Rating: 
Summary: Cities of the Plain
Review: This is by far the most emotionally engaging and thrilling book out of the border trilogy. The way that Cormac McCarthy can incorporate comedy, love, hate, and suspense all together in this book always left me wanting to read more. The friendship between Billy and John always warmed my heart with their jokes and the way that they will always be there for one another. This book jumps from emotion to emotion and has a unforgettable ending that will forever stay in my heart. The life lessons in this story have changed some of my perspectives on life and have touched me in ways I can not describe. This was an excellent end to the trilogy that no one should go without experiencing.
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging and entertaining
Review: This is the most engaging and entertaining of the border trilogy. Compared to the first two novels, the characters have more life and, because they are older, their dialogue has more liveliness. The characters and the plot show great wit. Simultaneously, they evoke strong empathy. Then there is the bonus of the epilogue. In it, the author uses the metaphor of a dream to show us how he relates to his characters. It is a revealing confession of the degree/lack of control and of responsibility he feels for the characters' behavior. I really enjoyed this book.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, But Only By Comparison
Review: This was the most anticipated book on my list for quite a while. I consider All The Pretty Horses to be perhaps the finest novel I've read, and The Crossing profound, if a little turgid. Cities of the Plain is also incredibly well written, and I'd still read McCarthy's next book before any other, but there's no new ground here, stylistically or emotionally. Unlike some of the commentators who've griped that the Trilogy books aren't particularly realistic portrayals of cowboy life, I never expected them to be, but there's something almost comical about a knife-fighting pimp expressing his philosophy of life -- as articulately as only Cormac McCarthy can -- as he slices up Our Hero, whose suicidal urge is a little hard to fathom even if we knew he was a romantic. The book is certainly worth reading, but I hope no one starts the Trilogy with it.
Rating:
Summary: Lacks the power of the previous 2 - still very compelling
Review: To say I was disapointed in the book would be true, yet it is still one of the best books I've read recently. I was disappointed that we did not learn more about Billy and john Grady. Obviously, more could have been done to compare their pasts and their "comings of age". Very little was offered to help us understand how their experiences in the other books shaped their view of the world. As with the other books, this story paints a wonderful image of the landscape...it almost becomes another character in the book. The threat of the military taking the land looms over the story, yet McCarthy never makes effective use of it. I was left wanting more but completely satisfied. Once again I was frustrated with my inadequate Spanish dictionary. I know I am missing numerous subtle points because of McCarthy's constant use of Spanish dialoge. Frustrating, but I fear that something would be lost if he used English for these characters. Maybe the publisher will offer an edition with English footnotes.
Rating:
Summary: The Passing of the Cowboy of the America West
Review: Two friends try to "hang on" to the passing age of cowboys in New Mexico. Modern days are fast approaching sending them to Mexico which still offers a taste of the Old West. Poetic narrative prose holds interest and respect in a novel that becomes a tragedy. Worthwhile read.
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl Books One - Three
Rating: 
Summary: I'm flying solo
Review: Well, I suppose I will be the one to stand against the stream on this one. McCarthy was a little disappointing in his third installment of the Border Trilogy. It was well written, but he fails in Cities much the way other writers fail in making their books much too predictable. All the Pretty Horses was excellent because you did not know where you would end. By the end of The Crossing McCarthy had started his characters down the path of destruction, and we knew it. By the way, do not become too enchanted with Cormac's descriptions of life as a southwestern cowpuncher. His verbal paintings of the geography are fantastic, but his understanding of the people are simplistic.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy only if you have the first two
Review: When I found out the two heroes of the first two books, John Grady Cole and Billy Parham, were united in this one, I went out of my mind to read it. Unfortunately this book is neither as exciting as "All the Pretty Horses" or as philosophically rich as "The Crossing." McCarthy's concentrating on the girl prostitute reveals his weakness in understanding a woman's viewpoint. "Cities of the Plain" works best in tandem with the first two books. Taking the trilogy as a whole, the necessity of this girl becomes clear, though that's up to the reader to pick up. The epilogue, which is really the epilogue for the whole trilogy, indicates the meaning of John Grady, of the women he loved -- and more importantly, the meaning of Billy. Get "Cities of the Plain" as the key to "All the Pretty Horses" and "The Crossing"; read the other two first.
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