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A review by bbrassfield
Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
5.0
Remarkable achievement. The language the author uses to describe the brutality of the era of westward expansion is nothing short of revelatory. The judge is one of the more memorable fictional characters that I've encountered and his remarks on humans and war are unfortunately absolutely correct and in their own way could form the moral framework of Blood Meridian as a novel. This book is simply not to be missed even with the epic levels of violence contained within its pages.
edit: I am posting further thoughts after I've had time to re-read certain passages and reflecting on the question as to whether or not this book could be filmed successfully like The Road and No Country for Old Men. I can’t see Blood Meridian being made into a film that could in any way resemble the actual novel. Maybe, maybe if you whittled down all the acts of violence into two or three acts meant to represent the whole, but even then any of them a filmmaker might choose to show are going to be horrifying! I can’t imagine the gasps in a theater audience as the brains of babies explode through the fontanelles of their shattered heads! And then there is that somewhat enigmatic ending to bring into account, which I’m pretty sure involves some form of sodomy. The words, “gathered him in his arms against his immense and terrible flesh” are probably the most terrifying words in the story. Many passages will stay with the reader, but in the context of film, you would need voiceovers, which can work well as we see in No Country for Old Men but you would need more for Blood Meridian. I think this novel haunts me because even though the events take place in the 19th century, the themes the characters represent, especially the kid, the judge and the expriest, all represent America to this day, and that is fucking terrifying.
edit: I am posting further thoughts after I've had time to re-read certain passages and reflecting on the question as to whether or not this book could be filmed successfully like The Road and No Country for Old Men. I can’t see Blood Meridian being made into a film that could in any way resemble the actual novel. Maybe, maybe if you whittled down all the acts of violence into two or three acts meant to represent the whole, but even then any of them a filmmaker might choose to show are going to be horrifying! I can’t imagine the gasps in a theater audience as the brains of babies explode through the fontanelles of their shattered heads! And then there is that somewhat enigmatic ending to bring into account, which I’m pretty sure involves some form of sodomy. The words, “gathered him in his arms against his immense and terrible flesh” are probably the most terrifying words in the story. Many passages will stay with the reader, but in the context of film, you would need voiceovers, which can work well as we see in No Country for Old Men but you would need more for Blood Meridian. I think this novel haunts me because even though the events take place in the 19th century, the themes the characters represent, especially the kid, the judge and the expriest, all represent America to this day, and that is fucking terrifying.