RIP Cormac McCarthy

[Spotted Horses]

As much as I love McCarthy, I'm not sure the Border trilogy really works as a trilogy. But that first book is amazing.

That's where I would start, in any case. At the time (more than 10 years ago, I'm sure) I had enough interest to read all three. They were collected in one volume so the barrier was low to continuing.

[vers la flamme]

That's where I would start, in any case. At the time (more than 10 years ago, I'm sure) I had enough interest to read all three. They were collected in one volume so the barrier was low to continuing.

Maybe worth another shot, I think. Especially knowing how much you love Faulkner.

[Spotted Horses]

Maybe worth another shot, I think. Especially knowing how much you love Faulkner.

Oddly, I never noticed a connection between the two.

[DavidW]

I've read The Road and it was good but unoriginal.  But McCarthy's choice to emulate Joyce and not bother with proper punctuation is just pretentious.  And his decision to hold himself aloof from all other writers is arrogant.  He is a very good writer, but none of his novels are Ulysses.

My most recent encounter with McCarthy was from my colleague asking me to explain the Physics in his recent novels.  They were accurately written, but I also had a feeling that McCarthy was just showing off.

I still want to read Blood Meridian.

[Spotted Horses]

My most recent encounter with McCarthy was from my colleague asking me to explain the Physics in his recent novels.  They were accurately written, but I also had a feeling that McCarthy was just showing off.

Presumably got it from hanging out with my friend (and other phycicists) at the Santa Fe institute.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

But McCarthy's choice to emulate Joyce and not bother with proper punctuation is just pretentious.

I agree. Pretentious and pointless. At first I thought he was trying to make some point about post-apocalyptic degradation of language, but he doesn't do it consistently or forcefully enough, so it just looks sloppy.

And his decision to hold himself aloof from all other writers is arrogant.

I don't have a problem with this at all. A lot of writers are reclusive or antisocial; it kind of goes with the territory.

[BWV 1080]

I've read The Road and it was good but unoriginal.  But McCarthy's choice to emulate Joyce and not bother with proper punctuation is just pretentious. 

Dont recall any of Cormac's books not using proper punctuation, he just does not use quotation marks to note dialog, which is OK.  His punctuation rules have circulated around the web:

1. Quotation Marks:

McCarthy doesn't use 'em. In his Oprah interview, he says MacKinlay Kantor was the first writer he read who left them out. McCarthy stresses that this way of writing dialogue requires particular deliberation. Speaking of writers who have imitated him, he says, "You really have to be aware that there are no quotation marks, and write in such a way as to guide people as to who's speaking." Otherwise, confusion reigns.


2. Colons and semicolons:

Careful McCarthy reader Oprah says she "saw a colon once" in McCarthy's prose, but she never encountered a semicolon. McCarthy confirms: "No semicolons."

Of the colon, he says: "You can use a colon, if you're getting ready to give a list of something that follows from what you just said. Like, these are the reasons." This is a specific occasion that does not present itself often. The colon, one might say, genuflects to a very specific logical development, enumeration. McCarthy deems most other punctuation uses needless.

3. All other punctuation:

Aside from his restrictive rationing of the colon, McCarthy declares his stylistic convictions with simplicity: "I believe in periods, in capitals, in the occasional comma, and that's it." It's a discipline he learned first in a college English class, where he worked to simplify 18th century essays for a textbook the professor was editing. Early modern English is notoriously cluttered with confounding punctuation, which did not become standardized until comparatively recently.

https://www.openculture.com/2013/08/cormac-mccarthys-punctuation-rules.html

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Dont recall any of Cormac's books not using proper punctuation, he just does not use quotation marks to note dialog, which is OK.

At least in The Road, he shuns apostrophes, but he's inconsistent. Thus he writes "dont" and "cant," but "I'm" and "we're." I find it rather annoying.

[vers la flamme]

At least in The Road, he shuns apostrophes, but he's inconsistent. Thus he writes "dont" and "cant," but "I'm" and "we're." I find it rather annoying.

I haven't been able to make sense of that either, unless for some reason he has deemed that conjunctions of "not" don't deserve an apostrophe while conjunctions of the "to be" verb do. Perhaps it's because those conjunctions are both pronoun and verb? I'm not sure—or should I say I dont know?

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I'm not sure—or should I say I dont know?

I dont know either - cant figure it out.

[San Antone]

At least in The Road, he shuns apostrophes, but he's inconsistent. Thus he writes "dont" and "cant," but "I'm" and "we're." I find it rather annoying.

I find your criticism trivial; many 20th century authors took liberties with spelling, punctuation, and grammar, as well as some making up words entirely.  (McCarthy's stye is mild compared to some.)

Just admit it, you are not a fan - but your dislike is not relevant to his stylistic decisions.

[Spotted Horses]

I dont know either - cant figure it out.

Were (we're) in the same boat. See that doesn't work.

I agree that refusing to use standard punctuation is irritating and pretentious.

[San Antone]

Were (we're) in the same boat. See that doesn't work.

I agree that refusing to use standard punctuation is irritating and pretentious.

I am frankly surprised at the reaction to these kinds of stylistic aspects.  You and others strike me as fuddy-duddies.   

It has been a well established practice with authors, of a more adventurous bent, to depart from conventional practice concerning punctuation, and other aspects of writing prose, for more than a century.

I find it a creative choice open to a writer, and enjoy these quirky liberties.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I find your criticism trivial; many 20th century authors took liberties [etc.]

Well yes, my criticism is trivial; its a very minor aspect of the book, but I still think its worth commenting on, because hes made a peculiar stylistic choice and I dont think it adds anything worthwhile to the story.

If (for instance) he had done something like what Russell Hoban did in Riddley Walker (another postapocalyptic novel), where the damaged language reflects the shattered world of the novel, I could understand and applaud that. But he doesnt do that.

[Spotted Horses]

I guess there is some cognitive dissonance in my view of McCarthy. I've read Blood Meridian, All the Spotted Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain, No Country for Old Men, and The Road. I must have found something to interest me if I continued reading all of those books. But I find myself not attracted. Maybe because the last books I read, No Country for Old Men and The Road, soured me on McCarthy.

[Crudblud]

Sad news. I have enjoyed (perhaps the wrong word) several of his books.

[San Antone]

All the Spotted Horses

.

... Pretty ...

[Spotted Horses]

.

... Pretty ...

Brain fart.

[BWV 1080]

Well yes, my criticism is trivial; its a very minor aspect of the book, but I still think its worth commenting on, because hes made a peculiar stylistic choice and I dont think it adds anything worthwhile to the story.

If (for instance) he had done something like what Russell Hoban did in Riddley Walker (another postapocalyptic novel), where the damaged language reflects the shattered world of the novel, I could understand and applaud that. But he doesnt do that.

I don't find the lack of apostrophes in your post distracting and had never actually noticed it in McCarthy

[DavidW]

Brain fart.

This is when you realize you had your handle wrong all this time!