Blood Meridian – Or the Evening Redness in the West

By Cormac McCarthy

Three out of Five Stars

Blood Meridian – Or the Evening Redness in the West, the fifth novel by Cormac McCarthy, author of The Road and All the Pretty Horses, amongst others, is a tough novel to read; at times I was enjoying it, and at others, I was bored. In the course of reading it, my reaction to it shifted many times, but now that I’ve completed the novel I have to say I’m glad to have stuck with it during those times it was wearing on me.

The novel follows the journey of ‘The Kid’ a teenager in the 1830’s who finds himself in the company of Apache hunters, hired by a Mexican Governor to collect as many scalps as they can. Theirs is a journey full of peril and violence; a journey where when a group of men come upon another group of men, they are more than likely to attempt to kill one another, then let each other go about their merry way.

The common theme of those who have read Blood Meridian and are recommending it, is that you won’t believe the violence in it – that the book will shock and repulse you with it’s depictions of death and the depravity of man. This aspect was less startling to me. Having read extensively about the Wild West, as well as other moments in Humankind’s existence, the violence and depravity committed in this novel are no worse than what you can read in most history books. If you’re not well-read in this area, or a student of the darkness that lies in human souls, I guess Blood Meridian would be quite shocking.

While I enjoyed, at times, the journey ‘The Kid’ was taking, and was fascinated by the books most unique and intriguing character, Judge Holden, at times I found it tedious. A good part of the book seems like a travelogue, McCarthy describing in detail the terrain the characters are crossing; while interesting at first, after a while I could do without it. With such interesting characters, I would have enjoyed a further exploration of who they were and their true motivations. I’ve read that’s part of the books intent, not to explain the characters, but just focus on the senseless violence, but while that may satiate some, I’d prefer to delve further into their heart of darkness.

I have my own thoughts about Blood Meridian in that upon coming to the books end, I believe what I had read was one man’s – or teen’s – journey through 19^th Century Hell – a world where there are no heroes and only evil exists.

Blood Meridian is a good novel, and certainly one I’m glad I read. And while it has left me conflicted at times, not conflicted enough that I’m not going to read more of Cormac McCarthy’s books.