”Now come days of begging, days of theft. Days of riding where there rode no soul save he. He’s left behind the pinewood country and the evening sun declines before him beyond an endless swale and dark falls here like a thunderclap and a cold wind sets the weeds to gnashing. The night sky lies so sprent with stars that there is scarcely space of black at all and they fall all night in bitter arcs and it is so that there numbers are no less”.
I first read this book as a twenty something commuting through a long and dark London winter. Blood Meridian is based on the historical events which took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850’s. McCarthy’s writing is visceral and bleak. Surreal at times, his words disregard conventional structure. McCarthy weaves a murky tale of violence and godless bedfellows, it’s landscapes desolate and dry. I loved this book, McCarthy’s use of language set my heart on fire. All writers should read this book, just to see how liberating prose can be.
candacewriteswords 