Blood Meridian
Or the Evening Redness in the West
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4.3 • 1.4K Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
One of The Atlantic’s “Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years,” now with a new foreword by Marlon James
Widely considered one of the finest novels by a living writer, Blood Meridian is an epic tale of the violence and corruption that attended America’s westward expansion, brilliantly subverting the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the “Wild West.” Its wounded hero, the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennessean, must confront the extraordinary brutality of the Glanton gang, a murderous cadre on an official mission to scalp Indians. Seeming to preside over this nightmarish world is the diabolical Judge Holden, one of the most unforgettable characters in American fiction.
Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, Blood Meridian represents a genius vision of the historical West, one whose stature has only grown in the years since its publication.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Cormac McCarthy plumbs the depths of humankind’s depravity like no one else. In this dark, gritty Old West classic, we follow the violent odyssey of a teenager known as “the kid” through the American Southwest in the mid-1800s. The kid eventually joins the scalp-hunting Glanton gang—whose members include a pale, hairless giant named Judge Holden and an ex-priest named Tobin—who are being paid by the Mexican government to terrorize the territory. McCarthy conjures ornate poetry out of malevolence and pain, and his storytelling makes it clear that no one is innocent. The ending of this brutal tale sparked debates for decades. Pick it up—and form your own opinion.
Customer Reviews
Not bad...not great
Somewhat disappointed as i obviously had very high expectations. Good characters and good story, just not in the realm of "greatest book ever". Wouldn't be in my top 50. Not the easiest read either as it bogs down a bit in parts. Good, violent, western though.
Holden
This is the best book I've ever read. The closest comparison I can come up with for this novel is a melding of the Old Testament and Apocalypse Now in the setting of the American Western Frontier. I guess you might call it a western, but the book encapsulates the brutality of the human condition on both an individual and societal level, applicable to any culture in history. This is McCarthy's best work...I think one of the best works written in the 20th century.
One of most unforgiving books I've ever read...
I've muscled through some incredibly tough books in the past but nothing yet has come close to the beauty and harshness of this novel. It's a black-hole of tale with no payback, redemption, or light. I don't regret reading it at all, but I'll never re-read it and I could never recommend it to anyone in good conscience.