Blood Meridian (spoiler free review) by Cormac McCarthy

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥: (I get a commission when you use the links)

𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬:

𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐌𝐞:

𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭:

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[roberthaass]

Yeah expecting a video game story when going into friggin Blood Meridian was setting you up for failure.

[Paul_McSeol]

This book shines a light on the BS of romanticizing the outlaw west. It’s meant to show how awful it really was. Calling Blood Meridian similar to Red Dead 2 is a bit of a stretch. I loved the book but you really need to dig McCarthy and his rather unflinching look at the genre.

[chachawawa]

I like how you said it was inconceivable to like the characters due to the violence but the one character you kinda liked was the most violent and despicable lol

[brandonkelleher]

You’re definitely not supposed to like the characters in this book. You are supposed to feel disgusted. This becomes especially true when you find out this is based off a true story.

[zachtutor]

1) The kid is not the primary character
2) He disappears from the novel for a good deal of the book
3) The Judge is much more violent than the kid (And you liked him but not the kid?).
4) Maybe if you finish the book, you'll start to understand what is going on in the novel.

I'm curious what you think of a book like Moby Dick? Or Light in August? Or Absalom Absalom?

[threemeters]

The book is based on real history, so the way the babies died was attested to, and was rather grounded in reality

[hatchet]

Me when Blood Meridian has no hard magic system or video game story >:(((

[SasquatchFeverandSons]

I like that you claimed the baby scene was shock value for the sake of shock value that doesn't help the story when it, in fact, really happened and is integral to the novel's core themes of taking the sheen off the old west, but I don't think you actually approached this work with honesty if you listened to an audiobook of it sped up lmao

[wrslg_xx]

One of my favorite books. I'm not very educated, so I wont bother trying to explain in depth why I feel it's so great. I don't feel like any explanation I give would suffice.

I will say this, however. The book shed light on a part of American history I was previously unfamiliar with. I felt many strong emotions throughout. The savagery on display made me appreciate my life and how good I have it. I also felt a bit of shame and disgust, pertaining to the evil that men do to each other and the senslessness of it all.

This really only scratches the surface of why I liked it. I just dont have a way to articulate any further. This book is special to me, is all i'll say.

[mrc-rrn]

calling this edgy, comical and ridiculous over the top when it's a story based on true events with historical characters is crazy.

[LA_Tiger]

The scene that you mentioned with the infants is a Biblical allusion to Psalm 137:9. McCarthy didn't make that up just to be edgy.

[chefnedarque]

When was U.S. history ever meant to be read as "fun" tho

[ivatio]

I was laughing my ass off as soon as you said you expected this to be something similar to RDR2

[TheMrxman]

How can you say you hated most of the characters because they were too evil and then say you like The Judge, easily the most evil one of the bunch?

[samwinkler]

I get that people have unique opinions and stuff, but I literally don’t understand how someone with media literacy can reach this conclusion about a book this good

[yellowcityflyfishing]

The person who told you Blood Meridian is like Red Dead Redemption could not have been more wrong if they tried… I love Blood Meridian, but it takes a certain mindset going in and it also really needs to be read more than once to really grasp everything that is going on. I’m not at all saying anything about you with that statement, just that seems to be the consensus for how to tackle it. Books are always going to hit different for all readers, and that is the beauty of them. Every reader can have a unique experience compared to the next. If ya don’t like something, dnf and move forward. I’ve never gotten the mindset of people who will not quit a book, even if they hate it.

McCarthy’s version of the west is probably one of the more accurate retellings. A few of the characters in this story are based on real people and they were absolute shit bags in real life so I don’t think McCarthy was going out of his way to add violence for shock value. They hunted Comanche scalps for financial gain. I think that statement speaks for itself about the type of world the west was in a not so far distant past.

[crimsonstarr]

McCarthy was hugely influenced by Faulkner, who (much like Hemingway) understod that implied events/actions are oftentimes more impactful than those that are described in detail. There is so many horrifying little details that I only really picked up on my second or third read of this book.

That being said, I can see why this prose style would be 'boring and pretentious' as you implied in your review if you went into this book expecting a RDR2-style western novel. I'd really recommend giving this book another try, while watching lectures/talks on both this book and the texts that inspired it - Blood Meridian is one of the greatest American novels ever written in my opinion!

[dmckenna]

This is doing nothing for the stereotype of the modern fantasy fan who can't handle anything that doesn't have YA-like prose and/or structure. I really feel you could have made an effort to engage with this more critically.

[ncjvideos]

I didn't hate the Kid because he grew up with no mother and a drunk and likely abusive father who he ended up running away from. Therefore, I understood why he's violent. Out of the entire Glanton gang, the Kid is the most humane, endangering his own life to help others, such as when he removed the arrow from David Brown or spared Shelby despite Glanton ordering to kill him. After Glanton's gang is killed off, the Kid tries to move on and become a better person, looking after those traveling Westward and carrying a Bible despite being illiterate. The Kid obviously isn't a good person, but is a saint compared to Glanton and the Judge.

[ryanouimet]

My favorite part of this video is: "i don't only read fantasy. but my favorite series, which is fantasy, you can't understand without reading it many times, and I've only read it once. that and "mccarthy failed." good god man. even if you had an argument for trashing this book, you undercut yourself at every turn.