@@dolo_ren Also the number in a witches coven, though specifically it’s 12 + 1. Twelve witches made up to thirteen by the ultimate arrival of the High Priest/Priestess, the ‘Lord of The Dance, ….. or ‘Old Nick’ himself.
This might be my favorite part of the book. The imagery of the Judge simply waiting for them to arrive as if they had no choice but to find him is terrifying.
Completely agree. It’s like he’s the devil himself, and he simply sat there on that rock waiting for the most depraved vile band of murderers and savages to come by.
I love the idea of Holden just wandering the desert for decades sometimes alone, sometimes with a party, always ten steps ahead of everyone, and always alone in his pursuits and ponderings. He's part of the ecology itself and that's why he claims he'll never die, because he represents that relentless march of desperate pure survival.
@@namelessking4146He means the human conscience, or the Holy Spirit as Tobin would call it. The Judge has "no voice of his own" because he has no conscience and is, from Tobin's perspective, a Godless heathen made powerful by human learning.
In case you didn't know the word 'Dutch' at the time is what English-speaking people called German people and their language. Similarly, Amish people and their language, who came from Germany were called Pennsylvania Dutch snd still sre to this day.
I can picture the look on the Judge's face when he says "Gentleman," right before he starts shooting. One of the great character backgrounds ever written.
I believe the Judge is Lucifer himself or perhaps one of the four horsemen from the apocalypse, death. According to scripture death rides a white horse and hell follows with him. Lucifer and death are very good friends, this is why in the end he professes he cannot die. He could be a manifestation of all four horsemen also and this is why I loved this story.
Have read the book 5 times so far....every time I read it I am amazed at how deep it is....hiding under the veneer of death and slaughter. The first time I read it after I finished I was in shock and felt so stupid afterwards...that I didn't "get it", that I was missing something. I then did something I have never done before...I turned to page 1 and reread it again. First book I ever did that with. Hell, while typing about it again, I want to start reading it one more time...maybe the deeper meaning of what McCarthy was trying to convey will drip into my brain....Fantastic Novel....my favorite book of all time.
It's not that the work is endlessly deep, you're just not equipped to produce the intended interpretation. This novel is an attempt to subvert biblical theology by sneaking Gnosticism through the backdoor like a whore at night. Its Author operates like a street magician with cheap stylistic tricks because that's the only mode through which he can attract unsuspecting readers to his trap.
lonl123... I am also a Book Worm ~ Addict and I believe I have read it more, I bought the Audiobook in November 30, 2020 and read it often, by the way, I am legally blind so must use recorded books. Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West Cormac McCarthy
When I first heard this book on audio I did something I NEVER do, I rewound and listened to the whole fucking chapter again. I've done it several times since. This and the "Legion of horribles" are two of the greatest passages in american literature history. A masterpiece.
I find Glanton to be the most interesting character. His scene at the fire is one of the most mysterious in the story. He gets overshadowed by the judge but I don't think people are paying enough attention.
Came across this story on a RU-vid channel called Wendigoon… he lays it down nicely… and he has a million subs so this story is now again relevant! Thanks be to Wendigoon!!!
I read this passage today during my lunch break and holy crap. Such a harrowing moment from an already disturbing novel. The idea of the judge being this all-knowing and all-encompassing figure that tags along with this group of bloodthirsty scalphunters just because he can is so freaky. I’m on my fourth read through and the parts are really coming together.
@@SlZIJIholy hell dude how has no one else mentioned this? I listened to him read the entire Bible just because I like his voice, I would never stop listening to him read BM
Can anyone explain the significance of the quote "at night when the company is asleep and the hourses are grazing, who hears them grazing?" "Dont nobody hear if they're alseep" "Ey and if they cease their grazing, who is it that wakes?" "Every man." "Ey, every man." I feel like this quote is oozing with metaphor or maybe its an old expression but i struggle to understand the deeper meaning of it outside of the context of "the voice". Any ideas?
He’s explaining how you can hear without hearing, sense without sensing the grace of god. Like how people can get a preternatural feeling before something bad happens
@nathanscanlon124 i caught that, thats what i meant by it making sense within the context of their conversation about "the voice" but what im wondering is, is there more to it than that or am i once again reading way too much into this back and fourth?
Anyone ever get a feeling the judge is the IDEAL man that people say you should be in male self-help influencers smart, out of the box, hyper competitive, entrepreneur, dancer, charismatic, tall.
There may be a few reasons, and they may be layered. But those don't matter. I'd like to know why do you think Tobin and other men would not shoot a wolf? I have my theories. You share yours. I'll share mine. Maybe others will chime in.
In them ole days, when gentlemen were gentlemen, an English gentleman would never shoot a fox. Don't know why and can't find anything on the Net about it. Read about it in a childhood book called 'Stalky and Co.', where the boy McTurk (of aristocratic stock) looks up a local landowner to tell him his gamekeeper has shot a fox: “Lo-look here, sir. Do-do you shoot foxes? Because, if you don’t, your keeper does. We’ve seen him! I do-don’t care what you call us-but it’s an awful thing. It’s the ruin of good feelin’ among neighbors. A ma-man ought to say once and for all how he stands about preservin’. It’s worse than murder, because there’s no legal remedy.” McTurk was quoting confusedly from his father, while the old gentleman made noises in his throat. “Do you know who I am?” he gurgled at last; Stalky and Beetle quaking. “No, sorr, nor do I care if ye belonged to the Castle itself. Answer me now, as one gentleman to another. Do ye shoot foxes or do ye not?”... “I do not.” He was still gurgling. “Then you must sack your keeper. He’s not fit to live in the same county with a God-fearin’ fox. An’ a vixen, too-at this time o’ year!” “Did ye come up on purpose to tell me this?” “Of course I did, ye silly man,” with a stamp of the foot. “Would you not have done as much for me if you’d seen that thing happen on my land, now?”
@@castelodeossos3947 foxes were thought to be familiars of witches back in the day. also wolves are sacred to Mars and Odin, the gods of War in old western paganism, because they are scavengers of the dead. It was believed that by consuming the flesh of dead men, wolves would take their spirits to other worlds. There are many passages in nordic sagas where great warriors and kings boast about 'feeding the wolves and ravens' aka killing many men.
Does my memory fail me in thinking that the two men they came upon at an old church, one of whom they shot, were Dutch? If I remember correctly, the Judge speaks to the surviving brother in German. But here, the Priest says he speaks Dutch. I'm probably completely wrong.
Could be that the dialogue is just in American vernacular - Germans call themselves Deutch but Americans end up saying ‘Dutch’ instead - the Amish, for example are a German-American people but are also known as the ‘Pennsylvania Dutch.’
I think you’re confusing the Texas and Louisiana towns. Nacogdoches is in Texas, and Nachitoches in Louisiana. Each with their own seemingly arbitrary pronunciation.
Could any country other than America have produced such a book ? The combination of lunatic religious fervour and gun loving psychotics seems particularly American. Trumpism seems to me, so much more understandable after reading this.
not the book of Enoch, or Satan. In Paradise Lost, the fallen angels Adrammalech and Shammash (named after Bablylonian deities that accepted child sacrifices, condemned in the Book of Kings) invent gunpowder and cannons after capturing and butchering Gaia, the Earth Mother. they dig metal bones out from her clay flesh and sulfur from her innards. after imbuing the rifles with hellfire they hand the guns out to the other fallen angels, which are used against the loyal angels when Satan rebels against God and instigates a short-lived revolution in Heaven. In the Book of Enoch, the Fallen Angel Azazael and his angels the Watchers, tasked with watching over Eden, fall in love with the Daughters of Adam, and take them as wives. Then they teach their bastard children, the nephilim, the arts of science, writing, astrology and technology. he does not teach them gunpowder since the book of enoch was written long before such arts were known in the west. Paradise Lost was written in the 1600s.
@@daeva2447 cool to see you admit that you're wrong. literally read thee book of enoch. good to see that you're a terminally online bitch who tries to draw credit to other works and tried to discredit people who are right
This is true and says his angels taught man how to find minerals of the earth to make war, if Lucifer's angels knew this knowledge he surely would know too. Book of Enoch is very similar to Dante's inferno in many way but much older.
