Tuesday, January 16, 2007

No Country For Old Men

Finished this on Sunday and I loved it. I'm not even sure I can really say why. On a purely basic level, it's just a well-crafted plot. Pretty simple on its face -- about a man who finds a suitcase of money after a drug deal goes bad and steals it. But there's really a whole lot more than that. It's really about the choices you make, the choices you don't make, and the ones that are made for you.

I'm having a problem putting this book into any context. I read very, very little modern fiction. But it did occur to me at some point that, in some ways, this book isn't all that different from Jane Austen. Austen was commenting on her society just as McCarthy is commenting on his. They're obviously doing it in widely disparate times and in different ways. But they aren't dissimilar.

I'm making a mess of this post, I think because I haven't fully processed the book yet. And because very few of the books I've read over the past few months have been so thought-provoking. I know The Hobgoblin wrote about this book a few days ago; I wanted to finish the book and my thoughts before I read his (which I'll do now) -- WARNING! His post contains plot spoilers -- do not read his post if you want to read the book. (Interesting -- his post, even his take on the book, is much different than mine. I certainly think this is a book I could read many times and get something more -- and different -- each time. But isn't that the great thing about books? We can all read the same thing and get a different reaction.)

But, bottom line: Read it!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you escaped the reading slump! I had some recommendations, but it sounds like you're back on track anyway.

BTW, my FIL loved the Gutenberg varsity sweater for Christmas--thanks for the link.

Unknown said...

Hey -- I'll always take recommendations. Post away!

Glad the Gutenberg sweater was a hit. I think it's time to look for some new T-shirt links...