Recent Reading

[njhorror]

I just noticed that a movie was scheduled to be released on August 31, 2013, directed by James Franco, based on the McCarthy novel. If done right that could be a fascinatingly dark movie.

[Murony_Pyre]

Child of God---though I enjoyed the conceit and enjoyed the images that NJ mentions--didn`t do very much for me. It is easily McCarthy`s weakest book from what I`ve read. I should mention the fact that I had already read NCFOM and Blood Meridian--both pretty much masterpieces of their kind--by time I came to read CoG, so that may have have colored my reading of it. Maybe I`ll read it again one day and change my mind, it wouldn`t be the first time.

[njhorror]

Yes Murony_Pyre, I've heard that from others, so I understand that I may be amongst the few who found it to be more than the sum of its parts. McCarthy was difficult for me when I began reading his work, and more than once I've thrown one of his books against the wall in frustration, and that includes Suttree. It took some patience and commitment for me to continue retrieving those books and painstakiningly continue the journey. I seem to have a love/hate relationship with his work that causes me to think more than with any other author that I've experienced, or want to for that matter.

[Druidic]

You probably know this story but…Nick Cave was approached to do the screenplay for a McCarthy book. He passed, saying he didn’t want to be known as the man who ruined Blood Meridian.
No doubt they approached him because of his film The Proposition...a decent enough piece of work in itself.

[waffles]

Quote Originally Posted by Druidic

You probably know this story but…Nick Cave was approached to do the screenplay for a McCarthy book. He passed, saying he didn’t want to be known as the man who ruined Blood Meridian. No doubt they approached him because of his film The Proposition...a decent enough piece of work in itself.

I always wondered if The Proposition was a McCarthy tribute. I think Nick Cave would have done justice to McCarthy.

[Karnos]

Nick Cave's novel And the ass saw the angel is a very good southern gothic novel, for anyone interested.

I've also read Child of God. Even though it is not as powerful a novel as Blood Meridian, I still think it is a very good little novel. I really like the description of how the medical students opened up Ballard's body and what they found there. The language and symbols definitely foreshadow the apocalyptic and biblical images found in latter books, specially Blood Meridian

[Druidic]

Waffles, I think you're right; Cave could probably have done the book justice. But on the other hand, expectations would be so high--unreasonably high, most likely--I suspect he did the right thing by walking away.

[njhorror]

I've also enjoyed Harry Crews and thought that A Feast of Snakes was outstanding.

[ChildofOldLeech]

I'm surprised that there's been no love shown yet to McCarthy's phantasmagorical southern gothic Outer Dark, which may, even more than Blood Meridian, be considered the closest thing to a horror novel Cormac ever wrote; what with its trio of (possibly) supernatural murderers, and the apocalyptic,(possibly) mythical world it is set in.

[Druidic]

Thanks, ChildofOld, I forgot about Outer Dark. Since I'm not going to be doing much walking, just elevating my leg, I ordered the book from Amazon just minutes ago.
And it's for things like this, I started this thread LOL.