Mike's Reviews > Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West

Gorgeous prose, but fairly disturbing -- I think I'd have been more put off if I hadn't read some Western history before this (most recently Empire of the Summer Moon) and didn't know that it is based on actual events, perhaps embellished but essentially true, apart from the obviously invented character Judge Holden. Harold Bloom called this the "ultimate Western" -- ultimate in the sense of FINAL, as in: no one need write another Western after this. I have nothing to add to that.

I hear that someone is hoping to make a film of this book. I think that is insane. Movie goers don't want to see a film about constant atrocity with few if any sympathetic characters, and despite the success of No country for old men and The road, you will notice that this book, probably McCarthy's best, is practically out of print while his other books are in numerous editions.

My only complaint would be that McCarthy never uses quotation marks and rarely uses apostrophes and I don't really see much benefit to that quirk.



Spoiler alert (stop now if mention of plot events will impair your enjoyment of a book!)


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I checked out a few other review and I'm flabbergasted that so many reviewers say the murder of the kid is only hinted at ... I'd say it is pretty clear that he was murdered and mutilated in the 'jakes' at the end.