I’m saddened one of my first thoughts upon learning of his passing was that it meant there was one less 20th century legend who is essentially grandfathered into always being published. There is so little room now for the kind of inimitable style McCarthy had, let alone for his subject matter.
Hey John, I just finished Suttree, and loved it, I found it to be a very masculine book, the last sentence “Somewhere in the gray woods by the river is the Huntsman in the brooming corn and in the castellated press of cities. His work lies everywhere, and his hounds tire not. I have seen them in a dream, slaverous and Wild and their eyes crazed with hunger for souls in this world. Fly them” the gifts that men have can be used for great good in the world, but also for our own destruction if we’re not careful, it seems Cormac understood and wrestled with this, thankfully for all of us, he used those gifts for good.
Thanks! I never did write about Suttree, though I thought it was overwhelming, in the top ranks of his books. I will write something if I ever read it again.
Shamefully I mostly haven’t really explored McCarthy beyond a few books (as a teen I had basically the same reaction to him that you did, as a cosmopolitan young adult I identified him with a guns and horses and manly manly violence in the wilderness aesthetic that I had less than zero interest in) but man could he ever turn a sentence. An excellent tribute to one of the true American greats.
Thank you! The manly-violence-wilderness is definitely there, but more complicated than it looks on the surface; despite his aesthetic's being all of a piece, it's an oeuvre with a lot of productive tensions.
I’m saddened one of my first thoughts upon learning of his passing was that it meant there was one less 20th century legend who is essentially grandfathered into always being published. There is so little room now for the kind of inimitable style McCarthy had, let alone for his subject matter.
good piece.
Incredible review
Hey John, I just finished Suttree, and loved it, I found it to be a very masculine book, the last sentence “Somewhere in the gray woods by the river is the Huntsman in the brooming corn and in the castellated press of cities. His work lies everywhere, and his hounds tire not. I have seen them in a dream, slaverous and Wild and their eyes crazed with hunger for souls in this world. Fly them” the gifts that men have can be used for great good in the world, but also for our own destruction if we’re not careful, it seems Cormac understood and wrestled with this, thankfully for all of us, he used those gifts for good.
John, I have loved your reviews of Cormacs books, I noticed that you haven’t reviewed Suttree, which I just started, maybe you did in another place?
Thanks! I never did write about Suttree, though I thought it was overwhelming, in the top ranks of his books. I will write something if I ever read it again.
Shamefully I mostly haven’t really explored McCarthy beyond a few books (as a teen I had basically the same reaction to him that you did, as a cosmopolitan young adult I identified him with a guns and horses and manly manly violence in the wilderness aesthetic that I had less than zero interest in) but man could he ever turn a sentence. An excellent tribute to one of the true American greats.
Thank you! The manly-violence-wilderness is definitely there, but more complicated than it looks on the surface; despite his aesthetic's being all of a piece, it's an oeuvre with a lot of productive tensions.
Brilliant memoriam. Just learned that we lost him...from the NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/books/cormac-mccarthy-dead.html
Thank you!