A review by _jpmh_
The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, the Crossing, Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy

3.0

A truly epic work, not without its difficulties. The prose in places is stunning, emotional, evocative, but some passages just ramble interminably to no great effect – in several places I found myself pretty much skim reading whole pages. There are also whole conversations presented untranslated in Spanish – if you don't know the language you could spend ages looking things up, which would be a total pain (I know Italian, which is similar enough that I could get the gist of them, but I'm sure there were still plenty of important nuances I missed). You do feel totally immersed in the characters, and get to know them so well, and the world depicted is absolutely fascinating – the Old West meeting the modern world. The collection ought to be absolutely magnificent, 5 stars, but it's just too much hard work getting through it, which really detracted from the enjoyment. As a recommendation, definitely do not attempt to read the full thing all the way through – take a break between each book, because you'll definitely get somewhat cowboy-ed out.