That's life..............

That's life..............

Quoting from the novel 'Cities of the Plain' by Cormac McCarthy:

"When you're a kid you have these notions about how things are going to be, Billy said. You get a little older and you pull back some on that. I think you wind up just tryin to minimize the pain"

From a conversation between two cowboys...............

Whadyathink?? Any merit to these thoughts?

As an aside, I've read the entire Border Trilogy of which City of the Plains is the concluding book (to All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing), along with Blood Meridian (his best imho), No Country for Old Men and The Road, and i can say honestly i've never got anything profound out of any of them, except a very violent and good read.

The Road is coming out as a motion picture in a week, and is by most accounts even bleaker than the book, which would take some doing. I'll go to see it. I hope its as good as the film version of No Country for Old Men.

Aside here too:

I'm on my second reading of the Border Trilogy, and am getting a bit more out of it the second time around.

Trying to get into McCarthy's philosophy. Hopefully he has one, or I"m wasting my time??

Damn violent for sure. Lot of coming of age stuff, and life in the ol'West etc.

But, what you think of the statment quoted in the OP??

I have to say that it sounds consistent with McCarthy's philosophy, if in fact he has one, and that it is represented in his books.

But i also have to say i disagree with the thought. In many ways my life is better than when i was a very young man. It's more organized, focussed, complete.. i consider myself wiser and more objective & moderate.. and there are compensations in maturity to the novelty, exhilaration and excitement of youthful experience which is diminished.

I know i would never sum things up in such bleak terms.. but maybe that's just a philosophical point of view.

Mine too; but I know people who wind up like he describes. Sad.

Then again, all his writings seems to be bleak and, if not hopeless, painful.

Not good stuff to read with a hangover.................deepressing.

McCarthy's books rankle me for two reasons. One is that there is a fundamental lack of justice that permeates all of his books. There is no doubt moral agency, but it always futile, doomed. The other thing is the graphic cruelty, and especially to animals in his books, perhaps best exemplified in The Crossing.

My sense is the author is an advocate for both justice and humane treatment of animals, and uses his books as to frame the issues by example, through outrage. But it can still make for frustrating, sometimes difficult reading.

That said i don't think there is a better writer at portraying images and characters, and especially those of the American Southwest, writing today. When a new book of his comes out, chances are i'll read it, as i will see a movie (providing it's well reviewed) based on one of them.

"The Road" is about to hit the silver screen.

Hit!! The Road!!.............ah yes.

Don't think I want to see it. I get a certain mental picture of what the characters look like, the scenery, and so forth, and hate to have it mushed in a movie. As in "No Country for Old Men". Good movie, but only if one ain't read the book. Or, maybe the book helps one tie it together.

In the book, we KNOW the bad guy shoots the lady; in the movie, we are left to imagine what happened in the house. We know it wasn't good, but they DON'T tell us. Being a simple sort, I like to have it made plain.

McCarthy is no doubt God's own wordsmith. Few can compare.