WTF did I just read?

>excellent prose
Yeah, paragraph long sentences and more ands you can throw a horse and jockey at

Thats the point dummy. Its meant to mimic the prose of the bible. Its not really hard to follow

>not understanding stylistic choice

Bet you think some of Nick Land's writing that tries to mimic techno beats is shit as well.

This has to be bait but I'll bite like the riled up fish I am. Why don't you yourself elaborate upon your own criticisms of 'psycho teenagers moody violent fantasy'? Give us an example of what violent parts of the novel considered juvenile and then we at least have a point to jump off of.

You can't really criticize other people lashing out at you when you yourself haven't really offered any intellectual criticism yourself.

>this thing was boring as fuck and felt like it was halfway between an advert for tortillas and a psycho teenagers moody violent fantasy. 0/10
Fess up, OP. Is this just a troll or are you actually this fucking stupid? I sincerely want to know.

>pathetic. I think I'll stay here and educate you all on how a literature forum should operate.

wow check it out, the sheriff has rolled into town

>Hi! I'm retarded
>Hi! I have the IQ of fucking GRAPE SODA
>Hi! I make Donald Trump look like Steven Hawking
>Hi! Even actual chimpanzees think I'm a dumbass
But you get my drift.

I disliked The Road as well, Blood Meridian is much better.

ah, blood meridian, monsieur? that novel is the sark and chaparral of literature, the filament whereon rode the remuda of highbrow, corraled out of some destitute hacienda upon the arroya, quirting and splurting with main and with pyrolatrous coagulate of lobated grandiloquence. our eyes rode over the pages, monsieur, of that slatribed azotea like argonauts of suttee, juzgados of swole, bights and systoles of walleyed and tyrolean and carbolic and tectite and scurvid and querent and creosote and scapular malpais and shellalagh. we scalped, monsieur, the gantlet of its esker and led our naked bodies into the rebozos of its mennonite and siliceous fauna, wallowing in the jasper and the carnelian like archimandrites, teamsters, combers of cassinette scoria, centroids of holothurian chancre, with pizzles of enfiladed indigo panic grass in the saltbush of our vigas, true commodores of the written page, rebuses, monsieur, we were the mygale spiders too and the devonian and debouched pulque that settled on the frizzen studebakers, listening the wolves howling in the desert while we saw the judge rise out of a thicket of corbelled arches, whinstone, cairn, cholla, lemurs, femurs, leantos, moonblanched nacre, uncottered fistulas of groaning osnaburg and kelp, isomers of fluepipe and halms awap of griddle, guisado, pelancillo.

The Judge is just one of the most amazing characters in all of fiction. He is violence or war or death or the devil. I think I laughed out loud when he did the bit about "I represent the captain in all legal affairs."

Think of the context of those paragraph long sentences. He's piling on the details in many of them so they intentionally blur because that's the exact same feeling The Kid is likely to be feeling. Especially in that moment when the Comanches come rollicking wearing the clothes of the people they've murdered: it's a lot of detail to take in to the point of distraction and it's intimidating, like a whirlwind of brutality and you and the protagonist are swept in.

Blood Meridian is a gorgeous book but it probably will take a second reading if you're not appreciating it for its beautiful prose and its commentary on the ambiguities and ugliness of the human condition.

Have you read Cormac McCarthy before? I love his works but my first time reading Blood Meridian, there was definitely a divide between that and the accessibility of his other works.

Give Outer Dark, Child of God, The Road and No Country for Old Men a shot first. Blood Meridian is Cormac at his best (same goes for Suttree and The Border Trilogy) but certainly not at his most accessible.

Can someone please explain the full siginificance of this passage
youtube.com/watch?v=8WZGK2kziPM

This isn't funny, even if OP is a fag. We have a global rule for announcing reports because people like you a few years back thought this was acceptable.

>Glanton at the campfire
That's actually my favorite passage in any book.

tldr is basically Glanton gives no fucks and while he acknowledges fate and predetermination entirely, he 'usurps' to say that he has free will:
>be his charter written in the urstone itself he claimed agency and said so

and by sheer force of malice he's going to impose his will on the universe as long as he can as if he were the hand of god itself
>he'd drive the remorseless sun on to its final endarkenment as if he'd ordered it all ages since

There's a lot more to it of course, you'd need at least two paragraphs explaining all the angles of each line but that's the basic gestalt.

vice.com/en_us/article/5gkad3/james-francos-blood-meridian-test-656

wtf how did I miss this? Anyone know where the video is?

Thanks lot would love to hear more if you can say it

I want to know this too. I googled it for a while and it seems almost scrubbed from the internet. It must've been terrible.

I need more Bump pls

Man, shit I'm lazy as fuck it's like writing a school paper. In a few hours I will.

I'm about halfway through and it isn't violent as I've heard. Does it kick off soon?

It's more gruesome than violent-proper.

why are all the Corncob Memecarthy fans so fucking reddit?

go back to plebbit

>it's like the bible
>it's intentionally boring
why does Veeky Forums defend shitty books by arguing the author made them shitty on purpose?

you'll need to try harder than that user

>the Bible
>boring

(samefag)
>tfw I was blessed to not be this genetically inferior
Having your brain would suck.

>Blood meridian is one of my favorite books
>and McCarthy's best work
>his magnum opus by far
>and its quality is only surpassed by its brutality
>tfw you will never join Glantons band of indian scalp hunters
>tfw you will never sit by the edge of the fire light and listen to the the Judge discuss War or God

The violence becomes the aesthetic and every single bit of dialogue out of the Judge is pure gold.

I may read it again, for the sixth time. But I told my self I would re-read Moby Dick again first.

If you didn't like the book, then read it again, because you missed something in there, Blood meridian is a Masterpiece.

>reddit REDDIT ReddiT rEDDIt
>REDDIT reddit rEDDIt Reddit
>r3dd1t ReddiT r3ED|t REddIT AAAA HA HA HA HAAA
Goddam, when's the nut truck get here?

are you 16?

S-senpai

If you actually read the KJV the prose is very measured and precise while maintaining its rythms. BM is more like concentrated rambling.

This, delusional YeCarthy fags needs to stop thinking anyone who isn't of their idol's midcultish hodge podge of bad spanish, thesaurus and parataxis abuse "juz don ged it maaaaahn."

Ah yes, the prose. The prooooooose. the PROOOOOOOSE. There's a reason why the pseuds on this website are always so willing to talk about "the prose" of a book when discussing its merits or flaws. Why attempt to analyze the merits and effects of the literary devices used to add to the development of characters, why attempt to understand the interplay of the perspectives of different characters and the emphasis this places on different themes, the spectrum of ironies used throughout the novel, the historical significance of the novel and the influence it has spawned in literary tradition or the influences seen throughout the work, the specific structure and literary underpinnings of the novel and the way it influences the tone, the author's relationship to the characters and the theme, the presentation of the novel itself to the audience and thus the relationship between reader and text --- why do any of this, when you could talk about "the prose?" You know that you have such a deep understanding of the book, don't you, when you talk about "the prose," the "musicality of it," the "sparseness." What a great artistic touch you have, don't you! Such a highly refined poetic sense! And you feel like such a true reader of literature when you are able to compare these styles: "I am partial to the lyricism of Joyce's prose, as well as the clean and scientific prose of Borges," you might say. What a deep understanding you show! Because the "prose" of a work is such an accessible topic, something that is felt immediately in the body and senses, a nice little sensation and flutter of the heart. Art obviously has nothing else to it, nothing other than the little sensations that I experience, because why should i attempt to understand it on a deeper level than this, when I have such a "refined" sense of the "prose?" Why even attempt to analyze the prose and the poetic and rhythmical underpinnings of it, when I could use a pretty little metaphor for it? It matters little that virtually every reader of literature has access to the music of the words and so my understanding is not quite so advanced as I would think, that form is something that goes hand in hand with theme, that I missed all the deep relationships between characters and between text and reader that existed in the work and that comprise a large part of the literary merit of the text, for my understanding of "the prose" shows such a mastery of language, a fine-tuned sense of the magical flow of the words! Having understood this work, I may as well move onto the next, the next bundle of pretty sensations to experience, the next bagful of fun linguistic treats!

why on earth would you want to be a part of that?! Dont get me wrong I love Blood Meridian but Jesus dude you would get destroyed.

ive only read NIV

you had me at sark, user.

Here, bro. Sorry for being a lazy shitbird.

(1/3)
>He watched the fire and if he saw portents there it was much the same to him.
More biblical imagery of seeing signs of the future in fire
>He would live to look upon the western sea and he was equal to whatever might follow for he was complete at every hour. Whether his history should run concomitant with men and nations, whether it should cease.
Even if he knew how close his death was, he wouldn't care.
>He'd long forsworn all weighing of consequence
He gives absolutely zero fucks. This explains his extremely reckless behavior throughout the earlier parts of the novel, like with the Mexican soliders after he tested the new pistols. Glanton was perfectly willing to get into a shoot-out with those soldiers for no necessary reason, and the Judge stepping in probably saved everyone's life. Same with the Lieutenant who questioned him in the saloon after Jackson killed the restaurant owner.

(2/3)
>and allowing as he did that men's destinies are given yet he usurped to contain within him all that he would ever be in the world and all that the world would be to him
This gets into the main part of it. Glanton acknowledges determinism completely, and that the only importance our thoughts or beliefs have are those which affect our actions in the universe. The universe doesn't care who you 'really are' deep down, only what your actions are. And, even knowing this and accepting it, he chooses to keep his 'real' self hidden. Glanton has a lot of depth to him that surpasses the men in his gang. Here's an earlier passage regarding him that shows what I mean:
>The leaves shifted in a million spangles down the pale corridors and Glanton took one and turned it like a tiny fan by its stem and held it and let it fall and its perfection was not lost on him.
There's other glimpses into that, like where he just stares off into the horizon facing Texas with his dog, thinking about his 'wife and child that he would not see again'. He had a softness and depth to him that he hid entirely from everyone in his outward behavior, which was hard and savage. The real life Glanton had his first fiance killed and scalped by Indians when he was 18, and the bounty on his head later on was for murdering an Indian in a bar. He really fucking hated Indians.
>and be his charter written in the urstone itself he claimed agency and said so
Urstone is a very archaic word which essentially means the most basic building blocks of a system. Basically, even though Glanton entirely acknowledges the idea of determinism, and even if his destiny was carved into every atom of the universe, his response to that would still be to say "fuck you, I have free will." I think this is the single best response to the (mostly philosophical) question of the free will/determinism debate. The scientific truth is that none of us actually have free will because cause and effect govern every action in the universe. But, thinking this way lends itself to a feeling of helplessness and victimhood, that you are something the universe is acting on, rather than an agent acting on the universe. Glanton neither rejects or afirms either one, even though they're seemingly mutually exclusive. His response to being told "laws of cause and effect govern you and all of your choices are just an illusion" is to say "I completely agree, but fuck you anyway, I have free will." Basically, it's saying that if you believe you have free will, then you have free will. I think McCarthy's Glanton is the best single answer offered to the free will/determination debate in any media, and worthy of being taught in university philosophy classes.

(3/3)
>and he'd drive the remorseless sun on to its final endarkenment as if he'd ordered it all ages since, before there were paths anywhere, before there were men or suns to go upon them.”
And not only does he have free will, he would murder the fucking sun to prove it. He will inflict his will upon the universe as long as he can, as if he were a primordial force of the universe itself. And when he dies, so what. He is complete at every hour.

My diary desu

Comment online that gives a different take on the ending which I thought was very interesting:

the judge is the devil or at least a representation of him. The Kid avoids him at all costs, and cannot kill him at short distances in the creek, after showing he can hit indians at 100 yards with the pistol. The judge is at the center of depravity throughout. He is in the hut watching the naked imbecile and a young girl, etc. Two other times in the book a young girl goes missing in a town where the Kid is encamped with the gang. I at first thought it was the black Jackson, as he was late to rejoin the gang the first time, but after the ending I think different. I think the Kid is the sexual predator, the one responsible for the girls disappearing. I think he has been running from himself the whole time. The judge calls him out as the only one not being truthful in his depravity and violence, like he fashions himself better than the rest. I think at the end, he finds the young girl in the outhouse hiding and crying because of the bear, and "the judge" overtakes him. The devil gets him one more time and he kills her. It is the Kid that is the unnamed man who tells the onlookers not to go inside. They open and see what has been done, that is the horror. The Judge is vindicated and dances at the stage, saying that he will never die, as no matter how men try to outrun him, they cannot, and he lives within them forever. It's also implied in the scene before that he attempted to engage a dwarf prostitute in her services, but that he couldn't 'perform'. Why would this scene and the others with missing children (especially the last at the end) be there if they didn't have any significance?

I think some Blood Meridian-inspired game would be pretty awesome desu

It is not supposed to be mimicking the KJV

Thank goodness, but why do people always bring up the Bible concerning the prose? No other versions are particularly notable for their language.

THANKS A LOT BRO
i fucking love glanton now. I had understood half the passage and now it just makes so much sense
thanks mate

Can you also tell me how i can develop this ability to discern the texts full meaning? How'd you come up with the explanation?

Gun is a pretty good western game. You can even scalp people.

I wasn't impressed either.

My favorite author. One thing I was always curious about was the chapter in blood meridian about how the gang first came across the Judge, specifically the page where Tobin speaks about seeing hoove prints in the harsh volcanic rock. What was all that about? It's my favorite page in blood meridian and probably one of the most unsettling pages I've ever read. Pic related, my tattoo I got tonight inspired by the wolf mercy killing in "the crossing"

Thanks for the pasta, user.

honest question, what makes prise be rythmic and precise? I'm a lit noob and I don't quite understand wht people refer to when they talk about those things in prose.

Have never taken a class in writing but I imagine:

Rhythm refers to the literal pleasure that can be created by the play of different sounding syllables in words, words within sentences, sentences within paragraphs, etc. So regardless of content, prose can "feel" good to read.

Preciseness refers to the clarity of the mental images/concepts created in the mind of the reader by using the best choice of words and phrases for the job.

Just read the KJV aloud, that'll tell you alot.

If you really want to build sensitivity to rhythm in language then start with poetry. Most authors who people jerk off for "musical prose" are just borrowing techniques from poetry wholesale.

pretty cool, its not often I see tattoos I actually like

lmao i know this might be considered deep analysis on Veeky Forums home of the pseuds but in college I read early drafts of blood meridian and saw McCarthy deliberately wrote his characters as 2d cutouts and struck any lines that could lead to the kind of speculation about their motives and psyche.

slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/10/cormac_mccarthy_s_blood_meridian_early_drafts_and_history_.html

Not him but I agree it was fucking garbage. Declarative statements that excessively use "and" to connect clauses; the lack of quotations for dialogue; the cold, emotionless prose makes you feel zero connection to the characters and the story; and the idea of meaningless violence for the sake of it makes the book bad.

Read it over and over (or even the audiobook by Richard Poe is great) until you feel like you're living in it. I don't even think my interpretation is 'right' or anything, that's just what i get out of it.

I don't even consider it 'deep' analysis, it's just what I got out of it. If anything thinks it's wrong or dumb or has a better view I'd love to hear it.

>early drafts of blood meridian and saw McCarthy deliberately wrote his characters as 2d cutouts and struck any lines that could lead to the kind of speculation about their motives and psyche.
Thanks for linking that article, I hadn't seen it before. It looks like he didn't edit his characters down entirely into 2d cutouts, just drastically cut out the ability to see inside their mind. You can still judge motives from actions to some degree, and he left a small handful of characters that you can see some insight into them. It's interesting that the novel was more conventional until he added the judge and started to scale everyone else down.

Any other novels with this kind of gratuitious violence?

my diary tbqh

>psycho teenagers moody violent fantasy
rec plz?

seconding this

post diary

diary bump

Hate to jump on the muh Bloom bandwagon but he articulates it pretty well as incorporating elements of the Iliad. I think a lot of these long paragraph-sentences reflect some of the extended metaphors and descriptions that I've read in Lattimore's translation. I'd say it mixes Biblical and Homeric styles with western slang for its voice.

Thanks. Here's my "all the pretty horses" tattoo. I read this book during a month long stay in my first psychiatric hospital

cringe

>comparing donald trump to steven hawking

You do realize one of them is the most successful man on the planet and the other one is an invalid in a wheelchair who needs a poopmaid to wipe his ass for him?

Shut up faggot

Interesting life

>tfw no qt3.14 poopmaid

>the most successful man on the planet
kek

More than a handful of people have told me to write myself a book based on my situations and circumstances. I'd really like to in the vein of Henry Miller "tropic of Cancer" but I haven't ever tried writing anything my whole life. I'd like to start though.

I kind of liked it.

It felt like a dream of insanity and violence. I wouldn't say it's one of the best books I've ever read and that I have jacked to it but it was interesting for sure.

Dude. Whats in that tower? I wish I knew places like htis

>10090434
Kanye's 2010 album

>More than a handful of people have told me to write myself a book based on my situations and circumstances.
hint: they just want you to stop talking to them

How mysterious.

how fucking nu male can you get?

Haven't read Blood Meridian but Mac turns me off thanks to the worst kinds of sentence fragments and his boneheaded reasoning for omitting punctuation. Bad writer with good ideas.

His lack of punctuation is the biggest issue of mine with McCarthy, but his shit's so good that I give him a pass for that.

It still annoys me though.