I just started reading Blood Meridan for the first time and I was kinda shocked to see the casual use of one of the worst slurs in the English language. I’m just wondering if this is a Huckleberry Finn thing and “justified” in some way? Or more like a Pulp Fiction situation where Tarantino seemed to throw it in there just because he could? Because honestly, I know this is close to being a modern-day classic but there are a lot of amazing books out there I’ve not yet read and I don’t know if it’s worth it to pollute my brain like that or just move on to something else.
IDK Tarantino is an “auteur” but he ruined the rewatchability of Pulp Fiction for me because he thought it’d be cool to have himself say it like 50 times. It’d be a much better scene (and movie) if someone had been like “hey Q, let’s cool it on that, okay?”
So yeah, McCarthy, as heavily acclaimed as he is, isn’t above making mistakes.
You might want to work on not letting words have so much power over you. It will suit you much better in the long run.
Yes, why would I, someone who loves books and has been a reader for 30 years, let words affect me?
My suggestion is that you need to reframe the way you approach art.