Love reading your analysis of his work. Btw is The Road really one of his most hopeful novels? I loved it but it was essentially just unrelenting misery the whole way through!
When people described Neuromancer as a dystopia, William Gibson often pushed back by saying something along the lines of, Even imagining a future is an act of hope.
And I think that's true of The Road as well. But I also think the end is a statement of hope.
And hope is something rarely encountered in McCarthy! So it's also a relative statement.
Haha fair enough! I often wonder if he was actually happy himself, such is the lack of hope in his books. Reading the obituaries of him though, seems he was - which is nice to know
My husband and I drove from Tampa, FL to Anaconda, Montana in a big swoop following the Lewis & Clark Trail out west then returning through Wyoming, NM, down through Del Rio Texas and back to Tampa. in the early 1990s. I read Blood Meridian out loud as we drove. This was a trip to visit libraries along the way. At that time this book had not yet made its impact and was unknown to most people we encountered. It had won no major awards though McCarthy had a MacArthur grant having been spotted by Saul Bellow. I don't think CM finished college. That was likely part of why he is so powerful.
Love reading your analysis of his work. Btw is The Road really one of his most hopeful novels? I loved it but it was essentially just unrelenting misery the whole way through!
When people described Neuromancer as a dystopia, William Gibson often pushed back by saying something along the lines of, Even imagining a future is an act of hope.
And I think that's true of The Road as well. But I also think the end is a statement of hope.
And hope is something rarely encountered in McCarthy! So it's also a relative statement.
Haha fair enough! I often wonder if he was actually happy himself, such is the lack of hope in his books. Reading the obituaries of him though, seems he was - which is nice to know
Yeah, I think this is always the danger of trying to find the person through the art.
I’ve only read that and Blood Meridian so I’m not in a position to say, just amazed there can be more misery than those two!
My husband and I drove from Tampa, FL to Anaconda, Montana in a big swoop following the Lewis & Clark Trail out west then returning through Wyoming, NM, down through Del Rio Texas and back to Tampa. in the early 1990s. I read Blood Meridian out loud as we drove. This was a trip to visit libraries along the way. At that time this book had not yet made its impact and was unknown to most people we encountered. It had won no major awards though McCarthy had a MacArthur grant having been spotted by Saul Bellow. I don't think CM finished college. That was likely part of why he is so powerful.
His prose is just mind blowing.
Beautiful analysis. I appreciate your ability to talk shop. Helps me appreciate the master on a smarter, more technical level.