Outer Dark
by Cormac McCarthy
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1129)
Read in June, 2008
Dear Mr McCarthy,
I write this as a formal apology. I feel a culpable shame to have only recently become cognizant of your mind stimuli prose infused writings. My discomfiture is only furthered by the thought that I almost dismissed my first purchase of your writings in the form of The Road due to the fact there was a sneering Oprah Book Club decal smacked on the hardcover. If the recommendation for the read had not come from such an infallible source Im afraid I would still be in ignorance...more
I write this as a formal apology. I feel a culpable shame to have only recently become cognizant of your mind stimuli prose infused writings. My discomfiture is only furthered by the thought that I almost dismissed my first purchase of your writings in the form of The Road due to the fact there was a sneering Oprah Book Club decal smacked on the hardcover. If the recommendation for the read had not come from such an infallible source Im afraid I would still be in ignorance...more
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Read in January, 2008
Another harrowing slice of americana from McCarthy. Outer Dark is a disturbing story of a brother and sister with a terrible secret that tears apart their relationship and casts them both on separate journies through the angry lands of the rural south. The setting is gritty and hard -- a land where a person can't tell a preacher from a judge from a murderer --where the heat, swamps, and forgotten towns suck the souls from the characters. Misunderstood and often caught in situations beyond the...more
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Read in September, 2007
Not his greatest book, but still a good read. McCarthy describes setting in such vivid original terms that he could write a book about nothing and have my attention the whole way through. This book is allegory (I think), and I'm not quite sure yet what it's getting at. As usual, he writes the dialogue as if he'd spoken in the strange southern dialect all his life. McCarthy is extremely good at pulling off authenticity. I might read it again... but the "to read" pile is growing dai
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Read in May, 2008
Of the books I've read by McCarthy, this had the most Southern Gothic feel to it. I could definitely see the influence by Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner.
Outer Dark is McCarthy's second novel. His early work, before Blood Meridian, was set in Tennessee--the state he grew up in. The setting here is the Appalachian mountains during the late 19th century.
A sister and brother undertake seperate surreal journeys from inner darkness to outer. She searches for her child, born of incest...more
Outer Dark is McCarthy's second novel. His early work, before Blood Meridian, was set in Tennessee--the state he grew up in. The setting here is the Appalachian mountains during the late 19th century.
A sister and brother undertake seperate surreal journeys from inner darkness to outer. She searches for her child, born of incest...more
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Read in August, 2006
This book turned me into a Cormac McCarthy fan. While waiting for his newest book, The Road, to come available at the library, I read this earlier work of his. It was set somewhere in Appalacia, although the setting only matters to understand the terrian and the dialect in the book.
Once again, McCarthy is a master at character development, and while he doesn't lay everything out for you in a nice, neat package at the beginning, he tells you enough about the characters to keep you turning...more
Once again, McCarthy is a master at character development, and while he doesn't lay everything out for you in a nice, neat package at the beginning, he tells you enough about the characters to keep you turning...more
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This is another book set in Appalachia in the early part of the century. The plot, though, reads more like Greek mythology or something. You follow the two main characters as they make their way across a nightmare landscape and cross paths again and again with a murderous trio. I loved Mcarthy's ability to put you back in that time and his attention to detail. The plot is unsettling and very dark but, like the Orchard Keeper, doesn't have a traditional story arc. It does come to an end that kind...more
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The only issue I take with "Outer Dark" is that the trio of men remain unexplained other than that they seem to murder anyone Culla comes across, including his deformed son. I'm not sure what McCarthy is trying to convey other than setting up a universe whose people are generous with food, casual with violence, and possess a adversarial relationship with nature. It is a quick read, maybe an afternoon or two, and was perfect to read out on the porch. Enjoyable but a little lacking on re...more
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Read in March, 2008
McCarthy is one of those few writers (along with Nabokov, Melville, Tolkien, Tad Williams...) who makes me genuinely glad to be fluent in English, as far as literary purposes go anyway. Between the four books of his I've read so far Outer Dark had by far the densest and most beautiful prose - but actually understandable, as opposed to many parts of The Orchard Keeper (and I promise you, I *tried* to understand that one!), its predecessor.
As such, I see this work as McCarthy coming into his o...more
As such, I see this work as McCarthy coming into his o...more
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reads like the novel faulkner never wrote- evocative of his yoknapatawpha county and the strangely dark and comic escapades that occur routinely in his novels. particularly reminiscent of as i lay dying, the bundren family conundrum, and the dark humor that interlaces with each mischance of fate/free will.
overall, there was less comedy in this novel. it strikes me as true southern gothic in the best sense of the genre- richly atmospheric and as opulent as faulkner, but his characters seem t...more
overall, there was less comedy in this novel. it strikes me as true southern gothic in the best sense of the genre- richly atmospheric and as opulent as faulkner, but his characters seem t...more
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Read in June, 2008
Another dark and disturbing novel from Cormac. His verbage is patient and relentless as he goes about spinning this blackened yarn. The biblical parallels especially at the end increase the devlishness of the story. The incestuous relationship, the three men (an unholy trinity), the baby born into a dark world, the despicable preacher, and the blind man all serve this dark parable of which I still have yet to grasp its fullness. Don't read this if you are looking for a nice bedtime story. Y...more
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Read in May, 2008
This is the second Cormac McCarthy book I've read, my first being "The Road", which I felt to be a pretty bleak piece, though no less rewarding for that. I enjoyed it enough to try another, and picked "Outer Dark" pretty much at random. Within the first few paragraphs, this book had me completely hooked. The story is a very simple one, employing few (if any) plot complexities to keep the reader interested. Instead, it's the rich portrayal of the protagonists, a varied and fas...more
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Read in June, 2008
This is my third Cormac McCarthy book. First one was The Road, which is without a doubt one of the best books I ever read, it had a great impact on me. Second was No country for old men, after seeing the movie and discovering this story was also written by McCarthy I felt the need to read the story too to fully grasp its meanings. McCarthy writes dark, incredible, fascinating stories, Outer Dark is no exception. I find his writing and style very powerful, very expressive, beautiful, clear senten...more
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Read in July, 2007
This is another one of those short novels that I love so much. It tells a sad tale, with many players, focusing on two drifting siblings, drifting away from one another and towards some unknown end. This brother impregnates his sister! Don't worry, I haven't given anything away. That's explained in the very beginning; it's practically what everyone, including those who haven't yet read the book, makes reference to it as: McCarthy's story of incest. It's very grim. After reading it, I thought it ...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Cormac fans
What a difficult story to devour. I am a McCarthy fan. This story is dark and filled with evil. Rarely is there a glimmer of hope, which can express much about life. The hard part for me is that I have a six month old child and to see his innocence and relate it to the child is this book makes my heart hurt and ache. The end nearly had me gagging and choking back tears. Maybe that is why Cormac is such a powerful writer: He can bring this feelings to you in an enormous way. Much like The ...more
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Read in September, 2008
This is the story set in Appalachia in the early 1900s of a brother and sister who travel separately across the countryside in search of their baby (and each other.) His writing continues to amaze me. He has a knack for local authenticity, or at least what I perceive as local authenticity. Sometimes the local dialect is difficult to figure out, but with a re-read or two it is usually clear. The story is very dark, and clearly allegorical. What stands for what and why I don't necessarily kno...more
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Read in November, 2008
Brutal. Absolutely brutal. Both as a narrative and as a reading experience. It took me three weeks to slog through 250 bloody pages, but it was still worth it. Outer Dark has a timeless quality unusual for a book that's 40 years old. The nonspecific place of time prevents it from being dated, resulting in a story that feels as if it could have been written today. Indeed, there are passages in the book that wouldn't be out of place in McCarthy's most recent work, "The Road", parti...more
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Although this book is one of the darkest books I have read, it is refreshing that it is not dark for darkness' sake. McCarthy makes great choices in language to remind the reader, and any apsiring writer, how the adjective is meant to be used. His stark ,shadowy descriptions give the effect of walking through the world blind, indiscrimantly stumbling on kindness and violence as if they were debris left scattered behind a turn of the century wagon. McCarthy makes no apologies in sacrificing his v...more
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Brother and sister Appalachian hillbillies, and the unsuccessful disposal of their newborn incestuous offspring, described in empathetic terms, warts and all. In someone else's hands this story would be repellent, disposable, obnoxious. McCarthy draws you in, makes you care about these strange uneducated children of dirt-eating Scots/Irish immigrants and the people they encounter. Moralists with a highly judgmental outlook will hate this book and probably will not get past the first 5 pages. ...more
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Read in December, 2007
This story is about a brother, his sister and her baby which is left to die in the forest. The sister goes in search of the baby and her brother heads out after her to find her and bring her back. Along the way, they meet people from all walks of life..some kind, some not so kind. Once again, Cormac McCarthy paints a grim tale of human suffering. Although this is not the kind of book you enjoy reading, I find it staying with me as The Road did. There is one scene in the book that I felt could ...more
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Read in October, 2008
I am beginning to understand that the plot of many of Cormac McCarthy's novels can be summarized using the following formula: "[basic premise as established in the first 5-25 pages:], and then terrible things happen." In the case of this novel, a young woman gives birth to her brother's child in turn of the century Appalachia, the brother takes it the baby and leaves it for dead in the woods, the girl goes looking for the baby, the brother goes looking for his sister, and then terribl...more
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