Reviews

Kein Land für alte Männer by Cormac McCarthy, Nikolaus Stingl

egglet's review against another edition

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4.0

reconciling faith, fate, free will, drugs, Vietnam, and violence

matt_elardo's review against another edition

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4.0

“It's a life's work to see yourself for what you really are and even then you might be wrong.”

poerlyread's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really loved this. It’s very practical and simple writing, but also very deep and introspective, especially from Bell’s perspective. I found out it was originally written as a screenplay about halfway through my read and that made the dialogue make a lot more sense. The movie is pretty much scene for scene the same as the book, although a lot of the ending is cut out, including the hitchhiker and a lot of Bell’s monologues. It’s a bit more pessimistic than I think I would usually lean toward, but I liked Sheriff Bell enough to stick with him. And the dialect the book was written it felt so familiar and easy for me to read as a Texan. Overall great read and I can’t wait to rewatch the movie!  

oregon_small_fry's review against another edition

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3.0

I've been really really depressed over stupid boy stuff today and what two books did I pick to read? the two most depressing books ever, this and "The Road."

ozreads8's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jmachine's review against another edition

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4.0

Maybe a hot take but I think I liked the movie better. Still a great book though.

elliehoneyman's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

zkendall's review against another edition

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5.0

Just brilliant. I like the plain darkness. And I like McCarthy's verbiage and style.

sagarioo's review against another edition

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5.0

Damn. En helt fantastisk bog.
Jeg så filmen først, som jeg syntes var helt fantastisk, og da jeg så en dag så bogen i min fars bogreol, blev jeg nødt til at læse den.
Bogen er mindst lige så god som filmen, hvis ikke bedre. Selve historien er vildt god og super gribende. Sproget er helt fantastisk - de korte sætninger og implicitte replikker sammen med beskrivelse af landskabet skaber en super god stemning. Det giver en rigtig god fornemmelse af at være i syden, hvor historien også forløber

willkay's review against another edition

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5.0

I normally avoid books when I've seen the film, I'm a great believer in reading the book first. I accept that they are both different mediums, but I believe that the film can often steal from the enjoyment of a book. I like the building of characters in a book, the painting of the pictures. A good book makes the mental effort worth while, makes the book far more enjoyable. I've found that films often rob me of that delight. The pictures are drawn for you, you don't have to visualise the characters because the actors present you with their interpretation. To make matters worse, the Coen brothers are brilliant film directors/producers. I find their films exceedingly picturesque/character driven. I was worried that the film would over power the book. I was wrong.

Although the film covers much of the ground of the book, it tends to focus more "on the money trail" and Chirgurh. The book has a different focus, the story of the sheriff, the man who is finding himself too old for the country he lives in. Because of this it is very easy to forget the film all together. Mr. McCarthy is a brilliant writer, who writes very evocatively. As he writes, he repaints the characters, the scenes, and thus the book becomes the true picture, and the memory of the film fades.

A very enjoyable read, although it should be stated that the book has very little (to no) joy. It is, as most Cormac McCarthy books are, predominantly sad. There are no happy endings for any of the characters, and no happy ending. This doesn't mean that there isn't a sense that there was once a happy time, it's just that we will never reclaim it.