post colonial literature
CORMAC McCarthy - BLOOD MERISIAN NOTES
Blood Meridian or the evening Redness in the West is a 1985 Western novel by U.S. author Cormac McCarthy.
The narrative follows an adolescent run-away referred to only as “the kid”, with the hulk of the text devoted to his experiences with the Glanton Gang, a historical group of scalp hunters who massacred North American tribes and others in the United States-Mexico borderlands in 1849 and 1850. The role of antagonist is gradually filled by Judge Holden, a large, intelliegent man depicted as entirely devoid of hair and emblematic of violence and conflict.
Although the novel initially generated only lukewarm critical and commericial reception, it has since become highly acclaimed and is widely recognised as McCarthy’s masterpiece.
McCarthy wrote Blood Meridian while living on the money from his 1981 MacArthur grant. It is his first novel set in the U.S. Southwest, a change form the Appalachian settings of his earlier works.
Describing events of extreme violence, McCarthy’s prose is sparse, yet expansive, with an often biblical quality and frequent religious references. McCarthy’s unusual writing style involves many unsual or archaic words, no quotation marks for dialogue, and no apostraphes to signal most contractions. McCarthy has not granted interviews regarding the novel, leaving the work open to interpretation.
McCarthy conducted considerable research to write the book. Critics have repeatedly demonstrated that even brief and seemingly inconsequential passages on Blood Meridian rely on historical evidence. The Glanton Gang segments are based on Samuel Chamberlain’s account of a group of in his memoir My Confession: The Recollections of a Rogue, which he wrote during the later part of his life. Chamberlain rode with John Joel Galnton and his ompany between 1849 and 1850. His book has been criticised as embellished and historically unreliable. The novel’s antagonist Judge Holden appeared in Chaberlain’s
Blood Meridian or the evening Redness in the West is a 1985 Western novel by U.S. author Cormac McCarthy.
The narrative follows an adolescent run-away referred to only as “the kid”, with the hulk of the text devoted to his experiences with the Glanton Gang, a historical group of scalp hunters who massacred North American tribes and others in the United States-Mexico borderlands in 1849 and 1850. The role of antagonist is gradually filled by Judge Holden, a large, intelliegent man depicted as entirely devoid of hair and emblematic of violence and conflict.
Although the novel initially generated only lukewarm critical and commericial reception, it has since become highly acclaimed and is widely recognised as McCarthy’s masterpiece.
McCarthy wrote Blood Meridian while living on the money from his 1981 MacArthur grant. It is his first novel set in the U.S. Southwest, a change form the Appalachian settings of his earlier works.
Describing events of extreme violence, McCarthy’s prose is sparse, yet expansive, with an often biblical quality and frequent religious references. McCarthy’s unusual writing style involves many unsual or archaic words, no quotation marks for dialogue, and no apostraphes to signal most contractions. McCarthy has not granted interviews regarding the novel, leaving the work open to interpretation.
McCarthy conducted considerable research to write the book. Critics have repeatedly demonstrated that even brief and seemingly inconsequential passages on Blood Meridian rely on historical evidence. The Glanton Gang segments are based on Samuel Chamberlain’s account of a group of in his memoir My Confession: The Recollections of a Rogue, which he wrote during the later part of his life. Chamberlain rode with John Joel Galnton and his ompany between 1849 and 1850. His book has been criticised as embellished and historically unreliable. The novel’s antagonist Judge Holden appeared in Chaberlain’s