Friday 3 February 2012

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy


All the Pretty Horses is essentially a coming of age story. After his mother sells the Texan ranch he has grown up on, sixteen year old John Grady Cole loses everything and sets out for Mexico with his friend Lacey Rawlins. They are both searching for work as a ranch hand and abit of adventure. On the Mexican border they both meet Jimmy Blevins a young boy whose hot-headedness leads them into big trouble.
Much of the story is set on the Mexican boarder where the landscapes are vividly described. Readers of McCarthy will know already how well landscapes and the country are so well drawn that you cannot think of the characters without also thinking of the landscapes they inhabit.
The novel is set in 1949 but you wouldn’t know it as it has the feel of a western, so much so that I was surprised when planes and other more modern mod-cons were mentioned. Most of the travel is done in rugged landscapes on horseback and the place and characters in All the Pretty Horses seem cut off from the rest of the world. The plot does kind of plod along which I think is deliberate and while I appreciated this style in context with the novel this style certainly didn’t make it a page turner.  However I did keep reading because of the descriptions, the dialogue, the plot and of course the writing.
Like The Road and Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses will be a book that stays with me although out of those three I would recommend The Road and Blood Meridian more as it took me a little longer (around 30 pages) to get into this one compared with the other McCormacs I have read.
3/5
Posted by Jess

6 comments:

  1. I read The Road awhile ago and have been curious about his other work. I don't think this one is going to be a priority anytime soon.

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    1. No, it is good but not one I would recommend you ruch out and read, Im curious about some of the other books though, suttree I can see being my next read

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  2. Curious that you would put Blood Meridian ahead of All the Pretty Horses. While I have yet to read The Road, I would say that All the Pretty Horses is a far more accessible and overall appealing novel than Blood Meridian, if not better written. I struggled at times with Blood Meridian, partly because of McCarthy's style (which I was completely unprepared for) and partly because of the tone and taste of the book. All the Pretty Horses made my appreciation of McCarthy's style grow, in addition to impressing me overall with the way McCarthy told his story. I'm still on the fence regarding which book is technically better, but for me at least it was a lot harder getting through Blood Meridian than it was All the Pretty Horses...

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

      I totally agree that All the pretty horses is more accessible but Blood Meridian I think is better written and although it was a really differcult read due to the nature of it, it has really stayed with me since whereas I know All the Pretty Horses wont as much. It was also harder for me to get through Blood Meridian.

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  3. This sounds like a different read from my usual fare. I'm not sure he's for me but definitely an author I've heard a lot about. I'm glad you enjoyed!

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    1. Ah how have you missed reading The Road ;)

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