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Glad to see Slate sucks as much as ever
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Jun 17, 2023 16:04
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lol
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Jun 18, 2023 18:18
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I wonder if Cormac ever watched the Wire
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Jun 20, 2023 01:17
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Jun 20, 2023 02:29
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Finally got around to Suttree and so far I’m loving it. I’m putting it right behind Blood Meridian.
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Jul 11, 2023 22:12
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Proust Malone posted:Finally got around to Suttree and so far I’m loving it. I’m putting it right behind Blood Meridian. Come join us in the book of the month thread, we're discussing Suttree this month. I'm re-reading it and would love to hear any and all thoughts.
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Jul 12, 2023 00:00
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Notes on Blood Meridian is $3 today on Kindle https://www.amazon.com/Notes-Blood-Meridian-Southwestern-Collection-ebook/dp/B00CMEE6CA/
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Jul 17, 2023 16:37
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Thanks. I’ve been wanting to get that for a while, and I can’t pass it up at that price.
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Jul 17, 2023 17:46
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Working my way through The Passenger now. It feels like all the characters are picking up the pieces after something more interesting happened to someone else. Like if No Country was only the parts from the Sheriff's perspective, with none of the action. I'll still probably finish it and Stella Maris too, so that I can say I read all his novels.
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Jul 24, 2023 16:41
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much of it is about western coming to grips with the impermanence and senselessness of life years after his sister’s suicide so yeah, in a way its all descent with the narrative peak having long passed
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Jul 24, 2023 18:06
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Definitely post something (Auschwitz and Hiroshima mostly). The Kid is real--a lot of C's gnostic inclinations are on display here, in a more explicit fashion than ever. The basic idea is, I think, that the human mind is just a fact among others and its vision of the world is just a Darwinian simulation for the purposes of survival and reproduction (a string in a maze) in a generally incomprehensible and inconceivable cosmos. There are quite a few references to Kant ("There are only two ways in which we can account for a necessary agreement of experience with the concepts of its objects: either experience makes these concepts possible or these concepts make experience possible."), and I wonder if C was even reading Donald Hoffman at some point. I think the references to Berkeley (the ne plus ultra Idealist) gesture in the same direction, although C is definitely not an Idealist and believes in an external reality--but one that we are finally aliens in, hence his secular gnosticism. All of which to say Alicia is a mutant and the Virgin Mary, can actually perceive paranormal entities, and her death on Christmas apparently represents a kind of failed Messianic birth/Second Coming. The Kid is her son from another universe, although I believe there's a cryptic passage in the Passenger that suggests she did give birth to a deformed child at some point (where the doctor says something about not being able to unsee what's been seen--another familiar McCarthy topos). He may also be a djinn (he's called that at one point), and I have some memory of the Judge explicitly identifying himself as a djinn in an earlier draft of Blood Meridian. I believe he may be a demonic spirit (references to brimstone) attempting to in some way make use of Alice's mathematical insights. I wondered if in some way the relationship between Bobby and Alice embodied the relationship between Physics and Pure Mathematics. Exhausted birds on the beach are also described as passengers at some point, which seemed crucial. They're climate refugees among other things. I think a significant influence on Alice's story is the true story of Grothendieck, who is also referenced a few times. There's a semi-fictional book called "When we Cease To Understand the World" which came out a few years ago; it's not great but it deals with many of the same themes. I have no idea what to make of the literal missing passenger. porfiria fucked around with this message at 09:03 on Aug 8, 2023 |
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Aug 8, 2023 09:00
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I felt pretty dumb when I realized who the Kid actually was... the child that would've resulted from a consummation of Alicia's desires for Bobby Your post made me feel dumb too, but it was interesting.
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Aug 9, 2023 20:30
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I just finished Blood Meridian. The ending reminded me of:
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Nov 12, 2023 05:49
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Disco Godfather posted:I just finished Blood Meridian. The ending reminded me of:
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Nov 12, 2023 07:54
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Ken Jeong legitimately might make a good Judge Holden in the film adaptation that will never happen .
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Nov 14, 2023 16:55
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I know I know but Amazon cyber monday has hardcover set of Pass and Stella for $20
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Nov 26, 2023 17:18
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Started on Stella Maris. Is the entire book going to be a back and forth between Alice and the psychiatrist?
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Nov 27, 2023 22:03
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mellonbread posted:Started on Stella Maris. Is the entire book going to be a back and forth between Alice and the psychiatrist? More or less. I found it a hard read but mostly because I identified with Alice a little too much. Passenger is better but I will re-read both, I'm sure.
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Nov 27, 2023 22:34
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I think I’m ready for a re-read. Would anyone be interested in a chapter a week type thread discussion?
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Nov 28, 2023 02:44
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I just finished The Passenger. I've got Stella Maris on the shelf, but I'm conflicted on whether I should let it sit or start immediately. There were definitely Goods: a narrative of a life slowly burning down, in contrast to the violent ends his earlier protagonists met. A pretty bold choice to completely drop "the passenger" as a plot hook, leaving it sit as a metaphor for an encounter with the unknown that Western probably could have fathomed, but didn't have the inner drive to pursue. That unknown force slowly seems to end the people around him, just as his father's role in The Bomb seems to have left a lingering force which slowly unravels his life. Contemplative, consistent with its theme and tempo, the pages flew past me even as not much really happened. He wasn't afraid to leave vast, open spaces in the story. And some obvious Not So Goods: Like most posters, I was over The Kid's schtick after about the first page. I was on the edge of putting Stella Maris in a dusty pile until an earlier poster mentioned that thread doesn't re-appear. And a subtlety I might be misreading: Given the section on quantum physics, I'm assuming Alicia and Bobby are named for 'Alice' and 'Bob', the two "observers" used to elaborate on communications problems like cryptography, and especially in quantum communications. That joke would be a bit anachronistic, but there are some other anachronisms: The Kid makes a "Don't call me Shirley" joke, which would have been in theaters in 1980 - well after Alicia was already dead.
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Feb 3, 2024 02:39
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Red Crown posted:And a subtlety I might be misreading: Given the section on quantum physics, I'm assuming Alicia and Bobby are named for 'Alice' and 'Bob', the two "observers" used to elaborate on communications problems like cryptography, and especially in quantum communications. That joke would be a bit anachronistic, but there are some other anachronisms: The Kid makes a "Don't call me Shirley" joke, which would have been in theaters in 1980 - well after Alicia was already dead. everything about the kid is anachronistic. his clothes, his companions, his language. he seemed out of time to me, not an eternal figure but just beside time. next to it. also fwiw i thought A/B like particles, not crypto
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Feb 3, 2024 03:28
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Red Crown posted:And a subtlety I might be misreading: Given the section on quantum physics, I'm assuming Alicia and Bobby are named for 'Alice' and 'Bob', the two "observers" used to elaborate on communications problems like cryptography, and especially in quantum communications. That joke would be a bit anachronistic, but there are some other anachronisms: The Kid makes a "Don't call me Shirley" joke, which would have been in theaters in 1980 - well after Alicia was already dead. Guarantee that last one was intentional, to tease the reader about the possibility that the Kid exists independent of Alicia.
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Feb 3, 2024 18:02
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Carthag Tuek posted:everything about the kid is anachronistic. his clothes, his companions, his language. he seemed out of time to me, not an eternal figure but just beside time. next to it. mdemone posted:Guarantee that last one was intentional, to tease the reader about the possibility that the Kid exists independent of Alicia. Looking back, I really like these interpretations. I got over it, but I didn't like how the novel uses the schizophrenic genius trope. You don't have to have spent much time at all around a real schizophrenic to know their brain isn't special, it's a molten, non-functional mess. But if I take the Kid et. al. as an independent visitation, Alicia is a lot more tasteful.
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Feb 4, 2024 02:54
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I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Stella Maris. I liked it more than the Passenger.
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Feb 4, 2024 03:05
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Red Crown posted:Looking back, I really like these interpretations. I got over it, but I didn't like how the novel uses the schizophrenic genius trope. You don't have to have spent much time at all around a real schizophrenic to know their brain isn't special, it's a molten, non-functional mess. But if I take the Kid et. al. as an independent visitation, Alicia is a lot more tasteful. There's a ton of circumstantial evidence that the Kid is independent, and it's obviously what Alicia believes although I forget if she ever says so directly. edit: sorry, that's info from Stella Maris. I don't think it's spoiler-ish to say so. mdemone fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Feb 5, 2024 |
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Feb 5, 2024 18:21
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Red Crown posted:And some obvious Not So Goods: Like most posters, I was over The Kid's schtick after about the first page. I was on the edge of putting Stella Maris in a dusty pile until an earlier poster mentioned that thread doesn't re-appear.
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Feb 5, 2024 19:20
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The Passenger is $2 on Kindle today https://www.amazon.com/Passenger-Cormac-McCarthy-ebook/dp/B09T9D8QY7
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Mar 5, 2024 17:44
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Boco_T posted:The Passenger is $2 on Kindle today https://www.amazon.com/Passenger-Cormac-McCarthy-ebook/dp/B09T9D8QY7 But Stella Maris is still $11.99... Honestly probably a smart idea to give away the difficult one and if people can get through that, they almost have to buy Stella Maris.
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Mar 5, 2024 18:14
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snoremac posted:Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my changsent. I popped into this thread to share a bit I was thinking of and how the passenger / SM are as autobiographical as suttree imo. quote:I think you’ve some idea. I know that you think we’re very different, me and thee. My father was a country storekeeper and yours a fabricator of expensive devices that make a loud noise and vaporize people. But our common history transcends much. I know certain days of your childhood. All but weeping with loneliness. Coming upon a certain book in the library and clutching it to you. Carrying it home. Some perfect place to read it. Under a tree perhaps. Beside a stream. Flawed youths of course. To prefer a world of paper. Rejects. But we know another truth, dont we Squire? And of course it’s true that any number of these books were penned in lieu of burning down the world—which was their author’s true desire. But the real question is are we few the last of a lineage? Will children yet to come harbor a longing for a thing they cannot even name? The legacy of the word is a fragile thing for all its power, but I know where you stand, Squire. I know that there are words spoken by men ages dead that will never leave your heart. Remembering how the last years of his life were spent
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Mar 6, 2024 08:23
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After sitting on the passenger and Stella Maris for a bit I decided to go back and reread the borderlands trilogy. It’s been maybe not quite twenty years and the world and me were both very different. Anyway, I finished the crossing last night and I’m going to let it sit for a bit before finishing the trilogy because I have some other stuff I need to get to, but it’s strange because my reaction is so different than I remember. I remember really liking AtPH and kind of hating the crossing. But on this reread I really found the crossing to be far more interesting and Billy far more interesting than Grady, for reasons I’m still kicking around in my head. Part of it is the various people Billy converses with just seemed to resonate more, and part of it was Billy carried along reacting to circumstances seemed more textured than Grady. I don’t know. Just thought I’d share escape artist posted:I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Stella Maris. I liked it more than the Passenger. I don’t know if I’d say more exactly, but I’d agree it’s at least as interesting as the passenger, and there are some really haunting passages half a year on I still think about her plan to drown herself in Lake Tahoe, just an amazing and terrifying and horribly beautiful paragraph
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Mar 7, 2024 19:08
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I picked up no country for old men. I’ve read everything else but this and outer dark. One thing that I see here and especially in the border books (is this a fourth border book?). Is that McCarthy is really good at describing what it’s like to be wounded and bleeding. The numbness, the shock, the progressively more And more blood, the pain only when you’re doing something particular… i was trying to write a story where the viewpoint character loses a fist fight and I realized I was just copying McCarthy…. Probably not the first dudebro story to do that.
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Mar 26, 2024 04:49
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Reading the book really made me appreciate the film more because of how much so much of the book is just on screen but also the cuts they did make were excellent.
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Mar 26, 2024 08:53
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algebra testes posted:Reading the book really made me appreciate the film more because of how much so much of the book is just on screen but also the cuts they did make were excellent. The movie is one of the closest adaptations I’ve ever seen, which makes sense as it was originally a screenplay nobody wanted (lmao, imo that worked out for the best) and I’d agree with that sentiment that the cuts were all really good except it bothered me that they decided to add ambiguity to the last coin flip which might just be me I guess that’s possibly because I really enjoyed how it flips the (spoilers feel unnecessary here because I can’t imagine anyone hasn’t seen/read it but just to be safe) the damsel in distress plot beat where she’s never in any immediate danger until the very end where she dies unceremoniously to a coin toss HashtagGirlboss fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Mar 27, 2024 |
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Mar 27, 2024 18:37
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I always assumed She was dead because thematically it makes sense and also he checks his boots for blood. but I can't remember what happens in the book.
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Mar 28, 2024 15:03
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algebra testes posted:I always assumed She was dead because thematically it makes sense and also he checks his boots for blood. but I can't remember what happens in the book. Yeah you’re right. I had misremembered my issue with the movie (tbf it’s been more than a few years since I’ve seen/read) movie she refuses to pick, book she picks and it comes up the other side of the coin, I liked that better for whatever reason
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Mar 28, 2024 15:14
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shifts the needle a bit between chigurch being a force of nature vs an evil rear end in a top hat
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Mar 28, 2024 16:07
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Reading the book years after seeing the movie, the book helped me understand the final act a lot more, both thematically and in terms of what happened in the story.
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Mar 28, 2024 17:22
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Javier elevates the character. he just is Chigurh. Book Chigurh runs his mouth too much.
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Mar 28, 2024 18:56
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uber_stoat posted:Javier elevates the character. he just is Chigurh. Book Chigurh runs his mouth too much. It’s a really good performance and I would mostly agree but I think the Chigurh/Wells bit specifically works better in the book
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Mar 28, 2024 19:15
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