I’m on page 224 of 351. I consider myself a strong reader. Very rarely do I not finish books. Even if they’re stinkers, I power through to the end because I will give books till the last word to change my mind, and even then I at least like having a fully informed opinion.
But dear God. I’d heard this book was tough but it’s making me miserable. I loved The Road and was excited to keep reading through his works. My issue isn’t with the graphic nature of the book (though that has been difficult), but more that I have yet to see any kind of pay-off or any kind of message to validate how absolutely depraved and macabre and depressing it is. Is that it? Is the message simply that life is hell?
Please tell me that if I tap out I won’t be missing anything.
by chicolegume
49 Comments
Nope, absolutely worth it.
Edit: Do whatever you want OP I don’t really give a shit.
I mean, it’s an incredible book, but if you’re expecting it to validate your feelings, you’ve come to the wrong author.
I liked the book, but I started liking it way before that far into it. I think at this point it’s safe to say it’s just not for you.
If it’s any consolation, it gets worse before it gets worse.
I wish I could help but I stopped reading it about halfway through many years back. I kept the book because I’m not certain I’ll never finish it but I just couldn’t take anymore at the time. My SO also tried reading it years ago and he stopped before the end too and he also kept his copy just in case. It’s a gnarly one. I hope you find your way. Haha. 🙂
It really is tough. I won’t ever re read it. If you made it that far I would finish. God , it’s a hard book.. it’s one of the greats. In light of some revelations about McCarthys personal life I wonder if he was working through some demons.
If you don’t like it, put it aside. I read it and its amazing but I wouldnn’t ever read it again. If you get the urge to finish, do. But life is way too short and there are way too many amazing books to read to force yourself to finish anything.
It’s not going to be easier but the books bananas
Get the audiobook and try that instead, Richard Poe brings this story to life.
I enjoyed it, butMcCarthy definitely isn’t everyone’s cup o’ tea. If it hasn’t grabbed you yet it probably never will.
That’s pretty much it; a bit of glimpse into the reality of life in those days. Brutal, unrelenting violence. Civilization is just a mask, violence and brutality is in our nature. It’s a really good book if you can stomach it, the end gives you more to think about. But it certainly doesn’t relent towards the end. It’s actually the first book I’ve ever finished and started reading again immediately. I struggled through it, not for the violent nature of the book but the language and writing style, it was also pretty slow going imo.
If you’re looking for a feel-good ending or something uplifting you’re not going to be happy
The end of the book really sticks with me. If you’ve come this far, I would suggest finishing it for the ending.
I didn’t enjoy it and wouldn’t hold it against anyone who put it down.
I found The Road way more depressing
The way of the world is to bloom and to flower and die but in the affairs of men there is no waning and the noon of his expression signals the onset of night. His spirit is exhausted at the peak of its achievement. His meridian is at once his darkening and the evening of his day.
I was where you were at and kept going. The book gutted me… there is a message and I got something beautiful from it. It was all worth it and I can’t wait to do it again… slower tho.
The book is far deeper than “life is hell.” The book is certainly an exploration of dark themes, but the depth of analysis is far more profound than what you have accessed. The book says a lot about manifest destiny, war, violence, fate, and man’s relationship to those things. If the book is dark and uncomfortable it is because those things are an ugly (but true) part of the human experience. The book doesn’t really try to say “but that’s ok because…” because the hard truth is that those things are fuel for many (all?) men and are a lense to view why men hurt each other in an otherwise beautiful world. Also the writing is amazing.
I had the same reaction. The road first, then blood meridian. Probably the hardest book ive ever finished. I had to look up reviews to “get it”. I see what some reviewers are saying. But its hard for me to recommend to anyone. Just a slog of depravity and violence. I can see why its a classic, but its not for me.
I would finish it though. You have climbed near the top of a hard mountain. It would be a shame if you didn’t summit.
No, there’s no pay off, there s no justice, it gets worse.
And it’s totally worth the read.
But it’s totally up to you if you want to finish it.
I mean, if you aren’t enjoying it, put it down. I loved it, and the ending is maybe my favorite of all time. But there’s no shame in saying something isn’t for you. I quit World War Z halfway through because it’s just not my kind of thing. It’s fine. There are too many books and too little time.
I’ve read four McCarthy books (not Blood Meridian yet) and I don’t think any one of his books “pays off” in the traditional sense. You just have to go along for the ride and hope you enjoy the journey.
Its the most honest work of fiction on the founding of this country I have come across. If you are American I suggest reading it as such. Its good to know why you are able to stand here, who cleared the way, and in what manner.
It doesn’t get any more cheerful, but I think the ending transforms the rest of the book into something almost mythical, a kind of dark fable. I don’t want to spoil it, but to me it made it easier to look back on all the horrific things I had spent the last 300+ pages reading about.
It’s one of those books that you don’t realize is amazing until you’ve closed the last page. It’s your call to finish or not, but I’ll say when I was done with it, I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters for days.
*You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it.*
Im staying away from this one. I actually didnt like The Road, but loved No Country for Old Men.
I think of it as making a stunning work of art out of the worst of human nature. It’s not supposed to make you feel good, but to show you something true about people, life and death. That to me is very worthy of reading and appreciating.
…sounds like a DNF to me lol
I did not enjoy it. I didn’t find it hard to follow… just hard to connect to a single character or plot.
I did not enjoy it. I finished it anyway. Not sure why. Just so grim and there doesn’t seem to be much redeeming about it. I read all the way through just to make sure I didn’t like it. Confirmed, did not like.
There is no pay off or message. There is no point and that’s likely the point. It’s just unrelenting brutality for brutalities sake, but goddamn is it good.
This is exactly how I felt 2/3 through. It just seemed like CM self-indulgently describing absolute violence, depravity, and desolation in beautiful and masterful prose … just for the sake of it. It doesn’t get much easier but it is definitely worth finishing for the big picture and to understand why you grounded it out.
Life’s a bitch, the devil is real, and God doesn’t care. That’s basically my takeaway
I mean I’ve read it 3 times. I get more from it on every reading. It’s always tough. It’s my favourite book ever. Yes, life is hell. All you can rely on is death.
It’s the only book that’s ever been honest about the human condition. 10/10, honestly a fantastic repeat read for me
So, I’m about halfway through the book and have been slogging through it for quite some time. I keep putting it down because quite frankly it’s exhausting to read. While I do enjoy the prose (even though I rarely make it through a page without having to look up a word, talk about some obscure vocabulary), I’m not particularly enjoying the content. It feels like, and I suspect this may be controversial, but it feels like nihilism porn honestly.
It’s actually funny, I picked up Lonesome Dove at the same time. These are two Western novels published in the same year and it’s amazing how different they are. Blood Meridian just feels hopeless and terrible. Which I suppose is the point, but it’s not really enjoyable.
I would stick it out to the end, it’s one of the best endings in fiction imo.
I found it to be a slog too, but it really does pick up just a few pages from where you are.
This sounds exactly like my first attempt. I wasn’t ready for it. I am now. Looking forward to trying it again.
among the top five greatest American novels…
I think it’s probably worth finishing since you’re far enough along. I thought it was fine but not as revelatory as a lot of people made it out to be.
I’m still reading it, but I enjoyed Blood Meridian from the very first chapter. The third one was a bit of a slog, but it ends up in such a bombastic way and after that Im just having a blast with it. The whole section about the judge saving the band with makeshift powder is just fucking brilliant.
But well, I’m enjoying it exactly because of how depraved and crazy it is, so I might not be the best person to answer this. I probably didn’t get to the worse parts yet.
Im the same as you and hate not finishing, and just sort of speed read it after realizing it wasn’t for me about halfway through. The overwrought landscape descriptions, while utilizing beautiful language, grew tiresome for me. Also the minimal punctuation and excessive violence/gore of it were off-putting. FWIW McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses was a far more enjoyable read for me with a much more approachable vibe, but still same beautiful writing but with more punctuation.
It isn’t worth it. I told my partner at the time. “I don’t think this book can get any worse” after all the rapes and murders… and the next chapter had a literal tree full of dead babies.
This book sucks. It’s cool that so many edgy people love it, I guess.
All the fun murderin’ is towards the end!
I don’t know what you want to hear, i’ve read it at least 6 times now. It’s a meditation on violence. It is a hard piece to get through, but i don’t find it any worse than half of the media out there, it’s just more honest about it. Violence is a thing not welcome in modern society, it’s been shoved down, hidden. McCarthy i think shows us what things once were like and it’s difficult to wrap the mind around. The scene early on that stick with me aside from the mennonite and the young boy named earl who split his skull early is this one:
“That was his son, said Bathcat.
Who was?
The lad in the corner cut with a knife.
He was cut?
One of the chaps at the table cut him. They were playin cards and one of them cut him.
Why dont he leave.
I asked him the same myself.
What did he say?
He had a question for me. Said where would he go to?”
I’m convinced it’s one of those books pretentious people pretend they love to appear more intelligent.
I never finished Count of Monte Cristo for the same reason. Widely celebrated book, and I just can’t get through it. I consider it a personal failure but I’m on my third try and it’s just not for me I guess.
Maybe Blood Meridian is your CoMC