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ivan_tw's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I almost feel like I shouldn't rate since it's really only 2/3 of the story, but I'll review just based on the book itself.
The Passenger is a good but not exceptional McCarthy novel that has a lot of references and callbacks to his previous work (Outer Dark, No Country for Old Men) while unfortunately never being as strong as those works. The characters are mostly fine, though a few of them - Long John, the Thalidomide Kid - are extremely obnoxious. I eventually started skimming Alicia's chapters because the Kid was so irritating. The story is nice and kept me engaged, though it's unfortunate that the central "mystery", such as it is, becomes such a nonentity. I wasn't expecting it to be solved or anything, but it's pretty much forgotten about 50 pages in. The relationship between Bobby and Alicia is strong and intriguing, but it's sort of a shame that this will probably be McCarthy's last novel and it's mostly him nicking ideas from The Sound & The Fury.
Still curious to read Stella Maris, but this duology may end up one of McCarthy's minor works, which is too bad.
The Passenger is a good but not exceptional McCarthy novel that has a lot of references and callbacks to his previous work (Outer Dark, No Country for Old Men) while unfortunately never being as strong as those works. The characters are mostly fine, though a few of them - Long John, the Thalidomide Kid - are extremely obnoxious. I eventually started skimming Alicia's chapters because the Kid was so irritating. The story is nice and kept me engaged, though it's unfortunate that the central "mystery", such as it is, becomes such a nonentity. I wasn't expecting it to be solved or anything, but it's pretty much forgotten about 50 pages in. The relationship between Bobby and Alicia is strong and intriguing, but it's sort of a shame that this will probably be McCarthy's last novel and it's mostly him nicking ideas from The Sound & The Fury.
Still curious to read Stella Maris, but this duology may end up one of McCarthy's minor works, which is too bad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Incest, Mental illness, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Toxic relationship