Good books for the aul reading

[sethjem7]

Quite simple, books you like and why. I have just read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, an astonishing book that centres around a gang of maniacal scalp hunters in the the old west, the central character is "the kid" a drifter with a predisposition to violence and follows his bloody adventures and the characters that inhabit his universe. That's a pretty simple synopsis of the book, make no mistake, it is a very disturbing and nihilistic book where no one is a heroic protagonist. Cormac McCarthy's prose is second to none, he also creates a real expansive view of the old Amercan west. It also has many amazing pieces of quotable dialogue. You may hate McCarthy's view of mandkind after it, but it's a bloody good adventure. So share away!

From the book
“The way of the transgressor is hard. God made this world, but he didn’t make it to suit everybody, did he?… A man’s at odds to know his mind cause his mind is aught he has to know it with. He can know his heart, but he dont want to. Rightly so. Best not to look in there. It aint the heart of a creature that is bound in the way that God has set for it. You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it….”

[gracethepirate]

I read a couple of Cormac McCarthy's books and loathed them. Too much focus on violence and the prose did not redeem the events or the characters - not that I thought very highly of the prose either.

Sorry sethjem7, Cormac McCarthy is not in my scene.

[sethjem7]

I read a couple of Cormac McCarthy's books and loathed them. Too much focus on violence and the prose did not redeem the events or the characters - not that I thought very highly of the prose either.

Sorry sethjem7, Cormac McCarthy is not in my scene.

No need to say sorry, I understand that he wouldn't be everyones cup of tea after reading it, I just happened to like it. I started the thread with a view of seeing what other people liked and why, do you have any favourites?

[Rory Carr]

Blood Meridien is certainly a fine novel and perhaps the bleakest of all McCarty's novels including even his most recent, the post-apocalyptic The Road. I share the opinion of many that All the Pretty Horses, the first volume in what has become to be known as The Border Trilogy*, may be considered the finest American novel since The Great Gatsby.

* Which includes also The Crossing and The Border.

[former wesleyan]

I presume you mean light reading ?

Jo Nesbo.....Swedish writer of thrillers
Donna Leon...Thrillers set in Venice.

[Radix]

Quite simple, books you like and why. I have just read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, an astonishing book that centres around a gang of maniacal scalp hunters in the the old west, the central character is "the kid" a drifter with a predisposition to violence and follows his bloody adventures and the characters that inhabit his universe. That's a pretty simple synopsis of the book, make no mistake, it is a very disturbing and nihilistic book where no one is a heroic protagonist. Cormac McCarthy's prose is second to none, he also creates a real expansive view of the old Amercan west. It also has many amazing pieces of quotable dialogue. You may hate McCarthy's view of mandkind after it, but is a bloody good adventure. So share away!

From the book
“The way of the transgressor is hard. God made this world, but he didn’t make it to suit everybody, did he?… A man’s at odds to know his mind cause his mind is aught he has to know it with. He can know his heart, but he dont want to. Rightly so. Best not to look in there. It aint the heart of a creature that is bound in the way that God has set for it. You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it….”

This will probably be deleted, but have you checked out the latest version of the New Testament?

It's about a guy who believes in loving your enemies, and doing good to those who hate you, even if they launch ddos attacks on you for what you believe.

[tipp revolution]

I think Sebastian Barry is a Fantastic writer. His language and storytelling is top drawer. I am about to start on caanans side if I could get away from giving out on p.ie.

[former wesleyan]

Blood Meridien is certainly a fine novel and perhaps the bleakest of all McCarty's novels including even his most recent, the post-apocalyptic The Road. I share the opinion of many that All the Pretty Horses, the first volume in what has become to be known as The Border Trilogy*, may be considered the finest American novel since The Great Gatsby.

* Which includes also The Crossing and The Border.

I remember Tim Robinson..the mapmaker from the Aran Islands ...saying that he'd been reading a McCarthy but had quit because of the " bloodsoaked prose " Have to say I agree...I couldn't get through the wolf fight. Pointless.

[Jack White]

For a voice of ''conscience in touch with humanity'', anything by Nelson Algren.

A far superior writer, and more generous, than Bukowski. Warmer than Selby. Better than Richard Yates, I think.

''Walk On The Wild Side''. ''The Man With The golden Arm'', ''The Neon Wilderness'', but most especially ''Never Come Morning''.

Fighters, crooks, gamblers, vulnerability, innocence, failure, dignity. To quote a reviewer - ''Algren's passionate belief that the disenfranchised and their lives matter, and should matter, never translates into sentimentality or righteous hectoring. Clear-eyed compassion, respect for fact and a fiery inagination that's fueled by empathy for the suffering of others...'' And often laugh out loud funny.


His life was a ceaseless series of lusts: for tobacco so good he could eat it like meat; for meat, for coffee, for bread, for sleep, for whiskey, for women, for dicegames and ballgames and personal triumphs in public places. Day and night, one or all of these rode him, and was never fully satisfied even for a while; they could no more be satisfied than they could be evaded.

- from ''The Trouble With Daylight''


Comiskey banged the boy's knuckles off the bars by a single swift rap of his billy. Bruno grabbed the bruised knuckles with the fingers of his other hand and grinned weakly. It was his left hand that had taken the blow: he felt hurt in his pride as well as in his knuckles. Comisky's mouth looked like a new wound and Scully's was drooping unhappily, as though it were his hand that had been hit.

- from ''Only Myself To Blame''

[sethjem7]

This will probably be deleted, but have you checked out the latest version of the New Testament?

It's about a guy who believes in loving your enemies, and doing good to those who hate you, even if they launch ddos attacks on you for what you believe.

Are you taking the piss?