false 744388 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177950158m/744388.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177950158s/744388.jpg The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy fulfills the promise of All the Pretty Horses and at the same time give us a work that is darker and more visionary, a novel with the unstoppable momentum of a classic western and the elegaic power of a lost American myth.

In the late 1930s, sixteen-year-old Billy Parham captures a she-wolf that has been marauding his family's ranch. But instead of killing it, he decides to take it back to the mountains of Mexico. With that crossing, he begins an arduous and often dreamlike journey into a country where men meet ghosts and violence strikes as suddenly as heat-lightning--a world where there is no order "save that which death has put there."

An essential novel by any measure, The Crossing is luminous and appalling, a book that touches, stops, and starts the heart and mind at once.]]> 365990 19 1930437 book 15 3 1994 The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2) total:3704|5:1310|4:1411|3:797|2:154|1:32| 3704 14925 5299 360 4178 4.00 105070 21008 3837525 239610 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3175 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 5 5 false Tue Jul 31 03:48:16 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 17 02:59:36 -0800 2009 more...]]> 28263917 1363613 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 4 2 false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 09:47:07 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 09:58:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 20691176 230898 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 2 2 false Sun Jun 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 21 19:30:36 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 08 20:08:03 -0700 2008 more...]]> 13530346 630958 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 3 2 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 11:36:34 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 09 10:40:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 9867842 569327 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 5 1 false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 02 22:58:27 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 16 15:25:28 -0800 2007 more...]]> 6554430 398987 744388 0679760849 9780679760849 32 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177950158m/744388.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177950158s/744388.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/744388.The_Crossing 4.05 267 The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy fulfills the promise of All the Pretty Horses and at the same time give us a work that is darker and more visionary, a novel with the unstoppable momentum of a classic western and the elegaic power of a lost American myth.

In the late 1930s, sixteen-year-old Billy Parham captures a she-wolf that has been marauding his family's ranch. But instead of killing it, he decides to take it back to the mountains of Mexico. With that crossing, he begins an arduous and often dreamlike journey into a country where men meet ghosts and violence strikes as suddenly as heat-lightning--a world where there is no order "save that which death has put there."

An essential novel by any measure, The Crossing is luminous and appalling, a book that touches, stops, and starts the heart and mind at once.]]> 1994 5 3 false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 21 10:46:12 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 28 16:33:39 -0700 2007 All the Pretty Horses, I felt (maybe somewhat unjustly) that the bar of expectation had been set extremely high. I realize that some (most?) people have a particular favorite part of McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, but I’d be hard-pressed to choose one after reading The Crossing. Ho...more...]]> 10080471 654335 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 5 1 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 07 06:01:47 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 15 14:05:57 -0800 2007 more...]]> 7648904 341677 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 5 1 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 12 19:21:44 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 12 20:30:30 -0700 2007 The first time I tried this, 10 years ago, I couldn't get into it, but inspired by THE ROAD which I read this summer, I decided to try again and ha...more...]]> 2475006 156859 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 4 1 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 27 23:23:35 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 16 22:57:48 -0800 2009
The first section with Billy and the wolf is stunning and surely among the best descriptions of man's relationship with the wild in literature.

The middle section meanders. I felt I needed a map to keep track of ...more...]]> 72313158 2632107 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 5 0 false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Sep 23 23:21:44 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 23:32:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 63115380 575494 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 3 0 false Sun Jul 19 09:19:16 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 21:47:36 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 09:19:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 72495707 1923893 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 4 0 false Sun Oct 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 16:43:52 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 13:01:59 -0700 2009
McCarthy's writing is as literately stark as his landscapes, and his words insidiously find their way under the reader's (or at le...more...]]> 57937194 2370105 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 3 0 false Sun May 31 06:27:33 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 11:58:49 -0700 2009
McCarthy's trilogy is a s...more...]]> 40738103 1684384 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 4 0 false Fri Jan 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 23 00:18:38 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 09 14:19:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 13226541 818473 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 5 1 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jan 22 20:44:58 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 21:01:44 -0800 2008 80595376 1109199 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 5 0 false Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Dec 10 16:41:39 -0800 2009 Sun Dec 20 08:11:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 73837038 2818275 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 4 0 false Thu Oct 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 04:22:12 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 04:22:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 76882110 1711213 365990 0394574753 9780394574752 311 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346m/365990.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223665346s/365990.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/365990.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 5 0 false Sat Nov 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 20:49:24 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 30 20:35:36 -0800 2009 All The Pretty Horses is something of a shock. That novel is named after a lullaby and that's essentially what it is for most of the novel, soothing and calming compared to the black views of his previous work. It presents a life lived in a straight line by some...more...]]> 69662257 1768003 538843 0330341219 9780330341219 2 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1202759605m/538843.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1202759605s/538843.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538843.The_Crossing 4.28 25 The Crossing, book two of the Border Trilogy, features perhaps the most perfectly realized storytelling of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated career. Like All the Pretty Horses, this volume opens with a teenager's decision to slip away from his family's ranch into Mexico. In this case, the boy is Billy Parham, and the catalyst for his trip is a wolf he and his father have trapped, but that Billy finds himself unwilling to shoot. His plan is to set the animal loose down south instead.

This is a McCarthy novel, not Old Yeller, and so Billy's trek inevitably becomes more ominous than sweet. It boasts some chilling meditations on the simple ferocity McCarthy sees as necessary for all creatures who aim to continue living. But Billy is McCarthy's most loving--and therefore damageable--character, and his story has its own haunted melancholy.

Billy eventually returns to his ranch. Then, finding himself and his world changed, he returns to Mexico with his younger brother, and the book begins meandering. Though full of hypnotically barren landscapes and McCarthy's trademark western-gothic imagery (like the soldier who sucks eyes from sockets), these latter stages become tedious at times, thanks partly to the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men.

But that opening is glorious, and the whole book finally transcends its shortcomings to achieve a grim and poignant grandeur. --Glen Hirshberg

]]> 1994 3 0 false Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 05:36:15 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 02:00:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 45112508 36120 744388 0679760849 9780679760849 32 <![CDATA[The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177950158m/744388.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177950158s/744388.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/744388.The_Crossing 4.03 3704 The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy fulfills the promise of All the Pretty Horses and at the same time give us a work that is darker and more visionary, a novel with the unstoppable momentum of a classic western and the elegaic power of a lost American myth.

In the late 1930s, sixteen-year-old Billy Parham captures a she-wolf that has been marauding his family's ranch. But instead of killing it, he decides to take it back to the mountains of Mexico. With that crossing, he begins an arduous and often dreamlike journey into a country where men meet ghosts and violence strikes as suddenly as heat-lightning--a world where there is no order "save that which death has put there."

An essential novel by any measure, The Crossing is luminous and appalling, a book that touches, stops, and starts the heart and mind at once.]]> 1994 5 0 false Sat Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 22:16:40 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 28 21:09:14 -0800 2009
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