I just finished reading McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and have come to the conclusion that, if it's not the best book I've ever read, then it's definitely in the top five. Extremely bloody and violent, the story taking place in Pre-Civil War south west, is told largely from the perspective of the book's protagonist, simply called the Kid, when he joins the ranks of the Glanton gang, who had been real life scalpers hired by the Mexican and Texas authorities to exterminate the Apaches, for which they are paid per scalp. While the gang had always been filled with outlaws and psychos, they become progressively worse after having come upon the Mephistophelian character of Judge Holden, a gigantic, hairless albino possessing both inhuman physical and intellectual strength, and encyclopedic knowledge. If the doomed Glanton gang were not already damned before taking Holden in, they most certainly are from then on.
Some possible discussion questions:
Who is Judge Holden, really?
Who would you cast in a hypothetical movie based on the book? (Several have tried, but it's always fallen through.)
Is the book a western? Is it horror? Or is it both?
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-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer
06 Apr 2024, 7:43 pm
