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No Country for Old Men

by Cormac McCarthy

4.00 · rating details · 30,340 ratings · 3,275 reviews

In his blistering new novel, Cormac McCarthy returns to the Texas-Mexico border, setting of his famed Border Trilogy. The time is our own, when rustlers have given way to drug-runners and small towns have become free-fire zones.

One day, a good old boy named Llewellyn Moss finds a pickup truck surrounded by a bodyguard of dead men. A load of heroin and two million dollars ...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published July 11th 2006 by Vintage (first published January 1st 2005)

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Community Reviews

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Jan 21, 2012

Gavin rated it

Shelves: literary

I appreciate the nuances of a McCarthy novel: his voice, the settings, the very real characters he conjures within that mind of his. But the one thing I cannot accept is when people say he only writes westerns. His books cannot be categorized with such a simple claim. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is a perfect example. Sure, McCarthy uses some sterotypes (easy-going sheriff, bumbling hero, and creepy psychopath) to tell his story, but he uses them in ways that few writers can--McCarthy breaths life...more

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Jan 22, 2012

Manny rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: older-men-younger-women, parody-homage

So are we gonna talk about No Country For Old Men, he said.

Why not, she replied.

Then we gotta do it like McCarthy, he said. Short sentences. Southern dialect. No punctuation.

I can drop the punctuation, she said. But I can't do Southern.

You can try.

Well then I caint. That good enough for you?

Youre tryin. That's the important thing. Caint do more than try.

Thank you. I wish I could speak it. It's a beautiful langua...more

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Aug 28, 2011

Paquita Maria Sanchez rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: literature

This is my least favorite McCarthy that I have ever, ever read. And you know what that tells you? Not shit, except that the man can basically do no wrong in my eyes. I can and will nitpick, but just know that I don't really mean it and it's only because I love you, baby.

First thing's first: I saw this movie about a zillion times before I read the book, though I wish, I wish, I wish that I hadn't. When an author bases a novel's emotional heft largely on the momentum of its action,...moreThis is my least favorite McCarthy that I have ever, ever read. And you know what that tells you? Not shit, except that the man can basically do no wrong in my eyes. I can and will nitpick, but just know that I don't really mean it and it's only because I love you, baby.

First thing's first: I saw this movie about a zillion times before I read the book, though I wish, I wish, I wish that I hadn't. When an author bases a novel's emotional heft largely on the momentum of its action, suspense, and general thrills!, verily it doth suck when you know exactly where all that bing-bang-boom is headed. I am willing to acknowledge that it is unfair of me to judge the book based on this external factor. However, The Road was unaffected by my pre-read film viewing, and so I cast one stone. Okay, so No Country is not as excellent as The Road. Again, not saying much.

Second thaaang: Unlike in that one book I just mentioned, the staccato style did occasionally get to me. I like to think of it as a warm-up exercise (since practice makes perfect and all), but still I found it to be excessively clipped and jarring in some places. Here and there, it was basically like this: "Moss needed to piss. He found a wall. He unzipped his Wranglers. He pulled out his penis. Moss urinated. The wall got wet. Moss felt relieved. So long, penis." Still, it's Cormac McCarthy; the bulk of the novel is putrid elegance. Expect no less.

Third: McCarthy is a craftmaster at evoking vivid landscapes. Added to his skill at articulating scenic minutia, I was actually (just like Moss and his buddy, Chigurh) traveling by car, train, and foot in Texas as I read, completed, and proceeded to mull over this book. I felt the oppressive heat, witnessed the sprawling golden fields, and raced past the rotting roadside dives as McCarthy tromped through them in text. It is eerie-cool to feel double-whammied by a book like that, and so I think I will make a point of being similarly literal again some time in the near future. I'll try not to take it so far that I'm like some asshole who reads Under the Tuscan Sun on vacation in Italy right after a breakup, but ya know...something like that. I wonder if astronauts read sci-fi novels in space?

Fourth and final point: I much prefer the fiery britches Carla Jean. That woman didn't actually quite take things lying down like a frightened and battered puppy. Her extended scene with Chigurh was quite telling, as was her Bonnie and Clyde-like resistance to Sheriff Bell's interrogation concerning Moss's whereabouts. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that despite the script's relative accuracy, there are some surprises yet as far as she, Chigurh, and Moss are concerned (to summarize, the latter has a long scene with a character who didn't make the cut for the screenplay, but who reveals a lot about Moss through her interactions with him). The book still has some stories to tell. It isn't all an echo.

Anyway, read this book. Why? It's McCarthy, dude. C'mon.(less)

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May 14, 2011

Stephen rated it

Shelves: audiobook, psychos, classics-americas, 2000-2005, literary-fiction, crime

4.5 to 5.0 stars. First, a pre-emptive apology...this is my first Cormac McCarthy novel and so my gush of praise may be a tad too CAPTAIN KIRKISH in its melodramatic over the top-ness, so please forgive me. I will attempt to keep my giddiness to a minimum...but man can this guy write a novel!!!

I will start by saying without trying to sound overly stuffy or pretentious that I thought this was a brilliant, nuanced, multi-layered story that was told in extremely simple, str...more

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May 20, 2011

Velvetink rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, western, 2011-read

Just adding a link; http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/drug.h...

It's a modern day shoot-em-up with bad ass Mexican drug dealers in Texas. What can I say?. What else do you need to know?. I mainly read it after reading McCarthy's "The Road" that everyone (well nearly everyone) seems to be falling over themselves in saying it's the greatest thing in literature since sliced bread - or words to that effect. Meh. While reading "The Road" I kept getting the feeling that i...more

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Apr 26, 2008

Kim rated it

Shelves: contemporary

My first attempt at Cormac McCarthy. The movie just won an oscar and the hype was starting to wane some (being a month and a Britney relapse ago) and well, 'The Road' was out at the library.

I wasn't sure what I was going to get out of it. The writing style and use of southern dialect was a bit off putting, but once I found the rhythm...
It reminded me of that old cliche (the story, not the dialect--keep up)of the good guys with the white hats---bad guys in black (or Spy vs. Sp...more

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Mar 03, 2008

Taylor rated it

Shelves: fiction, own, favorites, desert-island-picks

Right off the bat I have to say this is a book that I'm not so sure I can do enough justice to in my review. There are so many themes and subtleties here (this is another book as much about what isn't said/done as what is), and I'm not sure that I've entirely digested all of them. A lot of the "professional" reviews tie some of the themes to the Bible, and having little knowledge of the Bible, there's a chance I'm missing out on some things. That said, even without that knowledge, this...more

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Dec 04, 2007

Kenyon rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: all friends

I wrote a review of this for the Sackets Harbor Gazette!
If you think that the western novel genre died with Louis L’Amour. Think again. Cormac McCarthy has been writing them after a fashion for a while with a style all his own and a voice as stark and certain as the plains of Texas he often describes. No Country for Old Men, first published in 2005 and recently brought out in paperback as a movie tie-in, is a story of duty, treachery, loyalty, and evil; of a decision to act made by instinct...moreI wrote a review of this for the Sackets Harbor Gazette!
If you think that the western novel genre died with Louis L’Amour. Think again. Cormac McCarthy has been writing them after a fashion for a while with a style all his own and a voice as stark and certain as the plains of Texas he often describes. No Country for Old Men, first published in 2005 and recently brought out in paperback as a movie tie-in, is a story of duty, treachery, loyalty, and evil; of a decision to act made by instinct the consequences of which cannot be undone, ignored, or escaped especially by the three characters central to the novel’s plot. It’s also a story of our times and other times.

Set 1980 in the vastness of west Texas and its small towns, a Vietnam veteran out on an early morning hunt discovers from a distance, the deadly mayhem of a drug deal that had imploded with greed. This man, Moss, makes a decision that will set him on a path to converge with a diabolically sinister man named Chigurh who is out to square, rather than clean up, the drug deal mess and the local sheriff, Sheriff Bell, a longtime peace officer who wishes to save Moss from a fate that the sheriff comes to believe cannot be altered. As Sheriff Bell goes about his duty, the author takes the reader into the Sheriff’s confidence using first person narration to convey the weariness and confusion the sheriff has suddenly become aware he feels for the way the world has come to work, and the sense of frustration he has when he begins to reason that the value system that has served him so well no longer can be applied.

This reviewer found the whole of No Country for Old Men, as with many excellent books, to be greater than the sum of its parts. As a fast paced action tale of the old-fashioned page-turner variety, it will not disappoint the reader willingly enthralled by suspense and a fine tuned sense of apprehension. For the reader with an ear for, and appreciation of, the vernacular, rhythm, and speech patterns of the West Texas version of the English language that seems to be defined by the topography and weather as well as the drawl of its practitioners, this will be a book in which to revel. And lastly, there is a moral story here that reduces good and evil to the most, not the least, common denominator, and asks the reader to reflect, along with Sheriff Bell, on how the values that we count on to get by don’t necessarily add up any longer. Cormac McCarthy’s gift lies with interleaving these layers he creates into a fascinating story.

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Jul 25, 2007

Matthew rated it

· review of another edition

No Country For Old Men may be Cormac McCarthy's most accessible and fun book yet, but that doesn't mean there's nothing more to it. Ostensibly the story of a drug deal gone bad, it's also an elegy for simpler (or at least, less horrible) times, a study of the relationship between fathers and their sons, and - like all Cormac McCarthy books that I've read - an existential probe into the nature of evil with only the faintest glimmer of any hope or any God. It also features one of the most frighten...more

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Sep 21, 2011

Trudi rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: a-sense-of-place, prose-that-sings, real-life-fiction, made-into-movie, 2011, books-i-want-to-marry, love-the-title, scary-as-hell, survive-this, uber-graphic-extreme, what-the-bleep, loved-the-movie, heart-of-darkness

Cormac McCarthy is a goddamned poet with some mad, kick-ass storytelling skills. Speechless for the moment. Brain is goo. Please stand by.

****

This book broke my brain. On the surface, McCarthy is weaving a modern day western aptly soaked in blood and ruthlessness, where the line between hero and villain is sharply drawn. On that same surface, what we have is a cast of archetypes – the weary sheriff who has stayed too long and seen too much; the everyday man living right u...more

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Aug 17, 2008

Anthony Breznican rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone wondering why human evil so easily trumps the good.

Here's an unusual encounter.

I met Cormac McCarthy at the Oscars this year, and we had a very pleasant little chat. This was an important moment to me not only because he is the author of Blood Meridian, No Country For Old Men and The Road, which won the Pulitzer Prize, but also because McCarthy is famous for his almost Salinger-like reclusive tendencies. He does not do interviews or show up on The Tonight Show. He doesn't walk red carpets, tour colleges on lecture tours, or do any of...more

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May 26, 2008

Annalisa rated it

Recommends it for: guys

Recommended to Annalisa by: Ryan

Shelves: mystery-thriller, literary, guy-lit

This is definitely a man's book, loaded with violence and male tendency toward underexplaining vs female overanalyzing. The first half I thought there must be nothing gained from the book over the movie (I haven't seen it) because it read like a movie script describing one violent murder after the next without any insight into characters' motives, emotions, intentions, all the reasons a book is better.

But near the end of the book, you realize that this is not Moss' story, but sherif...moreThis is definitely a man's book, loaded with violence and male tendency toward underexplaining vs female overanalyzing. The first half I thought there must be nothing gained from the book over the movie (I haven't seen it) because it read like a movie script describing one violent murder after the next without any insight into characters' motives, emotions, intentions, all the reasons a book is better.

But near the end of the book, you realize that this is not Moss' story, but sheriff Bell's. You are getting pieces of his mind. It's not about a lack of old men because they're all getting killed off young, but a country where old men are left holding values of the past and wondering what has happened to society.

The story is about a young man (Moss) who stumbles on a drug exchange gone array and takes the millions from the carnage. He soon becomes the hunted from hit men (Chigurh the main one) out to recover the money and one step behind it all is sheriff Bell about to retire who has never had an unsolved homicide and needs to world to make sense and be good.

There are plenty of statements about right and wrong and the fine line between the two. You take sheriff Bell who is the standard for good, but he is doing good to live up to his dad, to make up for a war failure, but it brings him no joy because it's just retribution. And the one moment when he could redeem his youth, he fails into the same pattern when he hides and waits for backup.

Then you take Chigurh the villainous assassin who will kill someone just because they inconvenienced him. Then you learn the twisted scruples his psychotic mind created to justify himself. Of all the characters he seems to have the most integrity although you want to kill him yourself for it. He sees himself as a symbol for death that has no sense of right or wrong, just fate that cannot change course. You see how the other characters deal with him in your classic steps of death. Of all the characters he was the most interesting to read.

And finally you have Moss who is a good guy who made a dumb mistake, or lots of them. Where does he fit in the good and bad when he lets greed overcome his consideration for his wife? It was well into the book before I could decided whether I liked him or not because he seemed so undecided himself.

I liked the lack of a fairy tale ending and the surprises. What I didn't like was the style. Not the loose grammatical style that added character to the book, but the lack of description. Sometimes I got lost. What character am I reading here? Who did what? What are they talking about? The condensed dialogue seemed to wander into nowhere at times and then snap into insightful without a transition.

I would have liked to understand more about what happened in the motel with the hitchhiker, but all we get are police reports not who came or how or even why. It could have been as random as the car accident. But I guess the senselessness is the whole point of the story. I felt the end dragged a little. Quick to the point of being snipped and then page after of page of sheriff Bell's mind wandering, unexplained, sometimes hard to follow wanderings. The end didn't match the rest of the book.

The writing and the story aren't amazing, but once the flavor of the book fades and you are left considering and wondering, the book grows on you. It was frustrating to read, but once mulled over I liked it better.(less)

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Sep 06, 2009

Trish rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When I tried to read this a while back, I stalled out in the early pages. Those spare sentences about guns and the Western landscape were like impenetrable koans. This time, I concentrated and caught the rhythm of the fractured story McCarthy tells--a story about drugs, money and, mostly, murder.

Lllewelyn Moss is just hunting for antelope. Instead, he finds dead bodies, a cache of heroin, and $2 million. If he walked away, could he have been saved? Or was his fate sealed by happenst...more

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Dec 12, 2007

Adam rated it

"You can't go to war without G-d." So says Cormac McCarthy. The concept that G-d has a vested interest in war is as ancient as war itself. Fore did G-d not say to the Israelites as they prepared to enter Canaan: "My terror I send before thee, and I have put to death all the people among whom thou comest, and I have given the neck of all thine enemies unto thee. (EX 23:27)." It is not only in Judaism that a deity steps to the plate in the eternal struggle between men. In ...more"You can't go to war without G-d." So says Cormac McCarthy. The concept that G-d has a vested interest in war is as ancient as war itself. Fore did G-d not say to the Israelites as they prepared to enter Canaan: "My terror I send before thee, and I have put to death all the people among whom thou comest, and I have given the neck of all thine enemies unto thee. (EX 23:27)." It is not only in Judaism that a deity steps to the plate in the eternal struggle between men. In the Greek classic "The Iliad" Athena, Ares, and Aphrodite play as prominent (if not more so) a role in deciding the battle's fate as Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, or a large wooden horse. It is not news that before facing the uncertainty, which lies latent in war, man looks to find an ally in G-d.

However, what if G-d does not take a hand in war? How does one go into battle w/o a principle and fundamental faith? A very good and pertinent question-especially with the mindset behind our current military involvement. When man looks at his destiny outside of what G-d’s providence has determined for him, a very strange and scary existence takes shape. While I have no doubt many a soldier has pondered over this, it was Napoleon Bonaparte (emerging from the Enlightenment, where fundamental theological beliefs were called into question) who succinctly summarized this concept: "God is on the side with the most artillery." Thus implying that, indeed, we form our destiny. We create the reality of our lives. This is a terrifying concept for the soldier venturing into the chaotic expanse of the battlefield. Fore, if the buck stops with me, maybe the bullet will too.

But, it is not just in the midst battle where one feels lost without a Divine Providence. The struggle of everyday’s existence can be combat in itself. As the Russian playwright Chekhov says: “Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.” The choices we may make on a day to day basis carry a significant weight when they alone form our tomorrow. It is this notion that McCarthy drives across in this saga of how life’s yesterdays yields to make today. Chance does not bring you to the bed of a cheap motel where you stare at a neon illuminated ceiling. Nor does bad luck put you at the working end of a silenced .22. It is the choices you make that chisel your sculpture of reality from the blankness of the broad, granite world. When one looks with an incisive eye, the destiny of decisions can be made clear. However, an insightful eye is rare. For this reason McCarthy employs Carla Jean’s grandmother in the archetypal role of the old (often sick and/or crazy) soothsayer (it is not by chance she is referred to as an “old woman” on p. 202 when she makes the inference that she deserves no credit for predicting the course Moss and Carla Jean’s relationship would take-the course of events where clear as day).

Many are unwilling to accept the notion that G-d is not laying a path for us; as is the case for the retired Sheriff Deputy Ellis. He waits his entire life for the arrival of G-d. He never comes. When the reader meets Ellis he is old, sick, and alone. Maybe this is the existence that waits those who spend their life waiting for a destiny, rather than creating one.

Ultimately, this novel weaves a tale of masculine brawniness in a world where destiny is created-not found. It is a harsh and cold world where scruples of sensitivity have no place. It is a border town world, where life bends only in the direction we are willing, and able to take it.
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Jan 06, 2012

MJ Nicholls rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: novels, canadamericans

Ah sureas hell aint foolish enough to write this here review in dialect cause ah sureas hell know itll sound like ahm fixin for a spankin from the real deep south folks, but ah caint resist the urge when the whole damn novel sounds like this, an why the hell not? Ah mean were in some southern location maybe Texas aint we? But cain ah keep up the dialect for the whole review? No, I sure as hell can’t. So let me review in my usual arch and brusque manner and dispense with these dialectical fripper...more

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Jun 21, 2008

Jim rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone interested in a disturbing and deep sketch of the human condition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have to say that the movie bugged me. But it bugged me in a way that made me want to give it another chance. I decided to read the book first.

The book is really amazing.

I see it as a balance between the best and the worst of what human beings are capable. The characters at opposite poles are the enigmatic murdering force of nature, Anton Chigurh, played off against the solidly humanistic Sheriff, Ed Tom Bell. Bell's italicized monologues punctuate the book, introduc...moreI have to say that the movie bugged me. But it bugged me in a way that made me want to give it another chance. I decided to read the book first.

The book is really amazing.

I see it as a balance between the best and the worst of what human beings are capable. The characters at opposite poles are the enigmatic murdering force of nature, Anton Chigurh, played off against the solidly humanistic Sheriff, Ed Tom Bell. Bell's italicized monologues punctuate the book, introducing each section. His voice is troubled but solidly human. He knows he is up against something new and terrible and that he possibly has met his match. We learn a lot about Bell and what he thinks and his own demons. We get a good sketch about what has made him the way he is and why he thinks what he does.

Chigurh is written very much as Bell's opposite. We don't know much about him. We only see his actions, and his actions are horrific, at odds with anything we'd call human decency. He not only kills people, but kills them in horrible ways and seemingly without motivation at times. He seems to have his own deep and solid and furious set of values, but they are values we ultimately cannot understand or reject. He seems almost to stand outside what we'd usually call humanity, and yet he is human. That makes the character all the more disturbing.

Directly between these characters is Moss, who has made the monumental decision of his life in running off with the satchel of drug-tainted money. In doing so, he has opened himself to the world of Chigurh, while still being protected and pursued by Bell.

So, Sheriff and murdering demon at opposite poles, and a failed human being directly in the center, pursued by both.

Makes for a great and a deep novel.

McCarthy's writing is spare and poetic. Most of the time he portrays people through their actions, not their thoughts. Most of the thoughts as thoughts come in Bell's monologues, which are often a welcome balance to the ghastly actions of Chigurh.

That is part of what is great about this truly excellent writer's work. He is able to convey much about people and their motivations through detailed sketches of their actions only. He rarely dives into their thoughts, and when he does it is deliberate and powerful.

It is hard to heap too much praise on this great great book.

And, having read the book, I have to say that the Coen Brothers certainly stayed with it faithfully in their movie. There are few scenes in the book that did not appear in the film. Not very many, just a few.

Now it is time for me to view the film again, see what I think this time! (less)

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Mar 23, 2008

Tim Pendry rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: thriller, crime, five-star, north-american

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is a great book on two levels - style and content.

You have to enter into the laconic vernacular of the border country and see how McCarthy uses it to show how a few words in the right context can get you deeper into the emotions (or lack of them) of the main protagonists than long-winded description of feelings.

He manages the rare feat of showing how a basic decency, a sentimental decency, triumphs morally over cunning and intellect. He reminds us that 'sentiment',...moreThis is a great book on two levels - style and content.

You have to enter into the laconic vernacular of the border country and see how McCarthy uses it to show how a few words in the right context can get you deeper into the emotions (or lack of them) of the main protagonists than long-winded description of feelings.

He manages the rare feat of showing how a basic decency, a sentimental decency, triumphs morally over cunning and intellect. He reminds us that 'sentiment', that is feeling one's values as givens without too much analysis, is not to be despised by those whose default mode is knowing irony. There is nothing post-modern about this book.

As for the content, this is a deeply political book without once mentioning politics, as most readers would understand it.

It implies not so much the regret for lost values that other reviewers have noted and which may be obvious in the text (but which it is arguable provided a mere interlude of integrity between the normal condition of self-centred violence in the American West) but a gentle questioning of patriotism when your country has drifted far away from your own ideals and understanding, when you don't know what you are fighting for (and putting ourself at risk for) any more, when it asks too much and gives so little in return.

The American working man's experiences in America's wars overseas is a running theme 'sotto voce', underpinning the account of one incident in what is really a civil war in all but name, one in which government agents and drug runners seem to be fighting over who actually represents the will of the American people.

The Sheriff seems to sense that urban America has chosen the other side to his by providing markets for the 'criminals'. The killer Chigurh is almost a parody of the Ayn Rand libertarian in his peculiar a-social determination to 'succeed' on his own terms. He is out of the 'Fountainhead' but with crime rather than architecture and art the model. He should be fascinating but is merely chilling - a half person compared to the much weaker hero.

This book might appear to be an elegy for an older America which has been left behind (that is how most would like to interpret it), but this reader detected a darker mood, an implied anger that the betrayal of simpler souls in matters of war and peace starts to return home at the border between America and the world outside.

A cold hell (represented by Chigurh) has seeped into the homeland, looking for opportunity. Of course, nothing is made quite that clear - but that is what happens in great art, and this is great art. (less)

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Ophelia Hello Tim,

I've read your review of "No Country for old men".
I like what you say about politics in the book, and about patriot...more
Mar 31, 2008 04:51am

Tim Pendry Dear Ophelia

Thank you for the invitation.

I looked at www.booktalk.org (which seems like fun for literati) but, being caught up...more
Apr 02, 2008 10:03pm

Ophelia Dear Tim,

Thank you very much for your detailed answer and for your time.

Regards,

Ophelia.
Apr 02, 2008 11:30pm

Nov 28, 2007

Tony Q. rated it

I'm one of the many who left the movie theater completely unfulfilled. I saw No Country for Old Men on it's opening weekend, and could not wait to see the fantastic performances on screen. I loved everything about it, until the last fifteen minutes or so stopped making sense. As soon as Ed Tom Bell finished sharing his dream with his wife, the screen was black for a moment, and I said to myself "this f___ing movie is gonna end...it's gonna f___ing end!!!" Roll the credits.

...more

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Jan 17, 2011

Dan rated it

Shelves: 2011

While out shooting antelope, Llewellyn Moss stumbles upon a crime scene: three trucks, all shot up, and numerous bodies. Upon further inspection, Moss finds a substantial quantity of heroin and a briefcase containing over two million dollars. Moss takes the money and quickly ends up a wanted man. Can Moss survive long enough to enjoy the money?

This was my first McCarthy book and probably won't be the last. I devoured it in a single sitting. The clipped style really drove the sto...more

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Jul 12, 2011

Seth rated it

McCarthy writes distinct characters. Each character has a unique voice. The plot is high adventure and high violence. He attempts to give us wisdom through the dialog of three main characters. The wisdom often comes out trite because it is written with a southern rural dialect which is melodramatic and feels strained. Sometimes there are some funny attempts. For example, one of the main characters, the Sheriff, remembering a conference in Corpus Christi, thinks,

“Me and Loretta...moreMcCarthy writes distinct characters. Each character has a unique voice. The plot is high adventure and high violence. He attempts to give us wisdom through the dialog of three main characters. The wisdom often comes out trite because it is written with a southern rural dialect which is melodramatic and feels strained. Sometimes there are some funny attempts. For example, one of the main characters, the Sheriff, remembering a conference in Corpus Christi, thinks,

“Me and Loretta…got set next to this woman, she was the wife of somebody or other. And she kept talkin about the right wing this and the right wing that. I ain’t even sure what she meant by it. The people I know are mostly just common people. Common as dirt, as the sayin goes. I told her that and she looked at me funny. She thought I was sayin somethin bad about em, but of course that’s a high compliment in my part of the world. She kept on, kept on. Finally told me, said: I don’t like the way this country is headed. I want my granddaughter to be able to have an abortion. And I said well mam I don’t think you got any worries about the way the country is headed. The way I see it goin I dont have much doubt but what she’ll be able to have an abortion. I’m goin to say that not only will she be able to have an abortion, she’ll be able to have you put to sleep. Which pretty much ended the conversation.”

The book has a strong theme about death. The abortion quote is an example of how little McCarthy thinks our culture respects life. The antagonist, a sociopath, believes he has perfect integrity and yet he is a cold blooded killer. He feels no remorse and kills to insure he leaves no possible liabilities alive. Its Darwinistic and many scenes of his murders are almost too hard to read. McCarthy writes with this extreme harshness in The Road also. Perhaps, The Road is even more severe.

I like the book's serious tone, the suspenseful plot, and the strong characters but found the dialog to be overplayed. Country folk do have an earthy wisdom and sometimes have a way of putting things poetically, however, Llewelyn and the Sheriff are stylized men who's mistakes of the past make them cowboy prophets. McCarthy's view of a good ol boy is similar to Willie Nelson.

Finally, I really liked the bleak conclusion. If anything is honest about this book it is that nothing good comes from drugs, violence, and lawlessness. Good guys don't win and courageous guys die.(less)

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Jul 30, 2008

Matt rated it

Shelves: 2008, uncle-cormac

After going all fanboy over 'The Road' I had to run out and grab this one.

While this is a fine book, it has a more straightforward narrative style than 'The Road'. Personally, I found this fact a little disappointing.

Essentially, a drug deal goes bad and the money goes missing. This leads to several extra dead bodies.

There are two characters of note: Anton Chigurh and Sheriff Bell. Chigurh who serves as the "bad guy" is interesting because he seems...more

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Jun 15, 2008

Trevor rated it

Shelves: language

To be honest, I found this a bit irritating. It jumped around a little too much and the violence was pointless and excessive. I also found the ‘home-spun’ philosophy a bit hard to take.

There was not a single character in this book that I would urinate on if they were on fire – their deaths, therefore, were devoid of interest. I guess this book is Dirty Harry from the darkside. Same crap, same fascination with guns and the voyeurism caused by the effect bullets have on the human...more

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Jan 28, 2008

Trevor rated it

This book most explicitly addresses what seems to be a common theme for McCarthy, that being a man's view of the world as it spirals inexorably out of control. The author, and in this case, one of his characters, stand back and tremble, unable to comprehend the more terrible aspects of life and its unraveling. Instead, McCarthy writes them down in a matter of fact way, as if to move closer to finding meaning in such mayhem, only to leave us, as readers, with the charge of doing so, and perhaps l...more

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Oct 15, 2008

Caroline rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, read-in-2008

I enjoyed this, well as much as I really could when it's a story of people getting their brains and other gooey bits splattered across the scenery, but I was so bugged by the vagueness towards the end.

The first half of this seemed very clear and, while it was stark in terms of prose, it told the story very well and I never felt confused. Around page 250, though, I swear McCarthy rushed it or something because he skipped some scenes which I would have thought would be pretty important...more

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Mar 11, 2008

Sera rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, literary-fiction, own

I loved this book. After having read The Road and now this other book by McCarthy, I have to say that this man is a genius. His commentary on how America has quickly become out of control and much more violent over the last few decades provides one element of the foundation of the insight into the Sheriff, who is the central character of the book. The story is simple and straightforward, but McCarthy took me, as the reader, to so many other places while reading this book. This book gave me ...more

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Feb 28, 2011

Stefan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Cândva în 1980, un veteran al războiului din Vietnam pe nume Llewelyn Moss braconează antilope în sudul statului Texas, în apropierea graniței cu Mexicul, când dă peste scena unei lupte între traficanți de droguri. Croindu-și drum printre cadavre de oameni și câini și mașini ciuruite, Moss abandonează un portbagaj plin cu droguri dar își însușește o valijoară plină cu bani. Deși nu are niciun regret că a pus mâna pe bani negri, peste noapte este cuprins de remușcare că nu i-a dat apă unicului su...moreCândva în 1980, un veteran al războiului din Vietnam pe nume Llewelyn Moss braconează antilope în sudul statului Texas, în apropierea graniței cu Mexicul, când dă peste scena unei lupte între traficanți de droguri. Croindu-și drum printre cadavre de oameni și câini și mașini ciuruite, Moss abandonează un portbagaj plin cu droguri dar își însușește o valijoară plină cu bani. Deși nu are niciun regret că a pus mâna pe bani negri, peste noapte este cuprins de remușcare că nu i-a dat apă unicului supraviețuitor al masacrului și se hotărăște să se întoarcă. Dar nu și-a ales bine momentul: se dă în vileag, și pe urmele lui se năpustesc asasinul plătit Anton Chigurh și bătrânul șerif Ed Tom Bell. Moss încearcă să scape cu viața și cu banii, Chigurh lasă în urmă un șir (lung, prea lung!) de cadavre, iar Bell, în pragul pensiei, meditează pesimist la soarta lumii.

Dincolo de thrillerul de o violență rară, Nu există țară pentru bătrâni este o meditație (livrescă) asupra răului. Dacă nu există dubii asupra lui Chigurh, și Moss este la rândul său un anti-erou – un om fără prea multe scrupule, cu instincte morale ambigue și reflexe oarecum întârziate (de pildă îi ia destul timp până să se hotărască să-i dea muribundului apă), care nu se sfiește să încalce legi mărunte în viața de zi cu zi (braconajul) și să ucidă când viața îi e amenințată, dar în cele din urmă un „flăcău cumsecade” pentru șeriful Bell (p. 73) sau partenera sa, Carla Jean. Chigurh, în schimb, este un criminal implacabil, aproape stihial, care nu e loial nimănui cu excepția crimei, condus de „principii care transcend banii sau drogurile sau orice altceva” (p. 149, în gura unui alt hitman care urmărește banii pentru enigmaticul traficant).

Romanul nu este un studiu al personajelor. Stagiul în Vietnam este o explicație facilă, neconvingătoare pentru fluiditatea moralității lui Moss. Chigurh este un personaj misterios și înfricoșător (cu ochi „[a]lbaștri ca niște lapislazuli. Sclipind pe neașteptate și complet opaci. Ca niște pietre ude”, p. 57), dar în ultimă instanță unidimensional. Prezența lui în roman nu e prilej de investigație psihologică sau sociologică (de aceea mă feresc de atribute precum „psihopat” sau „sociopat”, de care abundă alte recenzii), ci mai curând de explorare metafizică a răului absolut – poate fi acesta instanțiat de o persoană? Cum ar arăta lumea în care un astfel de vector al răului se dezlănțuie? Cine are o șansă în fața lui, oamenii buni, oamenii obișnuiți, altcineva?

Mai interesantă decât perechea Moss-Chigurh este perechea Bell-Carla Jean. În timp ce primii acționează, se fugăresc și încearcă să se ucidă, aceștia din urmă judecă și cântăresc, măsoară și reflectează. Bătrânul șerif, deși monologhează pesimist la începutul fiecărui capitol și anunță ca o Casandră începutul sfârșitului, se bucură că nu a fost nevoit să tragă niciun foc de armă în cariera sa de apărător (pasiv!) al păcii și legii, și își asumă misiunea salvării „flăcăului cumsecade” ca pe un fel de ispășire a acțiunilor sale nedemne din Al Doilea Război Mondial. Singurul personaj feminin cât de cât vizibil în roman, Carla Jean este o tânără aparent naivă, care crede în inocența și bunătatea naturii lui Moss (și a umanității – îi ține piept lui Bell pe acest subiect), este capabilă de angajamente trainice în ciuda vârstei fragede (de doar 19 ani), și face alegeri pragmatice la nevoie (este dispusă să îl cedeze pe Moss șerifului, numai să nu-l vadă mort). Un personaj cu potențial nedezvoltat, dar, repet, intenția lui McCarthy nu pare să fi fost de a construi un roman psihologic.

Romanul este foarte bine scris; McCarthy este un maestru al dialogului (v. dialogul de la benzinărie dintre Chigurh și vânzător, pp. 54-59). Mai tot timpul schimburile de replici sunt rapide, iar Bell și Chigurh se întrec în cinism: „«Mare mizerie, nu, dom’ șerif?» «Destulă cât să ție locu’ cald pentru ce-o să vie.»” (p. 77). Prin manipularea tempoului (mai repede, mai încet) și a cursului evenimentelor (când înainte, când înapoi) McCarthy reușește să imprime narațiunii un dinamism aproape cinematografic – nu e de mirare că romanul a fost ecranizat la scurt timp după apariție. De pildă, următorul pasaj, în care Chigurh și doi trimiși ai misteriosului stăpân al milioanelor termină de inspectat scena trocului eșuat cu traficanții de droguri (peste care dăduse Moss cu 2 zile înainte, și care-l pusese pe urma banilor):

Chigurh nu-i răspunse. Ieși din camionetă și rămase cu privirea ațintită peste bajada luminată de lună. Liniște totală. Bărbatul din Bronco [mexicanul pentru care se întorsese Moss] nu era mort de mai mult de trei zile sau cam așa ceva. Scoase pistolul de la brăcinarul pantalonilor, se răsuci înspre locul unde stăteau cei doi bărbați și le trase amândurora câte un glonț în cap într-o succesiune rapidă, după care își vârî pistolul înapoi la curea. De fapt, al doilea bărbat apucase să se răsucească pe jumătate și să se uite cum se prăbușește primul. Chigurh păși între cei doi, se aplecă, [luă pistoalele celor doi], apoi se întoarse la mașină, urcă în ea, porni motorul, întoarse și traversă valea ca să se întoarcă la autostradă. (p. 62)

O mențiune specială merită traducerea lui Radu Pavel Gheo, care reușește să redea convingător și cu naturalețe regionalismele texane în limba română, reușind să păstreze fluența prozei lui McCarthy fără să recurgă la procedee facile. Sub pana lui Gheo, limbajul personajelor are ritm și sonoritate.

3 1/2 stele(less)

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Dec 31, 2009

S. rated it

Shelves: 5-stars, read-in-2009

Well, last day of the year and I woke up to finish "No Country for Old Men." I think this was a great book. Was it as good as "The Road?" Maybe. In any case, I’m a confirmed McCarthyite at this point, despite an unsteady start some years ago with "All the Pretty Horses," which left me lukewarm.

At the beginning I thought the movie was going to spoil the book, because the movie was fabulous. And there are some things in the movie that are incomparable. Jav...moreWell, last day of the year and I woke up to finish "No Country for Old Men." I think this was a great book. Was it as good as "The Road?" Maybe. In any case, I’m a confirmed McCarthyite at this point, despite an unsteady start some years ago with "All the Pretty Horses," which left me lukewarm.

At the beginning I thought the movie was going to spoil the book, because the movie was fabulous. And there are some things in the movie that are incomparable. Javier Bardem as Chigurh, for example, and Kelly Macdonald as Carla Jean. The way she talks! She’d melt the butter in the fridge.

But the reading experience will always be different, and the plot had elements that weren’t in the movie, like the hitcher, who adds to the story. Also, the book belongs much more to Sheriff Bell than the movie seems to, at least outright. I liked the transition away from the main line of action at the end of the book and into the ruminations of Bell. This does happen in the movie, too, but I think it works more effectively here. Also, the plot is terrific, the bad guy is the ultimate bad-ass psychopath, and the prose and dialogue are superb.

In any case, I’ve been saving up some bile for the lame blurb from The Times (London) that appears on the back of my copy. It says “A Western thriller with a racy plot and punchy dialogue perfect for a lazy Sunday.” That has got to be one of the worst pieces of bullshit I’ve ever been asked to eat. The plot is “racy?” “Racy” for me means “risqué” and “suggestive,” and although, like Freud, we might find sexuality somewhere at the bottom of all this, it is definitely not among the first 10 or 12 things to come to mind. Second, “punchy dialogue.” As in energetic, or fast-moving? I think it might be better here to use “choppy,” as authentic speech is choppy. Some of the dialogue is downright lazy and indolent. And then “perfect for a lazy Sunday.” That’s got to be one of the most demeaning left-handed compliments I’ve ever heard. Is this a beach book, or what? This isn’t a book for a lazy, aimless Sunday, but a book for the darkest, dreariest midnight!
(less)

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Nov 27, 2010

Jonnythrombosis rated it

Recommends it for: all

anton chigurh v hannibal lecter
after reading the hannibal lecter books you get an insight into the mind of the psychopath & you somehow end up loving lecter for his wit, taste, intellect,culture etc. & you gain an understanding of him & empathising with him & seeing the world through his eyes

however chigurh is a totally different kettle of fish

whether you see him through the eyes of sheriff ed tom bell whose narration throughout the book is captivating & probablly ...more

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Feb 06, 2007

Keith Mukai rated it

A potentially interesting meditation on evil in the world that ultimately putters out. McCarthy invests the energy to engross the reader in a complex action/drama but then awkwardly dumps it and moves on to somewhat unconnected morose musings. It's fine to do one or the other, but it's pointless to go half-and-half like he has.

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Jul 03, 2010

Mia rated it

"And in the dream I knew that he was goin on ahead and that he was fixin to make a fire somewhere out there in all that dark and all that cold and I knew that whenever I got there he would be there. And then I woke up."

Well, it's not flawless, like THE ROAD. But it is masterful. Like an ancient narrative--or like many narratives before Freud, actually--there is no interiority. (Interesting, then, how CM uses character's speaking to themselves to produce something akin).
...more

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About Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels in the Southern Gothic, western, and post-apocalyptic genres and has also written plays and screenplays. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road, and his 2005 novel No Country for Old Men was adapted as a 2007 film of the same name, which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

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“You think when you wake up in the mornin yesterday don't count. But yesterday is all that does count. What else is there? Your life is made out of the days it’s made out of. Nothin else.” — 235 people liked it

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