Hey, i gotta check him out. Thanks! And some read Milton’s satan as the hero of the piece.... including Byron. Not sure the same argument can be made about the judge... there’s something so dark in that sketch then kill thing he does.
Apr 29, 2023·edited Apr 29, 2023Liked by Kathleen McCook
McCarthy's genius lies in having created a villain who is utterly irredeemable, unlike Milton's Satan. The Judge goes so far beyond the pale that even teenage nihilists (represented by The Kid) looking for abolition of all authority cannot get beyond his ultimately futile attempt to embody entropy in physical form.
I always thought this what what the extremely cryptic afterword/coda of BLOOD MERIDIAN was all about.
Apr 19, 2023·edited Apr 19, 2023Liked by Kathleen McCook
My copy of NORWOOD appears to have been chewed on by a dog. It’s perfect. The novel itself has a chewed-on-by-a-dog quality.
“On the sidewalk in front of the place some shirtless Puerto Rican boys were roasting marshmallows over a smoldering mattress. Norwood stopped and looked at the tenement number and rested the guitar on his foot. ‘You boys having a big time?’
‘It’s a campfire,’ said one. He was wearing huge comic sunglasses and had his head tilted back to keep them on. He offered Norwood a blackened marshmallow from the end of a straightened-out coat hanger.”
I love an excuse to get involved - even diving into some kind of situation - and perhaps make a recommendation or two, or change things. In the George Bowling song is the line: 'Where's it from/this whim that drives us on?' I love the idea of following a whim. It took me to two successful journalism campaigns and to playing semi-professional sport in an unusual country that I would never have visited. The wonder of Coming Up For Air is that magical moment when Mr Bowling got in his car and drove!
I'm not sure why no one ever mentions how intentionally hilarious McCarthy often is. Even in Child of God, which is his most horrific novel, the first half could very easily be viewed as an explicit comedy.
BLOOD MERIDIAN is frequently very funny. Maybe it depends upon one's sense of humor?
"The man who believes that the secrets of the world are forever hidden lives in mystery and fear. Superstition will drag him down. The rain will erode the deeds of his life. But that man who sets himself the task of singling out the thread of order from the tapestry will by the decision alone have taken charge of the world and it is only by such taking charge that he will effect a way to dictate the terms of his own fate.
I don’t see what that has to do with catchin birds.
The freedom of birds is an insult to me. I’d have them all in zoos.
I need to reread. I was so overwhelmed by the Judge I missed the humor. Somewhere I read that next to Milton's Satan the Judge is literature's worst villain.
"next to Milton's Satan the Judge is literature's worst villain"
by which you mean BEST villain.
A BLOOD MERIDIAN movie has been in development hell for something like 30 years; last I knew Ridley Scott was working on it but that may now be obviated. IMHO Vincent D'Onofrio has a lock on the Judge Holden role.
I found a copy of True Grit on top of a gas pump last fall, left there with a sticker on it explaining it should be read and passed along. Of course I grabbed it, as is my wont with any vaguely intriguing tome, though I wasn’t sure if I’d really bother to dig in deeply. I ended up tearing through it over Xmas break, unable to disengage until the end. The guy definitely had excellent chops as a saucy storyteller. Well done, Charles. Guess I’ll be proactive and check out more of your stuff without waiting to stumble over it at a gas station!
Enjoyed Dog of the South, and like your comparison to the terse, understated yet meaty prose of Cormack McCarthy. My favorite line from Dog..., "There is always more to these pickup deals than first meets the eye." McCarthy comes up with some dry humor of his own in No Country for Old Men: "it's a mess, ain't it, Sheriff?" - "If it ain't, it'll do till the mess gets here."
I think that K. McCook is obviously showing great intelligent commitment and, through that, a great job that's much appreciated.
I love an excuse to make footnotes.
Hey, i gotta check him out. Thanks! And some read Milton’s satan as the hero of the piece.... including Byron. Not sure the same argument can be made about the judge... there’s something so dark in that sketch then kill thing he does.
McCarthy's genius lies in having created a villain who is utterly irredeemable, unlike Milton's Satan. The Judge goes so far beyond the pale that even teenage nihilists (represented by The Kid) looking for abolition of all authority cannot get beyond his ultimately futile attempt to embody entropy in physical form.
I always thought this what what the extremely cryptic afterword/coda of BLOOD MERIDIAN was all about.
My copy of NORWOOD appears to have been chewed on by a dog. It’s perfect. The novel itself has a chewed-on-by-a-dog quality.
“On the sidewalk in front of the place some shirtless Puerto Rican boys were roasting marshmallows over a smoldering mattress. Norwood stopped and looked at the tenement number and rested the guitar on his foot. ‘You boys having a big time?’
‘It’s a campfire,’ said one. He was wearing huge comic sunglasses and had his head tilted back to keep them on. He offered Norwood a blackened marshmallow from the end of a straightened-out coat hanger.”
These would be fun to listen to, i think.
I love an excuse to get involved - even diving into some kind of situation - and perhaps make a recommendation or two, or change things. In the George Bowling song is the line: 'Where's it from/this whim that drives us on?' I love the idea of following a whim. It took me to two successful journalism campaigns and to playing semi-professional sport in an unusual country that I would never have visited. The wonder of Coming Up For Air is that magical moment when Mr Bowling got in his car and drove!
We should teach that to kids!
Orwell was right there with Portis' characters in the in between places.
Portis is very funny, but so is McCarthy!
I'm not sure why no one ever mentions how intentionally hilarious McCarthy often is. Even in Child of God, which is his most horrific novel, the first half could very easily be viewed as an explicit comedy.
BLOOD MERIDIAN is frequently very funny. Maybe it depends upon one's sense of humor?
"The man who believes that the secrets of the world are forever hidden lives in mystery and fear. Superstition will drag him down. The rain will erode the deeds of his life. But that man who sets himself the task of singling out the thread of order from the tapestry will by the decision alone have taken charge of the world and it is only by such taking charge that he will effect a way to dictate the terms of his own fate.
I don’t see what that has to do with catchin birds.
The freedom of birds is an insult to me. I’d have them all in zoos.
That would be a hell of a zoo."
I need to reread. I was so overwhelmed by the Judge I missed the humor. Somewhere I read that next to Milton's Satan the Judge is literature's worst villain.
"next to Milton's Satan the Judge is literature's worst villain"
by which you mean BEST villain.
A BLOOD MERIDIAN movie has been in development hell for something like 30 years; last I knew Ridley Scott was working on it but that may now be obviated. IMHO Vincent D'Onofrio has a lock on the Judge Holden role.
I've hoped the movie people would get this going. It would be the fiercest movie ever made.
The Judge would be the best role ever. I just looked up Vincent D'Onofrio..and YES..he's the Judge. Good call.
Judge Holden (not Judd Nelson): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Holden
Cormac McCarthy in the ‘70s:
Not many characters in novels get a Wikipedia page.
All literary opinion depends on the writer's sense of humor.
Exactly!
All new to me. Thanks!
I found a copy of True Grit on top of a gas pump last fall, left there with a sticker on it explaining it should be read and passed along. Of course I grabbed it, as is my wont with any vaguely intriguing tome, though I wasn’t sure if I’d really bother to dig in deeply. I ended up tearing through it over Xmas break, unable to disengage until the end. The guy definitely had excellent chops as a saucy storyteller. Well done, Charles. Guess I’ll be proactive and check out more of your stuff without waiting to stumble over it at a gas station!
Gas pumps are the new Little Free Libraries.
It's hard to believe how "new" gas pumps as ubiquitous are--barely 100 years old.
Thanks for this, Kathleen. I needed it today.
Everybody post your favorite or favorite-adjacent Portis quotes. I'll start.
"Mr. Pratt had always enjoyed living on the edge of places or between places, even when he had a choice." --NORWOOD
"Men will live like billy goats if given the chance." --TRUE GRIT
"Dix puts William Shakespeare in the shithouse." --THE DOG OF THE SOUTH
"This is as nothing to Golescu!" --MASTERS OF ATLANTIS
"Go off for a few days and nature starts creeping back into your little clearing." --GRINGOS
TRUE THIS!!! "Men will live like billy goats if given the chance." --TRUE GRIT
Men showing me their photos from combat zones when off duty--billygoat city.
and I think you led me to Portis on another message board. Great break from "the news." TY.
Enjoyed Dog of the South, and like your comparison to the terse, understated yet meaty prose of Cormack McCarthy. My favorite line from Dog..., "There is always more to these pickup deals than first meets the eye." McCarthy comes up with some dry humor of his own in No Country for Old Men: "it's a mess, ain't it, Sheriff?" - "If it ain't, it'll do till the mess gets here."