On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Comments on this board are made with the assumption that readers have finished the book and may include spoilers.

Here's my review from a couple of years ago. No spoilers, and I haven't changed my mind about anything.
Here is a review by Diane: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Not an easy book to review. It is full of unsavory subjects and scenes, and in some other contexts those would have been enough to send me scuttering, but they are so much a part of what McCarthy is addressing, that they never have that effect. We really know little of Suttree's background, and much of what we know of him is unpleasant, and yet he manages to be someone we feel we know and understand by the end of the book. I think McCarthy is a genius and will be seen as an important writer a century from now.

McCarthy's genius lies in his ability to write about ugliness and evil in such a beautiful way. Suttree saw the life of a water rat as a truer way of life for him than the one he emerged from. And I think McCarthy saw it that way in order to make those passages you shared show it to his readers.

That is exactly it, Diane. We somehow sense, even if we are not given the details, that Suttree is living a better life on the river and one that is true to the man that he is and that he is in some way superior to those he left behind, although they of course would not think so. If McCarthy were not able to convey the beauty underneath the squalor and use the language so deftly, you would have a completely different book and one that might be just too hard to take.

I am slowly climbing Mount Suttree and it's August 30th. What a climb, but I am lovin' it. Every step! Five Stars!

I understand what you mean about the climb, Judi, but the view from the top of the mountain is spectacular. :)

No rules here about how long it takes to finish or a deadline to make. It takes what it takes. Suttree himself would scoff at deadlines.

The climb of Mount Suttree will continue!

I am finished! This is one of my favorite "climbs", "reads" of all time! I would give it six stars were that an option. The Mount Everest of books. Cormac McCarthy is a beyond gifted writer. My final thought on Suttree is "Life Sucks And Then You Die." I will follow with a formal review soon.

Yea, Judy! Good quote, but great books make life less sucky.

Diane wrote: "Yea, Judy! Good quote, but great books make life less sucky."

Indeed. Or, you find a voice that you can relate to.

Ah, Judi, I knew you would like the view from the top. I'll be watching for your review.

Congrats to reaching the summit, Judi! Here's my review from back in 2012. https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... .

I hope to see us tackle more Cormac McCarthy.

Lawyer wrote: "Congrats to reaching the summit, Judi! Here's my review from back in 2012. https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... .

I hope to see us tackle more [aut..."

Me too!

Submitted Formal Review.

Well Judi. Sucking and Dying. I'll let you know in a few years unless someone beats me to it.

I've kinda had my fill of his dark side so I didn't reread Suttree. Blood Meridian left me wondering what kind of sick f### could write that.

Now.
I thoroughly enjoyed
Cities of the Plains. A terrific story. Not too much pontificating, lots of dialog and character development. Violence at the right moment and not overdone. A look into a cowboy's life in the SW. I enjoyed it.

Not so thrilled w The Crossing. A good first section w the wolf but then it bogs down in section 2 where I am stuck now.

On this cricket filled night you brought me a chuckle Judi.

I hear you John. Thanks for your comment. I too am circling the drain.

Darkly

John and Judi, you both gave me my morning laugh.

I'm laughing too. I can go to the dark side only so often, so I have to space these reads.

I agree completely with your thoughts on Cities of the Plains, John.

Diane and Sara. Holy Smokes, are you early risers, or is 4:30 and 5:00 AM my receive your post time rather than your send time.
It's always nice to see you. I have so many books I want to talk about but I can't seem to find the keyboard time.

Yours to the last page.
Jt

I never get up til at least 6:30 every morning, read the paper, drink coffee, then go on GR. So it must be your receiving time you see. But I think the same thing when I see posts from very early. I think there are a lot of insomniacs among us.

John, I'm stealing your sign off... "Yours til the last page". I love that.

My husband had a very bad night and I was up with him, so it was an unusually early morning for me. My post says 5:04, which seems impossibly early though. Most days you wouldn't find me up at 5:00 and I'd think Diane would have noticed if she was up at 4:20, which is the stamp on hers. Very strange indeed.

I like the sign-off as well, John. You should use it on all your posts!

John wrote: "I've kinda had my fill of his dark side so I didn't reread Suttree. Blood Meridian left me wondering ..."

I wondered the same after reading his Tennessee novels and then Blood Meridian, John. No Country for Old Men was my favorite, I guess because it took place in my part of Texas -- Val Verde County, Del Rio, Eagle Pass. Loved the movie too.

I have read all the CM novels, stories, but not all the screen plays. I need to find those to round it all up.

You gurls. Too funny
OK Diane we can share. Every time I see it I'll feel good.
I'll have to write it down so I don't forget.
Now JUDI you must come up w a good one! I feel like you started this whole thing.

Yours till the last page
Jt

Now i gotta find an alter ego. those are reserved for moderators. As it should be.

Oh, Cities of the Plains has started to pick up. Billy has come home. He and Boyd are on the trail again, headed for Casa Grande, which is four hours away from me. Wolves, dead cattle, horse thieves, sleeping in the cold, adobe houses melting into the dirt from which they came.
I may start reading some Zane Grey. His cabin burned down in The Dude Fire 1990.
( dang, I don't know how to stick a picture in. I'll have to ask Mike)

Yours
Jt

Alrighty then, I'll consider my alter ego to be Billy Parham. This will be our little secret because I won't sign off this way. I choose him because Now is the time. Additionally; I wish I was a cowboy riding the range as a younger man. They are the epitome of rugged individualism. live and die by your own wits. Don't get me wrong. City Wits are just as demanding. Just a different skill set. Physically demanding occupation. Logically inclined yet intuitive enough in understanding a horse, his primary partner. Out here in Trump Country I don't follow their creed but leave me alone and we'll be fine. I'm a progressive redneck. I liked Obama.

I wax poetic. I must be lonesome
jt

John, I'm reading one now you might like. Sweet Promised Land, by Robert Laxalt. A memoir about an immigrant from the Pyrenees around the turn of the last century. He is a sheepherder in Nevada, and goes back to Basque Country for a visit after 47 years, accompanied by his son. A different kind of cowboy.
Yours til the last page!

be still my heart