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Is there a name for the chapter summaries that occur at the beginning of the chapters in this book? Is this an old convention that the author was using to some formalistic effect? Or why else did the author choose to include these in the novel?
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Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West,
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Madison Santos
I think it has to do with "The Arguments" that begin every Book of Paradise Lost, which if I remember correctly, Milton's editor asked him to include to make sure everyone understood what happened in the narrative of each Book. Blood Meridian is filled with thematic parallels and scene recreations of Paradise Lost. Could be some other formality I don't know about either, I think I've seen it in a few long poems and definitely in the newspaper briefings that start every chapter of The Lime Twig.
Dirk
They are called "synoptic chapter headings."
Bull
... as well used in Moby Dick, another of McCarthy's claimed influences.
Dogg Bookins
Echoes of Don Quixote too...
Jason
I believe their inclusion to be more significant than a simple "tribute" to writers that Cormac McCarthy admired. The last time I read Blood Meridian, I paid attention to them - had ignored them before - and felt that many of the notes were clues that modified or enhanced the relationship of the book's themes to specific passages. If you are interested in a deep reading of the text, I would suggest paying attention to them.
Ian Sadler
I've only seen it in a couple of books. Stephen King also did it in one of his 'Four Past Midnight' novellas - the Langoliers, I believe.
Adrienne
They're also in The Name of The Rose by Umberto Eco
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