by Cormac McCarthy

Seth posted a quote-unquote review of Cormac McCarthy's recent novel The Road, so now I have to get my act together and post my thoughts on Blood Meridian, which I finally got around to reading last summer.

Except I (still) don't really know what to say about it. On the one hand, the writing is hauntingly beautiful, while on the other hand, the subject matter is often gruesome and devastating. Anyone who still nurtures a nostalgic view of the Old West, à la John Wayne or Dances With Wolves, will have these notions shaken by McCarthy's straightforward depiction of the brutality of life in the desert Southwest circa 1850. The plot traces the activities of the infamous Glanton Gang, detailing the atrocities committed by and toward this gang in chillingly cold and stark detail.

And since it might not be clear by my description thus far, let me say that this is the reason why you should read this book: McCarthy's writing, spare as it is, is brilliant and mesmerizing. It's one of those books that (assuming you're able to stomach it) will stay with you, one that you'll never forget.

I'm probably not doing justice to the book here. Perhaps I should have just followed the example of the normally not-at-a-loss-for-words David Foster Wallace who, when he listing this book among the five most underappreciated novels written since 1960, offered a three word review: “Don't even ask.”