NP, but a bit of prose poetry...

[Ian Livingston]

Oh, yes, Rich, I wholeheartedly concur. McCarthy is always much more than
archetypal / mythic. In keeping with the nature of myth from the earliest
times, he is a storyteller whose stories are about very human struggles.
That he focuses his gaze upon the underworld, where demons rack the soul,
is clear evidence of his commitment to gazing in the heart of modern (or
post, if you prefer) Man in all his clumsy grasping at recovering the
humanity he has lost. I certainly concur in the association with Faulkner,
who, with Steinbeck, Norris, et al, tracked the era of the Fall from Grace,
when the repressed horror of the European assault on the Western hemisphere
came home to rule from below.

On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 9:10 AM, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:

> though I agree with much you say here, Ian I wouldnt overlook the sheer
> human-ness in Suttree--its humor, much of it pretty dark but not all, its
> pathos (reverbs with Absalom Absalom in my book). worlds away from Blood
> Meridian, a book as I get older I appreciate more and more but find myself
> liking less and less (weird, I know). I think the Border Trilogy exhibits
> the same--the she-wolf and the boy in the Crossing remains for me a
> stunning evocation of heartbreak.
>
> rich
>
> On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 10:20 AM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> McCarthy writes about Man in the world. I think Suttree is a perfect case
>> in point. Man is dispossessed and sterile, his sex is fruitless (even with
>> watermelons) and his copulations are with a form of Woman who no longer is
>> in the living world. I think the sterility of Man in his competitive
>> commitment to violently wresting gratification from an unknown, barely
>> guessed-at Other, that Man must hate in his ignorance, is representative of
>> all the sex McCarthy needs. Man fucks the world. Blood Meridian is, yeah,
>> genius; and, yes, it all comes back to the Whale as it is in the postmodern
>> world. There is a wonderful study, developed from a diss, I think,
>> evaluating BM in part as a Tarot reading. Ah, yes, Notes on Blood Meridian,
>> by John Sepich. Highly recommended.
>>
>> http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3143478-notes-on-blood-meridian
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 6:40 AM, Mark Sacha <msacha1121 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> If you're interested in the topic, have the time, and have access to a
>>> copy (the latter two are big ifs), Vollmann's unabridged Rising Up and
>>> Rising Down is, I think, the de facto modern text on it. It's split up into
>>> two major sections - the first is analytical/theoretical and the latter is
>>> essentially an unedited compendium of his journalism, which are included as
>>> case studies. Only (haha) the first five volumes are really essential to
>>> the book. Since it's Vollmann we're talking about here, it's really
>>> thorough, although political in ways people won't always agree with and a
>>> little inconsistent in tone and quality. But I was blown away by it.
>>>
>>> I got mine from a library since copies run upward of $1000.
>>> https://www.worldcat.org/title/rising-up-and-rising-down/oclc/53820538&referer=brief_results
>>>
>>> On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 9:12 AM, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Been curious about Vollman for a bit
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thursday, December 17, 2015, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Now you have Vollman to read. A MAJOR subject, as we know.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 8:12 AM, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> > I am nearing the end of another book on violence, not nearly as epic
>>>>> or
>>>>> > beautiful as BM but another perspective, psychological and discrete.
>>>>> I have
>>>>> > read Ballardian landscapes described as "quantal" and I think it is
>>>>> perfect
>>>>> > description.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I think I am organically crafting some imaginary course on violence
>>>>> in my
>>>>> > head. Started with the Spanish film Tesis by Ameñabar,
>>>>> Baader-Meinhoff by
>>>>> > Delillo (it's a short story in the New Yorker, not necessarily
>>>>> violent but
>>>>> > terrorism and trauma) then Blood Meridian and now High Rise by
>>>>> Ballard.
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > On Thursday, December 17, 2015, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> OMG that is so obvious! And the whole time reading it I am
>>>>> constructing
>>>>> >> wild theories as to why the man is hairless. Represents his
>>>>> supernatural
>>>>> >> otherworldliness, a skin suited for a different terrain, Yada yada
>>>>> yada
>>>>> >> can't believe I didn't consider the freaking whale itself.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> I'm going to have to buy a copy because there is a lot I want to go
>>>>> back
>>>>> >> to. Got mine from the library
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> And Mark that home alone bit is hilarious. Spot on.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> On Wednesday, December 16, 2015, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> I'm sure it is no accident the Moby Dick is so evoked by BM.  The
>>>>> Judge
>>>>> >>> is the whale.
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> David Morris
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> On Wednesday, December 16, 2015, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com
>>>>> >
>>>>> >>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> Moby Dick was at the front of my mind throughout. Instead of man
>>>>> hunting
>>>>> >>>> a whale, and everything that represents, man is hunting man. I'm
>>>>> sure u all
>>>>> >>>> have dissected this one like an injun scalp but since I haven't
>>>>> really
>>>>> >>>> discussed it with anyone I'll say this in passing to get it out.
>>>>> I think the
>>>>> >>>> lack of sex scenes was certainly indicative of something because
>>>>> we know sex
>>>>> >>>> occurs in the book. And I would like to know what anyone thinks
>>>>> of the
>>>>> >>>> idiot, his cage and his chain to the judge and why the judge
>>>>> rescues him.
>>>>> >>>> One of the rare appearances of the fairer sex is when he is
>>>>> liberated from
>>>>> >>>> his cage. And just a random thought: when reading the passage
>>>>> where the
>>>>> >>>> judge is walking around with the idiot on the chain my mind
>>>>> seemed to conjur
>>>>> >>>> Dracula and Renfield. Was wondering what you smarter folk took
>>>>> from that
>>>>> >>>> whole interaction.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> On Wednesday, December 16, 2015, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> Yes, page 247.
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> On Wed, Dec 16, 2015 at 8:26 AM, Perry Noid <
>>>>> coolwithdoc at gmail.com>
>>>>> >>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> I just finished reading that for the first time last week. Had
>>>>> read
>>>>> >>>>>> the Road and No Country, was underwhelmed, and was not
>>>>> expecting to be wowed
>>>>> >>>>>> like I was with Blood Meridian. I was expecting it to be
>>>>> another over
>>>>> >>>>>> praised novel that did not meet expectations but it far
>>>>> exceeded mine.
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> That *is* Blood Meridian right?
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> On Wednesday, December 16, 2015, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>>> ...They rode on. The horses trudged sullenly the alien ground
>>>>> and the
>>>>> >>>>>>> round earth rolled beneath them silently milling the greater
>>>>> void wherein
>>>>> >>>>>>> they were contained. In the neuter austerity of that terrain
>>>>> all phenomena
>>>>> >>>>>>> were bequeathed a strange equality and no one thing nor spider
>>>>> nor stone nor
>>>>> >>>>>>> blade of grass could put forth claim to precedence. The very
>>>>> clarity of
>>>>> >>>>>>> these articles belied their familiarity, for the eye
>>>>> predicates the whole on
>>>>> >>>>>>> some feature or part and here was nothing more luminous than
>>>>> another and
>>>>> >>>>>>> nothing more enshadowed and in the optical democracy of such
>>>>> landscapes all
>>>>> >>>>>>> preference is made whimsical and a man and a rock become
>>>>> endowed with
>>>>> >>>>>>> unguessed kinship.
>>>>> >>>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>>> I'm sure some of you will recognize this...
>>>>> >>>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>>> --
>>>>> >>>>>>> www.innergroovemusic.com
>>>>> >>>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> --
>>>>> >>>>> www.innergroovemusic.com
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
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