Why you should read All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. Support this channel and get access to exclusive content: wpd.binderybooks.com/about/ Buy FUMES, my debut novella: www.amazon.com/FUMES-William-... Instagram: / williampdozier
My favorite book ever. "I knew that courage came with less struggle for some than for others but I believed that anyone who desired it could have it. That the desire was the thing itself. The thing itself. I could think of nothing else of which that was true."
I read this for the first time early last month. It was my first McCarthy, and I plan to begin reading ‘The Crossing’ in August. The thing that struck me within the first 100 pages or so was how much I was able to see in my mind’s eye compared to how little McCarthy actually put on the page. The economy of words was incredible. An absolute masterclass of prose. The story itself didn’t leave me blown away by the time I finished the last page, but a month later I’m thinking about it far more than the 3 other books I read last month. Definitely excited for more McCarthy
One of the best American novels, the entire trilogy is so powerful and fulfilling to read! I think Cities of the Plain might be my fav out of the three!
I recently discovered your chanel and I love the way you talk about books!! You could be my best pall!! I'm not American, I'm a European booklover (Belgian) and I do wonder if you guys (on that other side of the world) know any Belgian or Dutch authors, cause we do have some good ones!! If you want I could send you some names and hope they're translated (I'm sure/hope some of them are!) And if not Belgian or Dutch, how about an episode on European writers? 🙂
@@williampdozier Oh so nice!! Ok, this is a very quick and briefly pick on some of my favorite authors and (for me) their best books... Belgian : - Jeroen Olyslaegers "Will" - Jef Geeraets "Black Venus" and looked for other Belgian authors, but not translated... what a shame... Dutch : - Arthur Japin "Surrender" (please look for this one!!!) - Connie Palmen "The laws" or "The Friendship" Spanish : - Almudena Grandes "The Frozen Heart" Lets just see how far you get with these ones... good luck! 🙏Hope you can find them cause each one is a pearl! ❤
I’m reading it right now. At times I seem to have trouble following who’s speaking through the text. I wonder if the author intends to confuse the reader at times where he could of made it easier to comprehend?
I never read books where authors won't use quotation marks for dialogue. It's a writing style that drives me up the wall and I can't get past it. Cormac McCarthy does this, and I just can't get on board, personally. Perhaps if I listened to audio books, I'd give him a try.
On one level, the lack of attribution tags (that's what they're called in the business) in the dialogue is meant to slow you down as a reader and make you imagine the scene where the characters are talking. McCarthy wants your total engagement in the physicality of the situation where the characters are talking. Of course, this is a hardline stance to take as a writer, but McCarthy was very much a hardliner who made few compromises in how he wanted his books read. He wants to elevate your imagination to another plane that's purified of artifice. When you hear people talking in real life, there is no John Grady said, or Blevins said. The words are just spoken. McCarthy would have said he was just trying for verisimilitude, but really it's a means to demand that you imagine the scene more closely. A gambit McCarthy relished in making.
There’s always one and today it’s going to be me. Yes, I know Cormac McCarthy is considered to be one of the greatest writers ever and has received a host of literary honours. I know that ATPH is “one of the greatest American novels of this or any time” mainly because it’s written in thumping great letters all over the front cover of my copy. And none of this changes the fact that it’s a wholly unremarkable book. The story is over-long, rambling and has a make-it-up-as-you-go-along feel to it, much like McCarthy’s interminable sentences. The first half was so slow and directionless that I nearly gave up but fortunately the pace picked up in the second half even if the events were improbable. I DETEST that silly modernist affectation of not punctuating sentences properly. It’s not clever. It’s lazy, contrived and pretentious and just makes for a difficult and frustrating read. After a struggle I made it to the end but after only a few days I was struggling to recall much about the plot, the characters or the writing. I put as much effort into reading it as I have into thousands of other books, but despite this I couldn’t find any significant theme, message or much else in it. This was my first Cormac McCarthy and I suspect my last simply because nothing here interested me enough to explore his work any further. And I know that my opinion counts for nothing and he will continue to be acclaimed as one of the greatest writers in the history of…whatever. All I can say is that despite all the gushing praise and plaudits I found it about as hackneyed and insubstantial as a dime store pulp Western, though not as entertaining. So if, like me, this very average book left you similarly underwhelmed then you might be in a minority but you aren’t alone.
I'm reading this currently and, unfortunately, am not as entranced by it. Probably does not help that I read Blood Meridian before this but it's just not holding as much merit as it.
