Daniel’s Reviews > Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West > Status Update

How is the book going? In the back of my mind, I find myself drafting out why I probably don't like Cormac McCarthy and definitely don't like this book in particular. But after three tries over a five year period, I am almost done. This book will not defeat me.

I can't deny the craft on display here--but it's craft without soul. There is just nothing to engage here and it drives me nuts.

This is the first time I've kind of struggled to stick with a book. For me, it took about 200 pages to "break in" to the story in Blood Meridian. And I'm not entirely sure if that's by design--McCarthy's generation likes to use language as a barrier as much as a means of communication--or a sign I just am not into the book.

The gunpowder scene is among the best pieces of black humor I've read.