spidermonkey09 said:Cormac McCarthy. Nothing short of a genius.
spidermonkey09 said:Cormac McCarthy. Nothing short of a genius.
seankenny said: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 popp said: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.
the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea
andy moles said:andy popp said: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.
spidermonkey09 said: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'.
spidermonkey09 said: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'.
owensum said: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/