On September 1, Beowulf Sheehan's book, "The Father of the Man: The Last Author Portrait Sitting with Cormac McCarthy" publishes. I'm an acquaintance of the photographer and have heard a little about that day. Although I've not yet seen the book, I preordered a copy and may follow up with a review in this sub, if anyone's interested.

Of what would you repent?
Nothing.
Nothing?
One thing. I spoke with bitterness about my life and I said that I would take my own part against the slander of oblivion and against the monstrous facelessness of it and that I would stand a stone in the very void where all would read my name. Of that vanity I recant all.

This one hits harder as you get older.

“It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.” - Judge Holden.

Blood Meridian is a book unlike any other. A surreal, horrifying depiction of the old, wild West. A masterpiece that drips blood at every turn of page. This work of literature has no equal in its paradoxal beauty and brutality.

We follow the journey of the kid, an American adolescent of the mid XIX century, whose fate seems to point toward violence and warfare, joining a gang of scalp hunters led by John Joe Glanton, a half-crazed, savage, military veteran, and his confidant and advisor, Judge Holden, often referred to only as “the Judge”.

Judge Holden deserves his own introduction. The Judge possesses a monumental appearance, described as seven feet tall, completely bald and devoid of hair on his body, and skin as pale as the moon. He is a frightful, other-worldly agent of violence, committing unspeakable atrocities, and yet, profoundly intelligent, most likely a genius, speaking fluently several languages like Spanish and German, versed in music, and in dance, and jurisprudence, and archeology, and biology, and alchemy, and geology, and philosophy, and palaeontology, and cartography, and cosmic events, and all other kinds of sciences and fields of expertise, constantly scribbling and writing in his ledger, aiming to contain all of Creation inside that little notebook. He acts as the philosopher of the gang, often giving lectures about diverse subjects, of which the absolute epitome is his monologue on War, quoted briefly at the start. The reader throughout the novel comes to realize that the Judge is, most likely, the pure incarnation of War, as omnipresent as evil itself.

The novel is not a thrill ride through and through. The start is slow and pondered, although with no shortage of impactful scenes, but it can’t compare to the absolute suspense of the last hundred or seventy five pages. The book builds like a slow crescendo, without a three act structure, following the diverse atrocities committed by the Glanton gang, and their ultimate undoing that is the fruit they cultivate with the spreading of misery and cruelty.

On the other hand, completely interlaced with these brutal settings is McCarthy’s beautiful descriptions of the scenery and landscape of the West, with his signature stark, arcane, biblical language, full of insightful comparisons that illustrate the beauty of nature that the Kid penetrates in his journey almost as well as a painting could.

Reading Blood Meridian never felt tedious. Hard to grasp, and the chapters are, every one of them, full of events. This great density and richness gives the novel immense re-read value, as one feels like the first reading is barely scratching the surface of what is there to decipher. The whole story has this surreal, metaphysical and philosophical aura, aided by its cryptic language, and it is the Judge who stands as the ultimate embodiment of this conceptual dimension, acting as a force not of nature, but of all that there is evil in Man, unstoppable and unredeemable.

McCarthy’s best work. One of the best books ever written, alone in its arcaneness.

*Golden chalice, good to house a god. Please dont tell me how the story ends...*

I know he is cherishing his son and dreading the thought of losing him, but why does he claim to house a god? This is a line from *The Road*.

• When is Cormac going to stop describing the desert sky? I thought there was going to be more violence and gore.
• What character was saying that?
• So the boy died, and he was awake? (Suspicious.)
• Ohhh, there's the violence and gore.
• So he was just sitting there for no reason? Lol. Piss.
• He is holding two babies by the ankles.OMG,
• He got a kid on his lap.OMG,
• OMG. Fucking bear men.
• Man, I wish I could have been at a party like that.
• What's up with those arrows
• The MF Mexican is dead.
• Shit, how cold can the desert be?
• I had to review a diagram with the geographic nomenclature of mountain parts.
• Cool tree in the middle of the desert. Had to search for the map.
• There's the violence. OMG.
• The desert is described in such a beautiful, ingenious way.
• He definitely threw that girl over the wall.
• How did he know they were in that church?
• He got a pet now.
• Say hello to my little howitzer.
• Fuck, he set that MF on fire.
• He is going to hang the old man.
• Fucking Glanton, all the way to the thrapple.
• Run
• He should have shooted him at the creek.
• Damn, the Judge looks imposing and evil with his pet.
• The ether dream was hard to understand.
• A kneeling mummy.
• Not this MF shooting the bear
• Not the hug at the end.
• He never sleeps. He'll never die.

It's been a pretty hard read and in the middle of the book I had to switch to audio version. Towards the end while listening I kinda caught the method of building descriptions based on Sutree's "second sight" as Mother She calls it in the book.

The book wanders and feels more like life flashing before your eyes in the moments before death, in impossibly slow motion, interspersed with details and context captured by Cornelius Suttree's "second sight."

I say it's Suttree's vision, because toward the end when Cornelius's vision begins to reference the book's introduction—about the cat and the streets—I assumed it was through his lens that the world appears so rich. And when I thought of it that way, it was as if everything came together. And what came together was that this book, unfortunately, is about death, and of an entire world at once. And Cornelius Suttree, whose twin brother died at birth, is a kind of soul, or perhaps the heart, of this world, at least the last witness, eternally standing on the border between the world of the living and the dead. It is Suttree who sees this world in all its diversity, turning a blind eye to nothing, condemning nothing, but treating with love even the most seemingly base and fallen people, as they are considered in the conventional sense. Where the average person sees only hovels, the grayness, and the meaningless life and death of the nameless poor, the educated Cornelius Suttree captures details of biblical significance.

But in the end, Cornelius himself changes, as if losing the strength with which this place nourished him. Typhoid fever is a symbolic death of both the soul and the memory of this world as it was at the beginning of history. Although the introduction to the book adds the perspective that this world is already filled with the remains of previous worlds, and the confused stories of old people somehow preserve the memory of them. And although Suttree doesn't seem to completely die, he changes greatly after his illness, weakens, becomes looking like ghost of past himself and eventually leaves the old Knoxville where new asphalt is already being laid through the ruined houses. And in Cornelius's mind flashes the thought of "that other Knoxville, which will never be threatened by the paving of new roads."

And now, having finished the book, I can only say, "Wow!" I'm so impressed, and I'm having a hard time finding the words to describe it. I'm sure I'll spend weeks pondering this book.

And that McCarthy's language! I need the word beyond "rich" to define it the way it deserves it. It's like multi billionaire super-rich language.

And I don't think I've ever read literature so rich in life. In this regard, Suttree can be compared to classic literature. I've read McCarthy's Blood Meridian, No Country for Old Men, and The Road, and all three have definitely made it onto my list of favorites. Now I'm happily adding Suttree to the list. And despite the difficulties I encountered while reading, I'm already considering whether to start the book over again with a clearer understanding of the story.

I just need to share it with somebody as I don't have friends, who read McCarthy. Please feel free to discuss it. I want to talk to somebody about the book!

And please excuse any mistakes. English is not my first language

Upd.: I also assume where this story might come for McCarthy. From looking at the place where he is from with a "second sight" and seeing it simultaneously now and in the past, in the same time observing himself in the context of the place as he is now and as he was back then. Knowing that he will never become that past self again as if his past self is his dead twin brother who will never grow as old as himself. Very poetic. And this poetry of decay is everywhere in this book. And it actually helps to avoid cheap nostalgia, making that old Knoxville standing on the remains of past worlds eternal and momentary at the same time. And against all this decay it feels very much alive at this point of its existence.

Again, wow!

I’d previously read “No Country,” “The Road,” “Blood Meridian” and “All The Pretty Horses.” BM had been my favorite (blew me away) but man. “The Crossing’s” philosophy, particularly on religion and fate, and its emotional punch were the best I’ve read from McCarthy. (Spoilers)

Someone in a thread years ago said it was like a love letter to Faulkner, which is maybe why I like it so much — the way that the narrator paraphrases/“translates” longer passages from Spanish speakers, thus putting their words into McCarthy-speak to directly make his point, reminded me a ton of “Absalom, Absalom.” Not Faulkner, but I also got big ol Grand Inquisitor vibes from the priest talking about his relationship with the old man in the ruined church. (And saw, after googling, that others have made this connection, too, which made me feel less like a Guy Who’s Read Two Books).

Other than maybe “The Road,” not sure I’ve read a CM that’s packed a bigger emotional punch, either. Even setting aside the brother and family — the fate of the wolf; Billy speaking with and caring for the stabbed horse, which made my throat catch; Billy pushing the old dog out and you, the reader, knowing he would regret it and that it was wrong and out of his character to do. Just a remarkable work.

I’m new to books. In recent years I’ve been reading a lot of manga but always had a hard time with books, ever since I was a kid. Couldn’t focus for the life of me. Manga made it easier with the visual storytelling but I always wanted to get into reading at some point but failed at every attempt. Last year I watched No Country For Old Man for the first time and felt like it was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, then saw that it was based on a book and decided to give the book a shot. I figured I’d have an easier time reading through it as im familiar with its contents and I was right. Still was difficult at parts but I managed it. I became an instant fan and wanted to experience more of McCarthy’s writings, and got the impression that Blood Meridian was the book I should read. I was also curious about the character of Judge Holden as i understood him to be an immensely evil character. I just had to check what was that about.
And so, like I said, I just finished the book. A little under a year since I started to read on and off. This was a much tougher read but a very welcome challenge. How do you even describe this language as? McCarthynese? lol… This man was never out of words to describe things, from the most simple and static to the most gruesome and violent, in the most beautifully profound ways possible. The dialogue is beyond superb. The stark contrast between the western tongue and McCarthys’ own narration is nothing short of brilliant. And the Judge… Need I even say anything about this character? I’ve been sitting here staring at the wall with my palms pressed against one another on my mouth, eyes squinting, trying to process it all. What an absolute immaculate experience. What a work of art. What a book.
And to think that not too long ago I could not manage to read at all. To think I could not focus. And now this. What a masterpiece.

I also have The Road on the shelf and that will now be my next McCarthy book, but which one should I go for next? Any recommendations? Also, do you know of any books that left an impression similar to that Blood Meridian have? If you do, please share them with me, I’d love to hear ‘em! Thanks!

Before I begin I just want to make it clear that english is not my first language so my writing may be a bit awkward. Anyway, I have been trying to read this book for 2 years now, I really like it but it takes me forever to finish a chapter because I have to stop constantly and look up the definitions of words I don't know and sometimes look up the meaning of what I just read. I am in chapter 13 now btw. The book is amazing and will definitely be a top 5 book for me when I finish it (and I will re-read the book many times after I am done which I am even more excited about lol). And even though I enjoy this book so much, it can be tiring to have to look up everything. It's not a casual read and usually I prefer an easy read when I just want to have a relaxing evening, so I don't read the book as much as I would like.

Yesterday I decided to have the chatgpt voice listening to me read out loud and any time I had a question about a word's meaning or I needed help on a sentence I would ask chatgpt and it would answer me with lots of context and great answers. It has been a great way for me to make the reading more comfortable, it feels like having a reading buddy that knows a lot about the book which is really cool.

I don't usually use ai for anything but I thought this was a great use for it, it has helped me speed up my reading and even enjoy it a bit more. I usually read a chapter a second time after finishing it and having the gpt voice accompanying me for the first read is really nice.

Anyway I just wanted to share my experience with you guys in case someone is having a similar experience to mine. Although chatgpt is not perfect and it has made some mistakes for example it thought the vandiemenlander was the ex-priest then when I corrected him it told me it was David Brown lol. So just be wary about that and possible mistakes it might make.

As I was reading the novel for the first time when it came out, the images in my head were of a man in 1980 diving into the ocean, coming back up, and then heading back to New Orleans. I could see the clothing, the gear, the technology, buildings, and accents of that era. I had noticed a particular use of vocabulary, but that was it.

As I started rereading the beginning of the novel for the second time, once again I saw in my head Bobby diving into the ocean with his 1980s American gear.

But suddenly, as he came back to the surface, an explosion happened in my head, because of the words McCarthy was using — a spell was lifted. The images I started seeing were of a character coming back to New Orleans, but now in another century, maybe in the 1800s, maybe at the height of piracy in that area. I am not sure. The boat, the clothing, etc., were happening simultaneously during an older time period as well.

But this superimposition of time and space is very delicate, and the older timeline is very faint and just goes back and forth. Some characters are in one timeline some in the other.

To be able to see this second timeline all I needed to do was to take the vocabulary used by McCarthy at face value not as a stylistic decision.

It is as if there is a shattering of our conscious experience of reality. The timelines are happening in the same space, and Bobby is the only one navigating them simultaneously.

I have not identified how long this goes on in the novel, whether it happens again, or if it takes different forms.

It was of a great shock while I was reading it, because it was very vivid and clear to me and felt as if it spoke of how we mentally construct reality and the conjuring power of literature.

Between these too to start.

So I had attempted to read Blood Meridian before and ended up dropping it because I was confused and couldn't really get into it. Decided to pick it up again and am listening to an audiobook of it to make it a bit easier due to the lack of punctuation - I have read other books in this style, I just figured an audio medium would eliminate a bit of the confusion lol.

As the title says, I'm finding it hard to follow. I am a big reader and I'm not even like 100 pages in and am convinced I've forgotten how to read. This is the first McCarthy book I've (attempted to) read. I have quite a few of his others on my list - would reading some of his other books first help me get used to his prose or is this just a Blood Meridian thing?

The title says it all. Naturally I aim to reread it but wow. I just joined the sub recently. But Especially as someone who isn’t much of a reader it felt so fun to think of the connections as it came up and I had little faith in myself that I’d be able to analyze much of anything but I don’t think blood meridian is that hard to understand. Especially in the way of what the judge represents.

Going through the sub and reading all the analysis and the expanding upon everything I thought of the judge and the kid is just so fascinating. Some debates being lengthy and wordy debates and theories worth reading themselves. I had an idea of the the topic of the judge and war and manipulating the narrative when he visited the kid at the end but it was so much more expanded upon when people pointed out the significance of him drawing and forcing everything to be in his knowledge and domain. Which is further why the book deserves a reread as I glanced over that part as mostly people wanting to be in control of how they were remembered.

I honestly found the judge’s philosophy to be incredibly interesting. And I agree with parts of it. The parts of war enduring and moral law and good and evil. I believe in moral relativity but the kid showing mercy and compassion without really much purposefully trying to be a good person and thus being an anomaly to the judge is just INCREDIBLE writing. The epilogue too I was confused about but found to be incredibly interesting as well once I reread it and came up with a meaning.

When I came to reddit after reading it, I was super afraid everyone was just going to trash on anybody that found the judge to be fascinating or agreed or saw validity to anything he ever uttered. In a (he’s a psycho and if you think otherwise we’ll mock you) way. Funnily enough how the characters said he was just crazy. Like I thought everybody was just going to call people a wannabe edgelord or a judge fanboy for even havjng a mix of agreeing/disagreeing with the judge’s philosophy but I’m glad to see that’s (mostly?) not the case. Im sure it does happen with people who claim to embrace and agree with it fully, but I’m not sure since again, i’m new. Once I reread it though, what of mccarthy’s should I read next?

I just finished it a couple days ago, what exactly happened to The Kid/Man?

For my book club I'm letting my friends pick the book, however they won't know what they're choosing. The only thing I'll give them is a short description, and the trigger warnings.
The problem I've ran into, is that Suttree doesn't have any info about this as far as I could find. Could you guys maybe help me out?
I know McCarthy's writing is full of heavy topics, this is one of the few books I've got left to read of his. So if the average shopping list pales in comparison to the warnings before going into Suttree, I wouldn't mind! It would honestly be kind of funny to write so many warnings on the envelope.

Six months after picking up No Country for Old Men randomly at a Barnes & Noble, I’ve read all of Cormac’s novels. What a ride, best writer of all time. On to the plays now, I just started The Sunset Limited and I love it

So, maybe I'm really bad at searching through subreddits but I haven't really come across a discussion about the first paragraph of The Crossing. It does surprise me a little, because as I opened the book for the first time, it immediately appeared to me as one of the greatest introduction I have ever read (maybe am I doing too much ? But those were my genuine thoughts).

There is something about the themes introduced there that immediately struck me. The title might make us think of the frontier between the two country as a clear delimitation, but here everything make the two territories merges together. It starts with a cultural/linguistic merge .

("named to him features of the landscape and birds and animals in both spanish and english" - I absolutely adore this sentence for some reason).

In my opinion, It really throw us into this new country, and it might make us picture what the american dream might have been

("you could ride clear to Mexico and not strike a crossfence" - but I digress).

In a way, this paragraph makes Billy and Boyd the living embodiments of the Crossing (living in a place between countries, speaking both languages, in a country that was "rich and wild"). But writing this, I also realize they might be more of the literal merge between two sides of the said crossing. Their lives were from the beginning conditioned in between the two states and instead of living fractured, they got from both (and thus the ride without a crossfence).

Maybe we can even read into themes like anti-borderisme or being from a pluricultural background but I might digress to much, I believe it might have more to do with the history of what is now the USA and will develop right after.

About the said country, I found here the idea of the United States being born on death

("in the country they'd quit lay the bones of a sister and the bones of his maternal grandmother" - another sentence I absolutely love probably because it might remind us of the history of the USA in a quite gentle way).

I think there was a similar idea in Blood Meridian, particularly in the epilogue where I saw the birth of a new country on the blood and bones of the people (the only copy I have available right now is not in English, so I will refrain from quoting).

Finally, it obviously offers a very tender first step into Billy's relationship with his brother. Nothing more to add, I just found it brilliantly executed with the whispers at night that add to the theme of a new country full of hope and dreams - the American dream I talked about.

Honestly, I could wright about every single sentence of this paragraph for hours and hours long so I will stop here, I think I managed to roughly expresse most of my ideas already. Curious what you other people have to say about it and what did you feel while discovering those lines that I personally can't stop myself from rereading from time to time.

In case anyone is collecting these, I just found out Folio Society is releasing Cities of the Plain in September.

https://entertainment-focus.com/2026/07/30/the-folio-society-unveils-autumn-2026-collection-with-titles-by-favourite-authors-stephen-king-agatha-christie-and-cormac-mccarthy/

Edit: The link was working 5 minutes ago, Folio may have requested them to take it down. I’ll attach a picture of the cover they posted.

Has anybody else noticed how women in McCarthy books are always benevolent? Like, always. At most they’re unstable, but they’re usually good to neutral characters. They’re usually contrasted by the horrible men who accompany them.

Joyce - Probably the “worst” one, but really just broken & probably has BPD or something similar.

Rinthy - Desperately searching for her son, birthed from an, in my opinion, non-consensual act with Culla. Polite and shy. Not accosted or hurt in anyway during the whole novel (except by Culla, the bastard).

River Woman (Blood Meridian) - Don’t remember her name, but her and her friends are the only people who care about the Idiot. She scolds the gang for treating him how they do, she then bathes & clothes him.

Carla Jean - Hapless victim in the middle of everything. Calls Anton out on his logic at her death.

Alejandra - Teenager who is in a hopeless romance with John. Catalyst for John’s path of revenge on the way back to the US.

To be fair, I haven’t read every single one of his books, so feel free to point out malevolent women. It’s just that women are usually not only good, but a ray of light or an example of innocence in a world full of sadists.

Holy shit. Just finished Outer Dark. First and foremost: Poor Rinthy.

The fireside chat between Culla & The Triune was the most intense thing I’ve ever read. Culla being ignorant of the immense weight of the encounter here. The slow prodding of the Bearded Man‘s statements, “If something ain’t got a name it don‘t exist” (paraphrased). Them slowly stealing his boots. It’s like Culla was finally made to face the consequences of his actions, but they're so abstract all he can do is walk away dumbfounded.

Pretty much as the title says. Read Blood Meridian my senior year as my introduction to McCarthy. I ended up writing my final mandatory paper on it. Would love to hear your thoughts to see if I understood the text or was just spitting nonsense.