Blood Meridian
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Jonathan
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 10:52AM)
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Mar 07, 2007 08:49AM

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Premonitions and hints of impending tragedy contained within the text, specifically as delivered through purely visual and emotional details. A good example would be when the Glanton gang is crossing the volcanic playa and encounters the crucified apache... A similar point might be the bones of thousands of bison that the Kid encounters on his way to Fort Griffin.
That leads, in my mind anyway, to a question as to how McCarthy's elicits emotional response. Is the reader more affected by illustrations of the aftermath of violence or through actualy descriptions of acts of violence?
Finally, identify parallels with Iraq... Cultural identity as a justification for murder, etc.

Check out the wikipedia entry for the book, lots of insightful stuff there. Also check out my review for some further thoughts on Nihilism.
I'd also go for an intense overview and analysis of the prose itself--McCarthy will sit next to Melville in the pantheon of lyric narrative prose with this novel.

Usually I'm at a loss for words when it comes to discussing these sorts of ideas, but you've got my brain juices flowing! Thanks!


I have read a lot of comments that tend to talk about this book in a very intellectual way. Sometimes I think it's overdone. It is a great book, I reviewed it here. But the interesting thing is that it's based on real characters and real events. And McCarthy borrowed a lot from other works.
My favorite part is when they went out to get Apache scalps, for which they were to be paid per scalp, they decided that any dark-haired scalp would do, and raided innocent Mexican villages to get them. That shit's hard core. And probably true.
YouTube link: http://youtu.be/FgyZ4ia25gg
My blog: http://michaelhendersonstheliteraryma...

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