earthly_tether's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
btmarino84's review against another edition
5.0
I did not expect such a beautiful and tender love story from McCarthy. Though I suppose that makes sense as this is frequently listed as his most accessible book. His prose and language is brilliant as always, his violence as bleak and terrifying as ever. His descriptions of the natural world are full of such power that they an make one believe in a higher power.
emily_miller's review against another edition
4.0
I tried to read this book but Mr. McCarthy’s writing style was much too frustrating so I got the audiobook instead. His paragraph-long sentences and lack of punctuation was just too hard to get past for this journalism major. To listen to, however, it is a good story, though certainly not a happy one. Mr. McCarthy’s description of the country is beautiful and makes me want to take a horseback ride through west Texas. Not much is told about the supporting characters but we get to know John Grady personally and his forced rapid coming-of-age hurt my heart. He was really just a boy dealing with very adult things. In the end, his riding off into the sunset was sad but understandable.
catepharris's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
whoischels's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
You think this book isn't doing anything for you and then time slows down as you are with John Grady making eye contact with Alejandra for the first time, and your heart is racing when the captain in Encantada questions you and it becomes clear you will go to prison. This is the first McCarthy book I've read and the length of his sentences and the peculiar punctuation he uses made it hard to get into. Once I got used to it though, it felt very natural. The next book I read with standard punctuation will probably feel odd.
A number of things really blew me away about this book. Chief among them is the fact that part of the thing making the characters feel real was the understanding that each had a vast emotional world under the surface to which no one, not even the reader, was privy. Just like how real people are. John Grady makes a number of non-overt assumptions about the drives of other characters, and most of those assumptions are turned on their heads when the characters reveal the complexity of how they walk in the world.
The setting is just as much a character as any of the people. A lot of love goes into the descriptions of Texas and Mexico, but it's not a gooey love, it's one based in respect and understanding. This is also how McCarthy writes about horses, and writes about people thinking about horses.
A number of things really blew me away about this book. Chief among them is the fact that part of the thing making the characters feel real was the understanding that each had a vast emotional world under the surface to which no one, not even the reader, was privy. Just like how real people are. John Grady makes a number of non-overt assumptions about the drives of other characters, and most of those assumptions are turned on their heads when the characters reveal the complexity of how they walk in the world.
The setting is just as much a character as any of the people. A lot of love goes into the descriptions of Texas and Mexico, but it's not a gooey love, it's one based in respect and understanding. This is also how McCarthy writes about horses, and writes about people thinking about horses.
ronielle's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know who to be frustrated with....McCarthy or his editor. What I do know is I left this book feeling frustrated and conflicted.
Here is what I loved: John Grady Cole (I think I'm half in love with him), Rawlins (some of his dialogue made me laugh out loud), the setting (who wouldn't want to take a trip to Mexico after reading this book), McCarthy's gorgeous style and description (I almost want to ride a horse after this and they kind of scare me...)
Here is what I hated: all the Spanish conversations with no footnotes or translation or textual clues to help me know what the Spanish meant. It was not like this came once in a while, it was there a lot and there was a key scene at the end of the novel that took place almost entirely in Spanish. I had no idea what was going on.
I just don't get why McCarthy would do this. I had read about his style and how he is all about the authenticity of the the language and this contributes to why he doesn't use quotation marks, etc. I am guessing that the inclusion of so much Spanish is because this is authentic - a book about two kids in Mexico - people will be speaking Spanish. However, he would have to know that his typically reader would not be bilingual, so I do not understand why he (or an editor/publisher) would not include footnotes or endnotes with translations. This was so incredibly frustrating to me.
I loved so much of this book, but to have a key scene in a language I couldn't understand, kind of ruined the book for me. I would really like to go on for more of the Border Trillogy, but I probably won't as I know I will encounter more of the same. I feel like I am being intentionally alienated by the author and I don't understand the purpose. I would read footnotes of translations until the cows came home, but alas......I guess that would not be authentic.
Here is what I loved: John Grady Cole (I think I'm half in love with him), Rawlins (some of his dialogue made me laugh out loud), the setting (who wouldn't want to take a trip to Mexico after reading this book), McCarthy's gorgeous style and description (I almost want to ride a horse after this and they kind of scare me...)
Here is what I hated: all the Spanish conversations with no footnotes or translation or textual clues to help me know what the Spanish meant. It was not like this came once in a while, it was there a lot and there was a key scene at the end of the novel that took place almost entirely in Spanish. I had no idea what was going on.
I just don't get why McCarthy would do this. I had read about his style and how he is all about the authenticity of the the language and this contributes to why he doesn't use quotation marks, etc. I am guessing that the inclusion of so much Spanish is because this is authentic - a book about two kids in Mexico - people will be speaking Spanish. However, he would have to know that his typically reader would not be bilingual, so I do not understand why he (or an editor/publisher) would not include footnotes or endnotes with translations. This was so incredibly frustrating to me.
I loved so much of this book, but to have a key scene in a language I couldn't understand, kind of ruined the book for me. I would really like to go on for more of the Border Trillogy, but I probably won't as I know I will encounter more of the same. I feel like I am being intentionally alienated by the author and I don't understand the purpose. I would read footnotes of translations until the cows came home, but alas......I guess that would not be authentic.
ben_mitchinson's review against another edition
not a review just quotes
> **"*You still seeing the Barnett girl? He shook his head. She quit you or did you quit her? I don't know. That means she quit you. Yeah***
>
> *"I could still be born. I might look different or somethin. If God wanted me to be born I'd be born"*
>
> "*A goodlookin horse is like a goodlookin woman, he said. They're always more trouble than what they're worth. What a man needs is just one that will get the job done."*
>
> "*John Grady didn't answer. He was still looking down the road where she'd gone. There was nothing there to see but he kept looking anyway."*
>
> **"*She probably dates guys got their own airplanes let alone cars. You're probably right. I'm glad to hear you say it. It dont help nothin though, does it."***
>
> **"*She smiled at him a pitying smile and there was no pity in it."***
>
> "*Do you think they mean anything? (dreams) She looked surprised. Oh yes, she said. Dont you? Well. I dont know. They're in your head. She smiled again. I suppose I dont consider that to be the condemnation you do."*
>
> "*A woman's reputation is all she has"*
>
> "*I'll do anything you say."*
>
> **"...*The lushness of her black hair falling over him and no caution to her at all. Saying I dont care I dont care."***
>
> "*Their parents sent them for these ideas no? And they went there and received them. Yet when they returned and opened their valises, so to speak, no two contained the same thing."*
>
> "*He sat on his bunk in the dark with his pillow in his two arms and he leaned his face into and drank in her scent and tried to refashion in his mind her self and voice."*
>
> **"*If one were to be a person of value that value could not be a condition subject to the hazards of fortune. It had to be a quality that could not change"***
>
> **"***It is supposed to be true that those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it. I dont believe knowing can save us. What is constant in history is greed and foolishness and a love of blood and this is a thing that even God - who knows all that can be known - seems powerless to change.**"***
>
> "*This horseman was very young and he rode a wonderful horse but among his fears was the fear that God would kill him with lightning and because of this fear he lost his horse in the desert.*"
>
> "*...What he saw in his dream was that the order in the horse's heart was more durable for it was written in a place where no rain could erase it.*"
>
> "*... He said that it was good that God kept the truths of life from the young as they were starting out or else they'd have no heart to start at all.*"
>
> **"*You still seeing the Barnett girl? He shook his head. She quit you or did you quit her? I don't know. That means she quit you. Yeah***
>
> *"I could still be born. I might look different or somethin. If God wanted me to be born I'd be born"*
>
> "*A goodlookin horse is like a goodlookin woman, he said. They're always more trouble than what they're worth. What a man needs is just one that will get the job done."*
>
> "*John Grady didn't answer. He was still looking down the road where she'd gone. There was nothing there to see but he kept looking anyway."*
>
> **"*She probably dates guys got their own airplanes let alone cars. You're probably right. I'm glad to hear you say it. It dont help nothin though, does it."***
>
> **"*She smiled at him a pitying smile and there was no pity in it."***
>
> "*Do you think they mean anything? (dreams) She looked surprised. Oh yes, she said. Dont you? Well. I dont know. They're in your head. She smiled again. I suppose I dont consider that to be the condemnation you do."*
>
> "*A woman's reputation is all she has"*
>
> "*I'll do anything you say."*
>
> **"...*The lushness of her black hair falling over him and no caution to her at all. Saying I dont care I dont care."***
>
> "*Their parents sent them for these ideas no? And they went there and received them. Yet when they returned and opened their valises, so to speak, no two contained the same thing."*
>
> "*He sat on his bunk in the dark with his pillow in his two arms and he leaned his face into and drank in her scent and tried to refashion in his mind her self and voice."*
>
> **"*If one were to be a person of value that value could not be a condition subject to the hazards of fortune. It had to be a quality that could not change"***
>
> **"***It is supposed to be true that those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it. I dont believe knowing can save us. What is constant in history is greed and foolishness and a love of blood and this is a thing that even God - who knows all that can be known - seems powerless to change.**"***
>
> "*This horseman was very young and he rode a wonderful horse but among his fears was the fear that God would kill him with lightning and because of this fear he lost his horse in the desert.*"
>
> "*...What he saw in his dream was that the order in the horse's heart was more durable for it was written in a place where no rain could erase it.*"
>
> "*... He said that it was good that God kept the truths of life from the young as they were starting out or else they'd have no heart to start at all.*"
>
kristinapp's review against another edition
5.0
For as long as I resisted reading "All the Pretty Horses," I'm now happy to admit that it's easily on my list of all-time favorite books. McCathy's writing is so poetic yet spare. His sentences might go on for pages, but there are no unnecessary words. As soon as I finish my next book club book, I'll eagerly dive back into the world of John Grady Cole in "The Crossing."
kateabane2003's review against another edition
4.0
If I'm being brutally honest, this is what I thought All the Pretty Horses was going to be like:
I've never been a huge fan of cowboy stories, and the negative feedback I heard from friends about this book's irritating lack of proper punctuation made me dread picking it up. Yet, despite an excruciating start during the first 30 pages, I was surprised to find myself fully engrossed in the narrative thereafter. This can be credited to the wonderfully written dialogue between John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins. It's no secret that I'm a sucker for realistic character interactions, and with each comic exchange of words and/or earnest conversation between the two, John and Rawlins' friendship helped solidify my interest. This made me engage more with the novel's flow and unique formating and by its conclusion, I didn't even give a thought about missing quotation marks.
McCarthy's strength as a writer is most exhibited in his beautiful descriptions of both American and Mexican landscapes.
All the Pretty Horses surprised me, and I'm almost interested in checking out the other novels part of this trilogy to see how John's character continues to mature. If all cowboy adventures were written with this much care, maybe I'd be more excited about reading them.
I've never been a huge fan of cowboy stories, and the negative feedback I heard from friends about this book's irritating lack of proper punctuation made me dread picking it up. Yet, despite an excruciating start during the first 30 pages, I was surprised to find myself fully engrossed in the narrative thereafter. This can be credited to the wonderfully written dialogue between John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins. It's no secret that I'm a sucker for realistic character interactions, and with each comic exchange of words and/or earnest conversation between the two, John and Rawlins' friendship helped solidify my interest. This made me engage more with the novel's flow and unique formating and by its conclusion, I didn't even give a thought about missing quotation marks.
McCarthy's strength as a writer is most exhibited in his beautiful descriptions of both American and Mexican landscapes.
Spoiler
The various sets of this novel radiate with atmosphere, and what I found most fascinating was how these setting descriptions evolved alongside John Grady's character development. We start with a romanticized, almost picturesque version of the "wild west," as John takes in his new surroundings. Yet, following a series of traumatic and emotionally trying events for John, we see more bleak and violent descriptions of the world, coinciding with the more critical perspectives on society from characters such as Alfonsa.All the Pretty Horses surprised me, and I'm almost interested in checking out the other novels part of this trilogy to see how John's character continues to mature. If all cowboy adventures were written with this much care, maybe I'd be more excited about reading them.