A few months ago I watched this video and saw that Blood Meridian was his fourth favorite of all time. The book seemed really up my alley and I purchased it immediately…
Wow, this book feels like deciphering hieroglyphics.
The story itself is intriguing but I feel as though it’s hidden under layers and layers of dense verbiage that I can’t comprehend. I find myself reading a sentence, thinking that the subject is going in one direction, but then new verbiage is added and I’ve completely lost the direction of the passage. The book feels like a jigsaw puzzle with infinite pieces.
It’s definitely the least-direct book I’ve ever read.
I’ve gotten halfway through the book in the course of three months but I couldn’t honestly tell you where the characters are, their strengths and weaknesses, or any overall theme I’m getting. How do you understand this book?
I just DNF’d it. I love McCarthy and I love dark books. But this one was just too much, like the brutal violence is literally the point.
I don’t find the language any more difficult than his other books. His use of precise technical language is one of the things I admire about his writing. He expects a lot of his readers - not a ton of explanation about words or phrases you can just look up - and I always learn a lot from him. The Road was particularly good this way.
One idea is to read on a Kindle or similar where you can click on a word to get its definition.
I get the same way about this book. I felt dumb after trying to listen to it and spacing out every ten minutes.
Who is Jared Henderson? Are you reading the list in the video?
It’s gets easier after you’ve read it several times
I feel the same way. The stuff he presents clearly and disgustingly is what he is focusing us on. The plot and character stuff that seems to float around and not even always make sense is not what is being remembered and presented.
I’ve gotten halfway through the book in the course of three months but I couldn’t honestly tell you where the characters are, their strengths and weaknesses, or any overall theme I’m getting.
You’re probably losing the thread because you’re taking like three weeks at this rate to get through a chapter. You don’t have to understand every word. Just plow through and work it out as you go. The judge pretty much spells out the main themes of the book in the second half, at least his perspective on them.
This is how I decipher Russian literature. Power through and ensure I understood the main themes of the section… even if it means reading a plot summary of the chapter
The word ‘jacks’ means an outhouse. You should be all good now.
Jakes.
Just open your mind and soak up the vibes. I’ve noticed that a lot of readers on this sub are really adherent to an analytical approach to reading which I guess is understandable given the way that literature is usually taught and tested. But I think that in many cases you end up enjoying and learning more from books when you use a more experiential approach. In other words, just let yourself have the experience of reading the book. Let Cormac McCarthy take you on a mental journey. Don’t worry if you can’t recant it, or summarize it, or articulate the themes. The experience of spending several hours reading a book shapes the way that you think, even if you aren’t aware of or can’t articulate how.
If you don’t know what’s happening in a book, is it truly reading or just looking at ink shapes on paper?
This is perhaps one of the best takes on reading I’ve seen in a long while. You articulated it well.
It’s okay to just get lost in the pages, soaking in what you can. Go on the journey, enjoy the ride.
Ok so read a book and barely understand it so I can “experience” it. Man that’s some crazy shit if I’ve ever read it…
in case of literary works, especially fiction, yes.
You meant to say recall not recant, that means to disavow previous beliefs.
This is solid advice. I’m reading Blood Meridian for the first time and having a hard time understanding what the plot even is. I didn’t know who McCarthy was before his passing so I’m trying to read this and some of his other works but kinda struggling honestly.
To be honest you read this book for the layers and layers of dense verbiage. Yes there is a story underneath. But if your whole goal is just to tease out the plot, you’re gonna have a bad time. It’s definitely unyielding in it’s prose and such not for everyone which is totally fine.
Is that a shining knock off lol?
You just gotta try to enjoy the ride. It’s nowhere as indecipherable as something like Finnegan’s Wake, there’s just a lot of syrupy poetic prose, but stuff does happen, there are characters and a plot.
Try 3 things 1) Read faster. Skip what you don’t understand. You’ll understand enough by the time you’ve finished. 2) Read slowly, but keep notes. Look up words, phrases, and translations. Go deep. 3) Put it on the shelf try again later in life. Or don’t
Listen the audiobook first. The first time I tried to read it, I just couldn’t. I then listened to the audiobook, finished it and it resonated. After that, reading it made me really appreciate the prose and praise.
I really didn’t like this book. I read The Road and loved it. Blood meridian is an awful book in my opinion. Zero punctuation, run on sentences that literally fill up a whole page, no idea who is talking in the book, zero character development, completely incoherent story, similes and metaphors that are HILARIOUSLY bad.
This book is a perfect example of group think. People are told it’s good and they read it and say YEA THIS BOOK IS AMAZING while ignoring the enormous glaring issues. When you have to re read a passage or page because you don’t know who is saying what, that means the author failed.
Well you send me your copy of you dont want it lol