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A review by cavemanking
Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy
4.0
“My railings against the platonists are a thing of the past. Assuming at last that one could, what would be the advantage of ignoring the transcendent nature of mathematical truths. There is nothing else that all men are compelled to agree upon, and when the last light in the last eye fades to black and takes all speculation with it forever I think it could even be that these truths will glow for just a moment in the final light. Before the dark and the cold claim everything.”
Well this was the last piece I had to read of Cormac McCarthy’s published bibliography which, sadly, may end up being his last. If it is, then at least he ended his literary career on the same strong note he’s been on for 50+ years. Very rare is it for me to be as thematically engaged with an author throughout their entire backlog than I have been with Mr. McCarthy the past few years. His novels are as dense, challenging, unforgiving, and relentless in the dedication required of you as much as they are beautiful, poetic, profound, human, and unforgettable. These two books in this series being no different. Here, he explores the taboo and how life really has no answers twisted up in the human condition. Or at least the answers we tend to resolutely seek. And that’s perfectly natural. Many of the themes he tackles in these two novels are recurring themes he’s shown interest in exploring for much of his career but he tends to find new ways to dive into them with each novel and these are no exemption. The man also does some of the most thorough research into a characters given occupation of any author I can think of. If a character is a welder, for example, then you best believe you’re going to get some accurate and in depth welding knowledge. These parts can definitely drag and go over your head (especially during the 2nd book of this series, Stella Maris) but you tend to trust that there’s a thematic connection to all of it.
A newcomer may find parts of this emotionally cold and nihilistic, which, they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong in perceiving, but there’s a warmth here that begs to be noticed. It’s not quite my favorite of his works but there’s a deep understanding of love amidst the chaos and nihilistic nature of the universe and its apathy towards us as a species. We tend to find that love even in the bleakest of realities because that’s simply all we can do. It can be painful. And it can end abruptly. And it can be devastating. And it can be beautiful.
What a great send off this duology may end up being. I imagine any of his novels such as Blood Meridian, Suttree, No Country For Old Men, Child of God, or The Road will only continue to change and evolve the older one gets similar to how Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea tends to change what you take away from it once every ten years or so and I’m looking forward to growing old with these stories if I’m able. There’s just so much to unpack in this existence of ours and books like these remind us to take a step back and try to look at it objectively every once in a while and see all we have and what we can do or not do with what time we have. Bad things will happen. Sometimes completely out of our control or will. No doubt about it. And that pain will always be real, valid, and at times cruel. But there’s beauty and joy to be had in the mundanity in between as well as the absurd. We just have to be present for it. Day by day.
Well this was the last piece I had to read of Cormac McCarthy’s published bibliography which, sadly, may end up being his last. If it is, then at least he ended his literary career on the same strong note he’s been on for 50+ years. Very rare is it for me to be as thematically engaged with an author throughout their entire backlog than I have been with Mr. McCarthy the past few years. His novels are as dense, challenging, unforgiving, and relentless in the dedication required of you as much as they are beautiful, poetic, profound, human, and unforgettable. These two books in this series being no different. Here, he explores the taboo and how life really has no answers twisted up in the human condition. Or at least the answers we tend to resolutely seek. And that’s perfectly natural. Many of the themes he tackles in these two novels are recurring themes he’s shown interest in exploring for much of his career but he tends to find new ways to dive into them with each novel and these are no exemption. The man also does some of the most thorough research into a characters given occupation of any author I can think of. If a character is a welder, for example, then you best believe you’re going to get some accurate and in depth welding knowledge. These parts can definitely drag and go over your head (especially during the 2nd book of this series, Stella Maris) but you tend to trust that there’s a thematic connection to all of it.
A newcomer may find parts of this emotionally cold and nihilistic, which, they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong in perceiving, but there’s a warmth here that begs to be noticed. It’s not quite my favorite of his works but there’s a deep understanding of love amidst the chaos and nihilistic nature of the universe and its apathy towards us as a species. We tend to find that love even in the bleakest of realities because that’s simply all we can do. It can be painful. And it can end abruptly. And it can be devastating. And it can be beautiful.
What a great send off this duology may end up being. I imagine any of his novels such as Blood Meridian, Suttree, No Country For Old Men, Child of God, or The Road will only continue to change and evolve the older one gets similar to how Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea tends to change what you take away from it once every ten years or so and I’m looking forward to growing old with these stories if I’m able. There’s just so much to unpack in this existence of ours and books like these remind us to take a step back and try to look at it objectively every once in a while and see all we have and what we can do or not do with what time we have. Bad things will happen. Sometimes completely out of our control or will. No doubt about it. And that pain will always be real, valid, and at times cruel. But there’s beauty and joy to be had in the mundanity in between as well as the absurd. We just have to be present for it. Day by day.