The Gardener's Son

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant as expected, but read his other books first
Review: Having read everything else by Cormac McCarthy, I turned to _The Gardener's Son_ and was not disappointed. It has often been said but bears repeating that McCarthy is America's greatest living author, and I recommend his novels to anyone who enjoys beautiful writing. But I wouldn't suggest this screenplay unless, like me, you're already addicted to McCarthy and are looking for another "fix". It's a short work, fairly expensive for its brief length, and the plot is so sparse that you really have to be a fan of his style to feel as though you've benefitted from reading it. I hesitate to give less than five stars to anything by Cormac McCarthy, but this screenplay is essentially too little of a great thing to merit the unqualified recommendation that I give to all his other books.

Rating:
Summary: An Appetizer
Review: I agree with the other reviewer who says that you should read McCarthy's books first; that's a must. I found this screenplay interesting, but a bit disappointing in places. Where I detected McCarthy's voice most was in the stage directions and monologues, and a few bits of the dialogue. The power the sysnopses mention was a bit lost on me; I actually found this work quite cryptic, and was puzzled by the flap copy's assertion that the accident was "rumored to have been caused by James Gregg"--I couldn't find even a hint of that. Maybe I missed it?

In any case, a good little snippet. Now I have to go back to the novels...

Rating:
Summary: An Appetizer
Review: I agree with the other reviewer who says that you should read McCarthy's books first; that's a must. I found this screenplay interesting, but a bit disappointing in places. Where I detected McCarthy's voice most was in the stage directions and monologues, and a few bits of the dialogue. The power the sysnopses mention was a bit lost on me; I actually found this work quite cryptic, and was puzzled by the flap copy's assertion that the accident was "rumored to have been caused by James Gregg"--I couldn't find even a hint of that. Maybe I missed it?

In any case, a good little snippet. Now I have to go back to the novels...