“Review: Blood Meridian”
I had to re-read the introduction by Harold Bloom to understand what I had just read. “Blood Meridian” is just that, bloody. But the prose by author Cormac McCarthy is indeed very good. I have collected another McCarthy book “The Road”, which I will read soon. In a way, I preferred the writing of Larry McMurtry such as “Comanche Moon” (prequel to “Lonesome Dove”) somewhat better.
“Blood Meridian” is hard on dogs, mules and horses, and humans. But the writing is very good, which is why I read it. The book is compared to Moby Dick, another read I have planned.
The book takes place on the 1850’s Texas/Mexican border, where violence is as real as the ubiquitous cooking fires. As I have written, the book is very hard on living things, in a realistic way.
The book follows ”The Glanton Gang” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Joel_Glanton , Who were hired to get rid of Indians in Mexico. Unfortunately, they also targeted Mexican villagers who had similar scalps. That led to the downfall of “The Glanton Gang”. The cast of characters include Glanton, “The Kid”, “The judge “, Tobin and Todavine And Brown. In one scene a Bear carries off one of the Delaware Indians. The other Delawares followed the trail for days, unsuccessfully.
These men are cold killers, there is not much sympathy for them.
Spoiler alert, this is at the end:
(The judge) “He never sleeps. He says he will never die. He dances in light and in shadow and he is a great favorite. He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.”
