Everybody talks about how brutal BM is, but nobody talks about how a 14 year old in 1847 could afford a one bedroom in New Orleans and get free healthcare.
Amazing. So glad I signed up. All this time I thought CM was toying with syntax - never thought to think certain prep us was idiomatic. That alone is worth a couple bucks this month - hope you get yourself a nice beer / pop. Obviously everyone discusses his prose - and it is fun / addicting to emulate (when messing around or in draft). There is a certain perfection, from a craft POV, that I see with work through Blood Meridian that, in my humble opinion, falls off a titch come _The Road_ and _No Country_. Perhaps he has moved on. But certain syntactical turns are literally breathtaking. THAT sort of stuff is impossible to parody. I'd post an ex. but I'm away from my copy & I've taken up enough oxygen. Look forward to the next post.
You mentioned a number - the rate you were going to "charge" - as having particular significance. As I'm re-reading McCarthy along with you, I wonder: Do you plan to discuss numbers, generally? Coins are leaping out at me, now - well, they did so in the bar, in front of The Judge. Two other things. Are you going to get into grammar / syntax.
Sat "in" the floor as opposed to "on". Seems like CM goes a bit further with this come _Passenger_ with parkinglot and other invented compound nouns. I don't remember quite as many my fast pass through his canon.
Also: 33. First page. No idea this had anything to do with CM's birth. With all the talk of stars I drew another connection.
Wonderful depiction of The People ....
Had they any "religion" / ceremony not explored in the novel?
Did they paint "red hands" on horses?
Sorry - Guess that was more than two: No need to reply to any/all.
Aside: I think the novel's tag as "challenging" or "difficult" is unfair. To fully understand like you do - sure. But to simply read / re-read? A blast.
I won't be doing much with Numerology in BM: oddly, numbers don't play the role here that they do in his other novels (thinking of NCFOM, in particular).
I think Cormac's syntax is one of the most fascinating (and under-appreciated) elements of his writing. His use of "sitting in the floor" is a Southernism. I grew up in Oklahoma where my folks told me "not to sit there in the floor." For some reason, when we sat *on* the floor, we sat *in* it. Of course, we always sat *on* chairs. I think it's an idiom much like the British, "You're sat there, watching the tele." (As opposed to, "You're sitting there, watching the tele.")
The Comanche/Nermernuh had rich religious practices and fascinating folklore/mythology. The best book on their material culture, faith, and folklore is Wallace and Hoebel's THE COMANCHE: LORDS OF THE SOUTH PLAINS. McCarthy doesn't explore the Comanche further in BM. In fact, as the Kid moves out of Comancheria (the Comanche Raiding Zone), we never see them again.
The Comanche painted hands and suns and other devices of various colors on their shields, bodies, horses, etc.
Because the Comanche (prior to 1874, at least) didn't write their language or cultural practices down, everything we know about the People is what was passed on orally. Because they were a migratory people dependent on the horse and the buffalo, they never built permanent dwellings or even made pottery (you don't want gear that is breakable when on the move). There were never more than about 20,000 Comanche on the planet at any given time, and tragically, the People experienced a 99% attrition rate: due, of course, to Anglo incursion, buffalo hunters, and Ranald Mackenzie (a US Army Cavalry officer who pursued them to the brink of extinction). By 1874, the last great Comanche chief, Quanah Parker, led his people in to the reservation at Fort Sill and they were Lords of the Plains no longer.
A sad and tragic fate for a noble, formidable tribe. S.C. Gwynne writes movingly about all of this in EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON, a terrific nonfiction book about the Comanche in 19th century Texas.
Professor Gwyn: This is fkn outstanding. Nobody in the world could beat the Comanche. But here comes Texas legend Jack Hays. Jack Hays and the Texas Rangers could defeat them.
Can we meet at UNCC for coffee? I am in Ft Mill. We can talk about the Rescue of Cynthia Ann Parker. Look, there is a story needs to be told. @PermianCroaton
Everybody talks about how brutal BM is, but nobody talks about how a 14 year old in 1847 could afford a one bedroom in New Orleans and get free healthcare.
LOL!
The description of reloading the rifle in section ii is really well done. Great read.
Thanks, man!
Reading your descriptions of the Comanche, Aaron, I felt, eerily that I was reading an alternate-universe version of this article from The Strange Continent: https://thestrangecontinentcom.wordpress.com/2019/01/28/great-empires-of-north-america-part-6-masters-of-the-plains/
This one, "Pirates on a Sea of Grass," also resonates deeply with this vibe: https://thestrangecontinentcom.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/great-empires-central-asia-part-3/
Wow! Thanks for this!
Love this entirely. Thank you for recommending books on the Comanche, literally why I came into the comments for.
Thank you!
Amazing. So glad I signed up. All this time I thought CM was toying with syntax - never thought to think certain prep us was idiomatic. That alone is worth a couple bucks this month - hope you get yourself a nice beer / pop. Obviously everyone discusses his prose - and it is fun / addicting to emulate (when messing around or in draft). There is a certain perfection, from a craft POV, that I see with work through Blood Meridian that, in my humble opinion, falls off a titch come _The Road_ and _No Country_. Perhaps he has moved on. But certain syntactical turns are literally breathtaking. THAT sort of stuff is impossible to parody. I'd post an ex. but I'm away from my copy & I've taken up enough oxygen. Look forward to the next post.
Will make a list of all these titles.
Awesome! Thank you!
You mentioned a number - the rate you were going to "charge" - as having particular significance. As I'm re-reading McCarthy along with you, I wonder: Do you plan to discuss numbers, generally? Coins are leaping out at me, now - well, they did so in the bar, in front of The Judge. Two other things. Are you going to get into grammar / syntax.
Sat "in" the floor as opposed to "on". Seems like CM goes a bit further with this come _Passenger_ with parkinglot and other invented compound nouns. I don't remember quite as many my fast pass through his canon.
Also: 33. First page. No idea this had anything to do with CM's birth. With all the talk of stars I drew another connection.
Wonderful depiction of The People ....
Had they any "religion" / ceremony not explored in the novel?
Did they paint "red hands" on horses?
Sorry - Guess that was more than two: No need to reply to any/all.
Aside: I think the novel's tag as "challenging" or "difficult" is unfair. To fully understand like you do - sure. But to simply read / re-read? A blast.
Coy,
Great questions/comments!
I won't be doing much with Numerology in BM: oddly, numbers don't play the role here that they do in his other novels (thinking of NCFOM, in particular).
I think Cormac's syntax is one of the most fascinating (and under-appreciated) elements of his writing. His use of "sitting in the floor" is a Southernism. I grew up in Oklahoma where my folks told me "not to sit there in the floor." For some reason, when we sat *on* the floor, we sat *in* it. Of course, we always sat *on* chairs. I think it's an idiom much like the British, "You're sat there, watching the tele." (As opposed to, "You're sitting there, watching the tele.")
The Comanche/Nermernuh had rich religious practices and fascinating folklore/mythology. The best book on their material culture, faith, and folklore is Wallace and Hoebel's THE COMANCHE: LORDS OF THE SOUTH PLAINS. McCarthy doesn't explore the Comanche further in BM. In fact, as the Kid moves out of Comancheria (the Comanche Raiding Zone), we never see them again.
The Comanche painted hands and suns and other devices of various colors on their shields, bodies, horses, etc.
Because the Comanche (prior to 1874, at least) didn't write their language or cultural practices down, everything we know about the People is what was passed on orally. Because they were a migratory people dependent on the horse and the buffalo, they never built permanent dwellings or even made pottery (you don't want gear that is breakable when on the move). There were never more than about 20,000 Comanche on the planet at any given time, and tragically, the People experienced a 99% attrition rate: due, of course, to Anglo incursion, buffalo hunters, and Ranald Mackenzie (a US Army Cavalry officer who pursued them to the brink of extinction). By 1874, the last great Comanche chief, Quanah Parker, led his people in to the reservation at Fort Sill and they were Lords of the Plains no longer.
A sad and tragic fate for a noble, formidable tribe. S.C. Gwynne writes movingly about all of this in EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON, a terrific nonfiction book about the Comanche in 19th century Texas.
Professor Gwyn: This is fkn outstanding. Nobody in the world could beat the Comanche. But here comes Texas legend Jack Hays. Jack Hays and the Texas Rangers could defeat them.
Can we meet at UNCC for coffee? I am in Ft Mill. We can talk about the Rescue of Cynthia Ann Parker. Look, there is a story needs to be told. @PermianCroaton
This was incredibly informative and well-written. Thank you. Incredible post for an incredible book. About to read it again.
really nice piece