Blood Meridian

It seems that in my post-holiday haste to finish a whole load of video games, my booklogging has suffered. Well, no more, for I'm back in the reading game. Cormac McCarthy is best known for some of his more famous novels, including No Country for Old Men, The Road, and all the Pretty Horses. I decided that for my first foray into McCarthyism, however, I'd try out what's generally agreed upon as his greatest work: Blood Meridian. Blood Meridian is sort of an anti-western; it's portrayal of the wild west is pretty grim, and a far cry from the world depicted in John Wayne flicks and Spaghetti Westerns. It follows a nameless teen who leaves his Tennessee home to join the army and heads down to fight in Mexico. Shortly after he arrives, he's sort of forced into a gang of ruthless scalphunters. It's not really easy to relate with the character considering how easily he joins the gang, there really didn't seem to be much conflict there at all. The bulk of the book follows the gang around as they cut a path of destruction across Mexico and the southwestern U.S. While they start off hunting only those tribes who attack them first, the whole gang quickly reverts to heinous acts of depravity on innocent women and children. Eventually paranoia amongst the members leads to their own destruction, save for the kid and the bloodthirsty former judge who cajoled the members into killing in the first place. We're shown a few scenes featuring the two, years after the destruction of the gang, and the real heavy-duty questions are asked in these parts- questions about the nature of war, and man, and how the two connect. This part was very interesting to read, which I'm sure is why the book is so revered, but I can't say it was worth all of that long, slow build-up. I feel like a good deal of the gang's violence could have been cut out and still have the same emotional effect. Most of it was pretty dense, and after reading a plot synopsis after finishing the book, I realized that there were plenty of connections I had missed. Maybe Cormac McCarthy is an author who demands close attention for the best results, and I guess I can find out whenever I get around to reading The Road, which is also in my booklog. Until then, I've got a few more video games to finish.