Should you read Blood Meridian?

[wadewilson]

You summed it up with one line: "Violence endures."

[chrisbateman]

Blood Meridian is the greatest book I’ve ever read. Lord of the Rings a close second

[connorhart]

I fuckin HATE IT when people say it had no ending. It 100% had an ending. It leaves your brain to fill in what happened in the meantime, but by no means did it not end thats just a stupid take.

[paleochris]

What I find interesting is that it's hard to find a seemingly balanced negative review. Every negative review I find is full of over the top hatred. The lack of punctuation is in itself meant to convey the brittleness of rules, laws, and forms. Some might think that aspect is gimmicky. I am not a fan of fiction in general, but I was drawn to this book by the controversy and I love it. His style of writing and descriptions of everything from landscapes to the saloons, to the violence are second to none.

[fuchs]

I actually liked it more for the traveling and scenery. Got me into writing. Good book.

[The_Ninja_Tree]

The second in command, now left in charge of the camp, was a man of gigantic size who rejoiced in the name of Holden, called “Judge” Holden of Texas. Who or what he was no one knew but a cooler blooded villain never went unhung; he stood six feet six in his moccasins, had a large fleshy frame, a dull tallow colored face destitute of hair and all expression. But when a quarrel took place and blood shed, his hog-like eyes would gleam with a sullen ferocity worthy of the countenance of a fiend. His desires was blood and women, and terrible stories were circulated in camp of horrid crimes committed by him when bearing another name, in the Cherokee nation and Texas; and before we left Fronteras a little girl of ten years was found in the chapperal, foully violated and murdered. The mark of a huge hand on her little throat pointed him out as the ravisher as no other man had such a hand, but though all suspected, no one charged him with the crime.

Holden was by far the best educated man in northern Mexico; he conversed with all in their own language, spoke in several Indian lingos, at a fandango would take the Harp or the Guitar from the hands of the musicians and charm all with his wonderful performance and out-waltz any poblana of the ball. He was “plum center” with a rifle or revolver, a daring horseman, acquainted with the nature of all the strange plants and their botanical names, great in geology and mineralogy, in short another Admirable Crichton [sc., the 16th-century Scottish prodigy and polymath], and with all an arrant coward.

Not but that he possessed enough courage to fight Indians and Mexicans or anyone else where he had the advantage in strength, skill, and weapons. But where the combat would be equal, he would avoid it if possible. I hated him at first sight and he knew it, yet nothing could be more gentle and kind than his deportment towards me: He would often seek conversation with me and speak of Massachusetts and to my astonishment I found he knew more about Boston than I did.[5]

- the only historical account left of the man this character is based on.

[cuauhtemocthethird]

I say this is a book to read if you DONT like westerns lol

[Whisperer-thwk]

I'm reading the Arabic translation, and I feel like I have to read the page twice and drink coffee while reading because it's very complicated. 😂

[slave_to_cinema]

Its much more than just a "brutal, violent western."

[hannahgacha]

I’m reading The Road by Cormac Mcarthy

[seanklay-peyd]

80% Replays and meanings
20% Watching and reacting

[jhonwick]

I thought you were that guy that makes video reviews with PowerPoint about manga, haha

[failtolawl]

The freedom of birds is an insult to me

[shanny]

This book was an absolute slog, I gave up half way through. I hated hated hated his writing style. The long winded run on sentences full of gratuitous use of simile made me glaze over and lose track of what was even going on. I kept finding myself rolling my eyes and wanting to throw the book across the room.

This book was deeply boring and the characters are so one dimensional it’s hard to care about them at all one way or the other. I tried to grind through it but this was one of the least enjoyable books I’ve ever read. After reading the Lonesome Dove series I was ready to head back to the western frontier but I couldn’t endure this stinker.

[madlynx]

Blood Meridian is about the most overhyped book I’ve ever heard of. It’s boring as hell with endless descriptions of the desert scenery and a few gratuitous violence scenes thrown in basically at random. And it is not well written at all. There’s no great philosophical insights like I’ve heard mentioned about the Judge character. Totally lame and overhyped. I question the reading history and acumen of people who rave about this meaningless book especially when they tout is as so meaningful. And there’s not a single character that you either like or are rooting for. If you want a greatly written and epic western-based book read Lonesome Dove. If you want a great but shorter action-packed and hero-based western you could read any Louis L’Amour book and get more out of it than this really lame book.

[Doodoomeeia]

A confusingly written book full of child grape then the main character gets gay graped and killed and there’s no ending 😂 it’s trash