Cormac McCarthy - Best books to start with

Cormac McCarthy has written a lot of novels. Three are very approachable:

- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
- No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

[imjustaturtle]

Start with these three!
Me: *Started with Blood Meridian*

[nickc]

blood meridian is a tough read, well worth the investment though

[Marshy]

I read blood meridian first. Totally worth it, it’s my new favorite book of all time.

[CaffeineAndMylanta]

I started with The Road and now I’m halfway through Blood Meridian. It’s challenging but rewarding.

[superaverageisnotme]

We actually read no country for old men in school and oh my god this is probably one of the only books I would ever read by choice it’s so fricking good!

[harrisonmccartney]

NCFOM is probably the best starting place because first time McCarthy readers might be thrown off by his lack of attribution, his lack of punctuation besides period and commas, and his esoteric vocabulary, and to help them get through that they have the immaculately directed film to help reference what a McCarthy novel entails. The Road is great, but I'd strongly recommend saving it for last, as it's kind of the culmination of everything he's ever written, and so by the time you finish his oeuvre you'll be ready for its total devastation and understand how everything he's ever written leads up to writing that book.

[Roadman]

Im starting with Blood Meridian, defintely a nuanced book. I'm at the part where the kid meets the judge for a second time in Mexico. So far it's description of the blood and torment of the old west is stomach turning, the abject racism of the characters perfectly fits in with the time it's set in, and the trials the kid has gone through so far are humbling as much as they are horrific.

The metaphors and symbolism are very on point. The philosophy spouted by some of the minor characters is eye opening. I'll definitely be reading it more than once.

[BGreff-pi]

My introduction to McCarthy was through blood meridian. By far my favourite book. Every character feels like a walking philosophy, and I’m glad it’s finally getting the recognition it deserves from a wider audience.

[euphegenia]

I just reading a book every month starting during COVID quarantine and I’ve read many novels but nothing quite like Blood Meridian. I loved the challenge of it. The prose forces you to really focus and I personally enjoyed that. The book is very sensory. This was the first book I have ever read that really proved to me that words can transport you somewhere else.

[NZand]

Blood Meridian should be required reading in school. Its my absolute favorite piece of literature of all time. I re-read it twice a year.

[levisimpson]

Oh, well I'm starting with Blood Meridian and so far I'm really enjoying it. I love how he describes things and I find his way of writing very easy going for me. I like how stripped down it is of punctuation, haha.

[evajanczaruk]

I think The Road should be mandatory reading: it is the most devastating post apocalyptic piece of literature ever written. I am going to try your other recommendations.

[em]

If you have a taste and a mind for the esoteric and obscure just jump head first into the enigmatic blood pool that is Blood Meridian. I first read NCFOM years before and it was great, but Blood Meridian really captured and solidified my fascination with McCarthy. To me it's The Great American Novel tied with Moby Dick. Blood Meridian is great to jump into today with the use of the internet as a tool for decipherment. At least that was how I first read BM, slow and methodically. The Road also would be a great first read if you want to read with your heart and possibly have it broken depending on your views and interpretation. Read Suttree if you're more into the psychedelic Joycean stuff. Suttree is also enigmatic and heartbreaking but in a lighter, more tender, more humorous way than his other works. The Border Trilogy, beware there is so much Spanish in there. Passages where an important and interesting philosophical inquiry is conveyed in an entire paragraph of Spanish. Seeking the translations has become tediously slow for me. Outer Dark was the bleakest of bleak, deliciously bleak in it's vein of Flannery O'Connor Southern Gothic charm. The Sunset Limited is like a more direct conversation revolving around Waiting For Godot's themes. I haven't read his two new novels yet or The Orchard Keeper, or Child of God, or his masonic screenplay The Stonemason. I'm still currently working through The Crossing and the Border Trilogy. McCarthy is definitely worth looking into. An American master.

[chadvonswan]

I started with his first novel The Orchard Keeper. It was mild and slow but the prose was so good it blew me away sometimes. I’ll probably read him chronologically

[alanmtz]

I agree with your picks, I did it a little different.

I read The Road first and I immediately became a fan of Cormac's work. So I then read Blood Meridian after hearing loads about how good it was and he became my favorite author of all time. I agree it's his best work (and some of the best literature I've ever read, period), though I do think Suttree ranks pretty high up there too.

[Pokucollector]

About 100 pages into All the Pretty Horses, my first book of his.

[Rjrg]

Started with the Passenger and it hooked me. Honestly, I think pure talent is so hard to miss, you can’t go wrong with any of them

[clockwork]

I started with blood meridian as a fellow reader recommended brutal book! I read road in high school. I’m reading all the pretty horses now. Ans next no country for old men! I love Cormac’s writing!

[jdracing]

Suttree is my fave but everything you said is good!

[owenstephen]

I read blood meridian first and struggled with it, no country for old men was a lot more accessible for a first read. I’ll definitely have to reread blood meridian once I’m more familiar with his writing style.