrjonathanr]

Great guy. He’ll be missed.

[spidermonkey09]

Cormac McCarthy. Nothing short of a genius.

[owensum]

Cormac McCarthy. Nothing short of a genius.

Sad loss. We're lucky he released his final books last year after such a long hiatus. Now I just need to read them...

Should've gotten the Nobel IMO. Not that he probably gave a shit about it.

[spidermonkey09]

I absolutely guarantee he didn't give a fuck!

I'm looking forward to reading the new ones. Waiting on the paperbacks.

[andy moles]

 

Cormac McCarthy. Nothing short of a genius.

 

[seankenny]

He was absolutely a genius.

The thing with Cormac McCarthy is, Blood Meridian is a truly amazing book, but… I’m not sure I can stomach any more of his vision. A couple of his books might be enough for me.

[andy moles]

The thing with Cormac McCarthy is, Blood Meridian is a truly amazing book, but… I’m not sure I can stomach any more of his vision. A couple of his books might be enough for me.

I know what you mean. Uniquely brilliant but 'bleak' doesn't touch it. I think the first of his that I read was All the Pretty Horses, and was surprised to learn afterwards that that was considered romantic by comparison to his other work!

[andy popp]

I'm a dissenting voice on McCarthy, though I would be the first to admit I've only read two. I thought The Road pulled its punches at the very end, disastrously. And I found All the Pretty Horses over-stylized and affected.

As importantly, all the tributes today are quoting these comments:

“There’s no such thing as life without bloodshed,” McCarthy told the paper. “I think the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea. Those who are afflicted with this notion are the first ones to give up their souls, their freedom. Your desire that it be that way will enslave you and make your life vacuous.”

which I find a near perfect expression of the American cult of death and violence and is itself a very vacuous (and dangerous) idea of freedom. I can separate personal views and art, but these particular views are clearly inseparable from the core of his art.

[andy moles]

I'm a dissenting voice on McCarthy, though I would be the first to admit I've only read two. I thought The Road pulled its punches at the very end, disastrously. And I found All the Pretty Horses over-stylized and affected.

As importantly, all the tributes today are quoting these comments:

“There’s no such thing as life without bloodshed,” McCarthy told the paper. “I think the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea. Those who are afflicted with this notion are the first ones to give up their souls, their freedom. Your desire that it be that way will enslave you and make your life vacuous.”

which I find a near perfect expression of the American cult of death and violence and is itself a very vacuous (and dangerous) idea of freedom. I can separate personal views and art, but these particular views are clearly inseparable from the core of his art.

It's certainly a very provocative quote, though I'm personally left not fully understanding what he means by it, rather than thinking he's defined what freedom is.

I felt a bit the same about All the Pretty Horses. Blood Meridian was something else, though it's even more stylised, which I imagine could turn as many people off as the ceaseless and senseless violence.

[Johnny Brown]

Interesting. Not read any, but

the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea

strikes me as two quite separate ideas for starters. Agree on the vacuity of his counterpoint.

[Rocksteady]

I'm a dissenting voice on McCarthy, though I would be the first to admit I've only read two. I thought The Road pulled its punches at the very end, disastrously. And I found All the Pretty Horses over-stylized and affected.

As importantly, all the tributes today are quoting these comments:

“There’s no such thing as life without bloodshed,” McCarthy told the paper. “I think the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea. Those who are afflicted with this notion are the first ones to give up their souls, their freedom. Your desire that it be that way will enslave you and make your life vacuous.”

which I find a near perfect expression of the American cult of death and violence and is itself a very vacuous (and dangerous) idea of freedom. I can separate personal views and art, but these particular views are clearly inseparable from the core of his art.

It's certainly a very provocative quote, though I'm personally left not fully understanding what he means by it, rather than thinking he's defined what freedom is.

I felt a bit the same about All the Pretty Horses. Blood Meridian was something else, though it's even more stylised, which I imagine could turn as many people off as the ceaseless and senseless violence.

Good discussion. I've read The Road, No Country for Old Men, and Blood Meridian. Of these I think I liked No Country for Old Men the most, though his unique syntax/grammar worked best on The Road I felt where everything was breaking down, including language itself. I think Blood Meridian is the best, though I didn't enjoy it. It was violence in an orgiastic, psychedelic way - but more powerful when you realise that it was all based on true events with the Glanton gang (also featured in Flashman and the Redskins with some good historical notes).

McCarthy's particular strength I think is his depiction of evil. Andy's quote above suggests to me that he feels that it is human nature, but Anton Chigurh in No Country and The Judge in Blood Meridian seem to me to be almost depictions of primal forces of utmost evil. Truly horrifying, shocking characters, with no frailty or remorse, more than human. The Judge doesn't even have the physiology of a normal human. They are like gods or devils. I had nightmares after reading Blood Meridian and I can clearly visualise the last scenes even now, when I only read it once maybe 10 years ago.

I respect McCarthy's work a lot, I think he writes incredibly powerfully, but I'm not sure I want to read much more of it, it's too bleak for me.

[spidermonkey09]

On the contrary, I think Chigurh and the Judge are expressions of the worst of human nature, but that ultimately, they are human like the rest of us. I think their unique power and horror comes from the knowledge that we could be them, in another time and place. Its that sense of unease and lack of understanding that is embodied in the Sheriff in No Country for Old Men; he sees the world around him, but doesn't understand it and is forced to confront the fact that ultimately he is powerless to change it.

I like the Road but would agree that it pulls its final punch. It hints at a truly hopeless future but at the last offers a glimmer of hope to humanity in a way that eg Blood meridian does not. I love the Border Trilogy despite the stylised depiction of the American West; it still felt real to me.

Need to read Blood Meridian again reading this thread. I think he deserves credit for not sanitising the American frontier in any way, shape or form. That concept of 'how the west was won' and pioneer identity is central to American culture even now, as it is in many former settler colonies (see also Australia). I guess this speaks to what Andy calls the 'American cult of death and violence'.

[andy popp]

That concept of 'how the west was won' and pioneer identity is central to American culture even now, as it is in many former settler colonies (see also Australia). I guess this speaks to what Andy calls the 'American cult of death and violence'.

Yes, pretty much. You've probably read it Jim, but if not you should definitely check out Greg Grandin's The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America.

[chillax]

Christy Dignam. Not sure how much impact Aslan had/have outside Ireland, but Crazy World is an anthem of a certail period in Irish history. A lovely guy by most accounts

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/2023/06/13/christy-dignam-one-of-irelands-most-recognisable-performers-and-writer-of-one-of-irelands-poprock-classics/

[jwi]

There is overwhelming evidence both for the claim that humans can improve as a species and that humans can live in harmony.

[SA Chris]

That concept of 'how the west was won' and pioneer identity is central to American culture even now, as it is in many former settler colonies (see also Australia). I guess this speaks to what Andy calls the 'American cult of death and violence'.

As per " A Million Ways to Die in the West"

[owensum]

Re: Cormac. Blood Meridian was too nihilistic for me as well, though I will say I think it's one of the greats. The Judge is a terrifying metaphor for the evil that lives in humanity, a character you will never forget.

The Road pulled its punches but that's a good thing IMO. Cormac has said that he sees goodness as something that you find inside of you, you don't learn it from the world. "Keeping the fire alive" is a very uplifting message of the book.

Most of the papers seem keen to portray Cormac as a depressed hermit. He was in fact a polymath and by all accounts a delightful human being to be around. If you want to read an essay he wrote on language, see below. I have reread this many times over the years, brimming with insights.

https://nautil.us/the-kekul-problem-236574/

He was also a board member of the Santa Fe Institute and good friends with David Krakauer, a pretty smart mathematician who is head of SFI. This is what David wrote about Cormac:

https://www.santafe.edu/news-center/news/memoriam-cormac-mccarthy

[Hoseyb]

John Romita Sr. Marvel artist. Drew a lot of our childhoods I guess.

[spidermonkey09]

If you want to read an essay he wrote on language, see below. I have reread this many times over the years, brimming with insights.

https://nautil.us/the-kekul-problem-236574/

This is great, you can really see his distinctive voice and style of writing.

[fatneck]

Only met Pete a couple of times but he did a huge amount of work in the area and will be sadly missed...

[sxrxg]

Gino Mader, Swiss Pro Cyclist - https://bahraincyclingteam.com/statement-regarding-gino-mader/

[highrepute]

Gino Mader, Swiss Pro Cyclist - https://bahraincyclingteam.com/statement-regarding-gino-mader/

Upsetting stuff.

 I listened to G's podcast recently and he was saying that he'd been discussing the danger in cycling with friends and the only sport they felt came with similar risks was the isle of man TT. Fast speeds on public roads with little safety features.

[andy popp]

It's been a few days now but I feel Glenda Jackson should be noted: a remarkable professional career (two Oscars!) and a principled, sincere politician.

[sxrxg]

Gino Mader, Swiss Pro Cyclist - https://bahraincyclingteam.com/statement-regarding-gino-mader/

Upsetting stuff.

 I listened to G's podcast recently and he was saying that he'd been discussing the danger in cycling with friends and the only sport they felt came with similar risks was the isle of man TT. Fast speeds on public roads with little safety features.

They really are gladiators for the modern era. Heart rate at maximum summiting an alpine pass straight into a descent at 70mph+ just in lycra where you can't ease off for fear of losing 2 or 3 seconds. Total respect to all the pro peleton.

I also found it very upsetting, think it is just the age and how much life they had ahead of them. It is similar to how I felt when Antoine Hubert died in F2 at Spa, a sadness for the loss of a talent that could have been.