McCarthy’s most recent work “The Road” led me to this novel.
As I mentioned in a previous review; if you’re not familiar with Cormack McCarthy the first thing that strikes you is his writing style. There are no speech marks, there are no apostrophes and he breaks most ‘classic’ writing guides such as using ‘and’ only once when listing items. His style is like nothing else I’ve read and it’s all the better for it.
You’ll also note that he doesn’t give the reader any clues as to the character’s thoughts or feelings. You get an almost script like reading of the characters actions and words along with short descriptive passages. This is his genius. This is his art. This is why he’s thought as one of the greatest living writers.
The book is set along the Mexican border in Texas during the early 80s. The plot centers on three main characters. Llewelyn Moss a welder who happens upon the result of a drug deal gone wrong while out hunting. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is an old-fashioned law keeper of the small town. Anton Chigurh is a hit man after Llewelyn.
The book seems to have many themes. Through Sheriff Bell’s monologues which punctuate the book you get a feeling for his despair at the fight between good and evil that he’s losing and his concern over post Vietnam America. He’s aware of the unfocused anger and rage of the current generation.
Llewelyn Moss is an ordinary Joe. His life is turned upside down the instant he decides to take the briefcase full of money. That single action ripples throughout his pond and affects everyone he knows and loves. He is the story of living with the consequences of your actions.
Chigurh is a genuinely scary character. He is driven by his almost fanatical moral compass. He isn’t ‘evil’ in the classic sense but strikes me as being a product of total self belief. He is cold and without compassion but in a twisted way is the most honest character in the book. His sole desire is to find and retrieve the money and deliver justice to the one who took it.
I get the feeling that although the title of the book is taken from a W.B. Yeats poem it’s more inline with the aging Sheriff feeling that he no longer has a place in world. This is brought to a head during a conversation with his Uncle towards the end of the book.
I’ve been mulling this book over in my mind for a few days and want to read it again to understand very facet.
For those who don’t enjoy reading, it’s been made into a promising movie by the Cohen brothers out in the US later this year.
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