Chapters 6-10

[Vickylynn]

This section is for Chapters 6-10. Please no discussions past this point.

[Peter]

I really feel like these are the chapters where things start going! Once the kid and Toadvine get out of prison, we meet the judge again, and from there on it's just a study of the judge's strange (and evil) accomplishments.

This is really the first Cormac McCarthy book I've read with a true villain-feeling character. The Road and The Border Trilogy all are more about a study of humanity and show off the good and evil in people, although the pimp in Cities of the Plain was pretty much a villain.

But the judge feels more like a main character. Hell, in this section, he pretty much IS the main character - we're just seeing it through the kid. I was nervous about this book, because a lot of people have said it's dense and hard and dry, but I really feel like things are rolling now, and it's obvious that the kid and the judge are at odds - the kid isn't buying into the crazy/deranged violence of the judge.

Tobin's story of how they met the priest and how he saved them from the indians is incredible - it feels almost like some sort of mythological legend. The judge shows up out of nowhere and performs a pretty miraculous feat.