I recently read a fascinating article in Texas Monthly about films based on Cormac McCarthy novels, and a thumbnail of the author’s argument is—the better the novel, the weaker the movie, and, conversely, the weaker the source material, the better the film. His explanation—at its best, McCarthy’s prose is a kind of visual poetry that cannot be literally translated onto the screen (but will always disappoint in comparison), while the stories in some of McCarthy’s relatively poorer work offer the basis for really great movies.
Not to highjack your thread, but any thoughts?
P.S. Blood Meridian is awfully intense. If you liked No Country, you might try All The Pretty Horses. It’s not exactly tepid, but there are fewer flies on the corpses.
Let me answer Brandon’s question before hijacking the thread further.
Yes, see The Road
McCarthy’s prose is a kind of visual poetry that cannot be literally translated onto the screen.
apachecadillac raises an interesting ancillary question:
Would one’s imagination be stimulated more by reading a book or viewing the same situation visually?
The visual experience is a direct perception of the outside world. Reading a book is referencing memory/imagination, it is not a direct perception. It must be vastly more personal and thus more vivid to the reader – it is his/her own creation.
Prose is (as) a kind of visual poetry is not in fact visual. Language only refers to the other senses. Visual perception takes the outside world in directly.
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Well I definitely preferred the Road so I don’t know. Very interesting comment though thanks!
Read Outer Dark, for sure. My second favorite of his early period, next to Suttree which I highly recommend but only if you have a lot of time on your hands. Outer Dark is short and not much of a commitment.
I think No Country as a book and movie are very even. The movie departs from many things and re-writes them to work better on the screen (The hotel shootout is a great example). However, the movie sort of abruptly ends as it cuts out the last few chapters with Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) that help set it up better.
I’ll be able to give my comments on The Road tonight after I watch it but I already know it won’t match the book. I’ve only read three of his works but The Road and (especially) Blood Meridian work so well because of his prose. I can’t picture being as intimidated and astonished by The Judge as a character on screen.
Definetly read Blood Meridian-my favorite McCarthy book.It would be extremely hard to make into a film-just too much stuff would have to be pruned out to fit into a film’s running time. Nick Cave was asked to do a screenplay but refused to even try. Suttree is also quite good but I found the characters a bit tiresome by the end.
Go see the Road. And read Blood Meridian
I has a question, I just started reading Blood Meridian last night and I am unsure if I should be confused. At the end of the first chapter after the fight in the mud and being knocked out, he comes to and finds his boots and is then sitting on the nearby wooden walkway when he sees the man with the letters branded on his forehead. Now here is my question, did I miss something or does he really just follow the man (with the letters on his forehead) without a word said and help him beat up the guy in the hotel for….no reason? Is he just going along with whats happening? He doesn’t know either of them or should i just keep reading?
read The Border Trilogy.
It is the easiest to get into and is beautifully written and pretty much hits all his major themes.
The middle book, The Crossing, I consider one of his finest works so you really can’t go wrong with this.
Just forget the god awful adapation by billy bob and you will be golden
Blood Meridan is pretty recondite and complex and as such I would recommend that for much later once you find you have fallen in love with Cormac’s writing.
Suttree is his masterpiece.
All the Pretty Horses is a bit sad but pretty darn good though.
I can’t really put Blood Meridian into words.
The Road is about as good as I figured it would be. They excluded one of the most intense moments and I really think all of the flashbacks take away from the story. At least, when compared to the book.
Really, CJ? I thought the flashbacks were much more effective than I thought they would be. I think they worked extremely well in junction with that one point where The Man explains to the kid that he should start worrying if he should start dreaming about good things.
I love Hillcoat, and I thought he brought an excellent eye for textures to the material, and I’m a McCarthy fan as well.
Saw the film, didn’t like it very much. Think I’d have to agree with CJ
I really think they compromised the integrity of the source material by excluding, amongst other things, the baby. That is essential to the entire story and it’s one of the most chilling moments in the entire book.
see it, it’s a bit rough but quite possibly the year’s best and most significant movie.
Brandon Isaacson
Hello so I’ve read The Road and I’ve seen No Country. I was wondering two things, what people recommend I read next (thinking Blood Meridian) and also for those who read it first, should I see The Road?