Shahir Saleheen’s Reviews > Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West > Status Update

Finally got a physical copy of the book and it’s incredible to read. I think one of the most difficult parts of transitioning from the audiobook to the paperback was the lack of quotation marks, made further more complicated with difficult to follow dialogue lines. it’s still great, and the chapters I read today were insanity. A world completely infected with the senselessness of violence.

The imagery of the landscapes in this book is pretty great. But this has been one of the most brutal reads I’ve ever had. There are some major themes of Gnosticism which I don’t like think I’ve ever seen in a novel, not quite to this degree.

Currently listening to an audio book of this novel, and I am blown away. This book’s first two chapters opens into a world of senseless, unadulterated violence and savagery of the will of man. In this harsh world, there exist pockets of humanity that follow the kid’s journey as they explore the West and Mexico. The imagery and detail in the harshness of nature is strong, and the violence becomes desensitizing.