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A review by monkeelino
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
4.0
McCarthy gives us the romantic myth of the American cowboy who no longer has a country in which to ride free and thrive. John Grady heads south to Mexico believing he'll find something of a life there... an escape from family, a cowboy's honest work off the land handling horses, a step back in time... a sense of purpose?
What he finds is the kind of brutal reality in which, I'm given to understand, McCarthy frequently traffics. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but it goes down somewhat easier than might be expected thanks to the stark beauty conveyed by the rhythmic prose, brief-but-hilarious interludes, and wonderful character dynamics.
A coming of age tale where life grows a young fella up right fast if it doesn't kill him first in the process. I've got next to no experience with westerns as a genre, but it strikes me that this one takes some of the familiar tropes and uses them to explore deeper questions of friendship, love, honor, and how inextricably woven together are culture, history, and place.
What he finds is the kind of brutal reality in which, I'm given to understand, McCarthy frequently traffics. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but it goes down somewhat easier than might be expected thanks to the stark beauty conveyed by the rhythmic prose, brief-but-hilarious interludes, and wonderful character dynamics.
A coming of age tale where life grows a young fella up right fast if it doesn't kill him first in the process. I've got next to no experience with westerns as a genre, but it strikes me that this one takes some of the familiar tropes and uses them to explore deeper questions of friendship, love, honor, and how inextricably woven together are culture, history, and place.