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Summary: Blood Meridian
Review: A friend of mine who was working on his Masters in English was studying this book as part of his course work and recommended it to me. Some readers have found this book too violent, but I loved it. I read it twice and will read it again. It is realistic, dramatic, and historicly accurate.
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Summary: Dull, overrated work.......
Review: Perhaps the intent of the author is to avoid preachiness, but the level of objectivity reached in this novel strips the prose of any passion or life. Throughout, I failed to connect to any of the characters or situations and felt that, despite the graphic nature of the events described, I was being fed a cold, bureaucratic account rather than an emotional, heartfelt journey. It is important to have literary demystifications of the West, but in the attempt to strip that era of romance, I wonder: is it necessary to give us nothing of interest? Must all the characters be aloof and untouchable? Moreover, I found the writing to be blunt and uninspired, more like a bad imitation of Hemingway than a vibrant new writer on the scene. I purchased this book solely because it came with a high recommendation from Harold Bloom and quite frankly, I cannot understand what the excitement is all about. Again, the non-judgmental tone is refreshing (it could have easily been yet another anti-American novel from the School of Resentment), but novels must first and foremost be (and Bloom would agree with this) full of joy and life; not "positive" or "uplifting" necessarily, but a joy to read. Instead, I was left with no feeling at all; alienated by the author's inability to make me care.
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Summary: SCABS of HIS-STORY
Review: Bruised, burned and scarred I flipped the final pages of McCarthy's bloody nightmare. Eyes still open because of blood-lust, the text held thick between my ears, opening a passage into imagination I'd never travelled before. Scenes based in a historical land and time that is rarely recorded or taught or imagined in such a vivid, coagulated tale. It is hard to believe that this story was written at all, as it drips through your mind with fantastic prose so acute, you will feel dehydrated and anxious, immersed in what seems a bad dream. McCarthy is a madman loosed amongst unsuspecting readers, twisting their preconceptions, severing their ties to conventional scripture and scalping the western genre of its grayed headtop.
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Summary: don't miss it...
Review: It's dark, it's ugly, it's incredibly violent and it's the best book I've ever read. The beauty and the elegance of those sentences continue to make my jaw drop, and I've read it at least a dozen times. An interesting tidbit-- and a scary one (you'll see what I mean)--is that Glanton and the judge actually existed. There are several independent historical sources, the best being My Confession by Samuel Chamberlain, who was part of the gang for a while. His book is reputed to be one of the primary sources for Blood Meridian.
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Summary: The best book I've ever read...
Review: It's dark, it's ugly, it's incredibly violent, but those sentences continue to make my jaw drop, and I've read it a dozen times.An interesting tidbit (a scary one) is that Glanton and the judge actually existed. There are several independent sources, the best being My Confession by Samuel Chamberlain, who was part of the gang for a while. This is reputed to be one of the primary sources for Blood Meridian.
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Summary: Relentless and Gorgeous
Review: Absolutely ghastly, and yet one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. To rip off Emily Dickinson, "Blood Meridian" made my whole body so cold I thought no fire could ever warm it--that's how I knew it was poetry.
Rating: 
Summary: A Dissenting View
Review: McCarthy is the kind of writer that would have been born out of a union between Faulkner and Peckinpah, excessively violent and excessively and intentionally obtuse. I can see why so many people loved this book, the writing is original and the characters initially interesting, but after a hundred or so pages of beautifully written senseless gore I transitioned from horror to boredom and had a hard time maintaining my interest. If you like challenging writing and don't mind a blown off head or two, you'll love this book.
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Summary: Brutal, Stunning, Essential
Review: This is one of the most powerful books I have read; it locked me in during each of my readings. The language itself is onomatopoetic - it is sharp, dry, brittle, and panoramic. I was struck by how effectively McCarthy captured the essence of the southwest landscape by his use of language. The story itself is one we must absorb to know who we are as a people. Horrific, epic, and yet commonplace, the subjugation of the American land and its people by the Europeans has been nowhere better revealed. And the story telling... I could sit at McCarthy's feet for hours to listen to his stories. They are grand and stretch the limits of imagingation without losing the verisimilitude which would make us disbelieve. This book is a challenge, but worth it.
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Summary: Pretentious & boring!
Review: The author of this book uses absurd flowery & verbose language to describe a series of violent, homicidal incidents perpetrated by a very forgetable group of murderous ruffians. It's an example of men without morals bludgeoning & beating their way through life & is presented in a totally confusing manner. Who they were, where they came from & what made them tick? Beats me, & frankly, I didn't give a damn! If you do want to read about man's terrible inhumanity to man, written by someone who really understands the English language, try All Souls Rising, by Maddison Bell, not this pretentious clap-trap!
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. Surreal and horrific, and pure poetry in its descriptiveness.
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