Cities of the Plain (Border Trilogy (Paperback))

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: 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