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Blood Meridian (will someone smart please enlighten me)

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  1. TiltinShoes TiltinShoes is offline

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    Aug 13th, 2011 (8/13/2011 11:15pm)

    So I finally got around to reading Blood Meridian. I guess it is considered McCarthy's masterpiece. I don't even know what to say. There was something viscerally compelling about it, even though I was nothing but disturbed the whole way through. I have some thoughts and questions, but I was hoping to bounce them off of those smarter than I am, because this book is uber effing dense.
  2. buchiYAYO buchiYAYO is offline

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    Aug 13th, 2011 (8/13/2011 11:17pm) in reply to TiltinShoes

     
    Originally Posted by TiltinShoes View Post

    So I finally got around to reading Blood Meridian. I guess it is considered McCarthy's masterpiece. I don't even know what to say. There was something viscerally compelling about it, even though I was nothing but disturbed the whole way through. I have some thoughts and questions, but I was hoping to bounce them off of those smarter than I am, because this book is uber effing dense.

    people dont read books dummy
  3. TiltinShoes TiltinShoes is offline

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    Aug 13th, 2011 (8/13/2011 11:19pm) in reply to buchiYAYO

    Haha, I gotta admit. I was very excited when I saw buchi was my first response.
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  4. buchiYAYO buchiYAYO is offline

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    Aug 13th, 2011 (8/13/2011 11:24pm) in reply to TiltinShoes

    im just kidding tho. I read alot of books. Are you recomending this one? Im bout to amazon summary that shit right now.
  5. TiltinShoes TiltinShoes is offline

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    Aug 13th, 2011 (8/13/2011 11:31pm) in reply to buchiYAYO

    I dunno if I do or not. It is dark on twisted, but not necessarily in a very entertaining way. Something about it kept me drawn in. I mean it is extremely well written; whatever that means.
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  6. POKER_PANDA POKER_PANDA is offline

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    Aug 13th, 2011 (8/13/2011 11:31pm) in reply to TiltinShoes

    i didnt enjoy it enough to finish. too dark for my tastes.
  7. TiltinShoes TiltinShoes is offline

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    Aug 13th, 2011 (8/13/2011 11:37pm) in reply to POKER_PANDA

    Yeah, I mean that is how I felt after about 100 pages. It's kinda why I started this thread:
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  8. 36crazyfists 36crazyfists is online now

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    Aug 14th, 2011 (8/14/2011 1:16am) in reply to TiltinShoes

    im an ignoramous and hated The Road
     
  9. sacaniga sacaniga is offline fake machinist

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    Aug 14th, 2011 (8/14/2011 4:31am) in reply to 36crazyfists

    this book is so strange, in that almost everyone I've talked to that has read it, has mentioned that they were kind of over it after reading 1/3 of it, and put it down for months... then picked it up again, and finished it, and decided later on it was the best book they've ever read

    it took me about 3 months to finish it, its not the kind of book you're gonna sit down and finish in a weekend like some james patterson or something... but its worth it, I've read it 3 times completely through, and its one of those books i'll just pick up occasionally and find a random spot to read when i'm taking a long shit

    if you have any questions i could try and answer, i'm no literature professor but I dug the book
  10. TiltinShoes TiltinShoes is offline

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    Aug 14th, 2011 (8/14/2011 2:50pm) in reply to sacaniga

    Haha, maybe that is where I initially went wrong. I read it in 3 days because I was on a vacation. So I actually do have a couple of questions.

    1) Was the Judge supernatural?
    2) Was he Satan?
    3) Was he a pedophile/ did he have a sexual pull to the kid?

    I know this next question is supposed to be open ended because McCarthy intentionally shut the reader off from the Kid's conscience, but I still have to ask it:

    4) Morally, what significance does the kid have, if any? Until the final 100 pages I thought he was really supposed to be nothing more than the eyes and ears, but then he really seemed to step into an actual lead.

    5) What was the significance of the idiot? Or was he the only character in the book that was just for entertainment? I feel like I missed that entirely.

    6) In the end; do you think the Judge raped the Man?

     
    Originally Posted by 36crazyfists View Post

    hated The Road

    I have talked to so many people that felt this way. I was totally entranced by The Road. I read it in an evening and the next morning because I couldn't stop reading. Also, it is the only thing I have ever read that got the ole nesting tear out of me.
    Edited By: TiltinShoes Aug 14th, 2011 at 02:49 PM
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  11. nolanthedog nolanthedog is offline

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    Aug 14th, 2011 (8/14/2011 5:45pm) in reply to TiltinShoes

    wtf is your problem?
  12. TiltinShoes TiltinShoes is offline

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    Aug 14th, 2011 (8/14/2011 5:49pm) in reply to nolanthedog

    I'm not sure. I didn't really love it all that much when I read it, but it has stuck with me for some reason. I just figured I would ask others about it.
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  13. rucka rucka is offline

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    Aug 14th, 2011 (8/14/2011 8:41pm) in reply to TiltinShoes

    1) McCarthy doesnt say so we dont know. It would certainly seem so. At the end it keeps repeating 'He never sleeps, he says he'll never die.' If this book is to be understood as having a reliable narrator, then it can be taken as truth that he actually never sleeps. Seems to point towqrds something greater than a man.

    2) Dont think he's satan. There are some pretty strong arguments that say this book is themed with gnosticism. Which would make the judge some kind of dark angel thing keeping us away from a god. Its complicateda, wikipedia gnosticism.

    3) We can be pretty sure the judge is definitely a pedophile. Wherever he seems to go children die. As far as with the kid. I feel the judge sees a spark in the kid, that the judge wants to dominate; as in his monologue about birds and land. He can dominate the kid sexually.

    4) As the judge says there is no true morallity. Its about war, man, hear me. But in the end the kid does step up like a fucking badass and tell the judge, 'You aint nothin.'

    5) Not 100% on the idiot but he does at least serve a purpose in showing you characteristics of the judge through the duo's interactions. How fucked up must the judge be to do whatever he was doing at the boat crossing, naked with the little girl? Why the fuck was the idiot there with them? I mean wtf?!

    6) In the end, we cant even know the horrors.
  14. TiltinShoes TiltinShoes is offline

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    Aug 15th, 2011 (8/15/2011 6:11pm) in reply to rucka

    Good stuff! My initial analysis was actually very contradictory.

    On the one hand, I thought that the theme was nihilistic. Like the message was that a person is born. And then there is death, with whatever happening in between as pure insignificance. I thought maybe this was highlighted by all the violence, with no objection or exhilaration by those taking part in it, besides the Judge.

    But then I wondered if the Judge was supposed to be the devil, which would contradict nihilism. So I didn't know how to digest it all.
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  15. MadProfesor MadProfesor is online now

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    Aug 15th, 2011 (8/15/2011 6:36pm) in reply to TiltinShoes

    The Road and No Country for Old Men are really great books ... I tried to read Blood Meridian and just couldn't get through it. Hard to follow imo but I may pick it back up and try to start from the beginning.
  16. rucka rucka is offline

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    Aug 16th, 2011 (8/16/2011 1:35am) in reply to MadProfesor

    You have to get a dictionary and a spanish english translator (optional) and push through. By the end your brain will explode while you have a giant horrible grin on your face.
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