McCarthy and Other Plans
Saturday January 12, 2008
There’s an excellent essay on Cormac McCarthy in today’s Guardian by Jason Cowley. It’s well worth reading and, although I’d decided to lay off McCarthy for a while, I’m itching to start the second part of his Border trilogy, The Crossing. The Coen Brothers film of No Country for Old Men is also out soon. I predict McCarthy mania.
Following on from the last post, I’m slowly rebuilding my TBR pile, which is looking something like this:
- The Girl at the Lion d’Or by Sebastian Faulks. This is my first (and overdue) contribution to the Reading the Author challenge at Incurable Logophilia.
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. I have no interest in seeing the recent Will Smith film, although I still have fond memories of the adaptation called The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. So I thought it was time I tried the original novel.
- Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. I think I may have overdone Booker nominees recently, but we shall see.
- Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. Praised too much for me to keep ignoring.
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. This is an intriguing looking new vampire novel set in Washington.
- Chamber of Horrors. An anthology of ghost and horror stories from 1984 purchased this morning. I’d not planned to read any more of this type of thing for a while, but who could resist a collection that includes H.G.Wells, Sheridan Le Fanu and W.W. Jacobs?
Looks like you have some great reading coming up! I just finished Mister Pip, and it is a wonderful book. I was hesitant, as the plot sounded implausible, but it’s a book that will stay with me. I thought it better than the Gathering. I liked Cowley’s article, as I finally read McCarthy late last year, All the Pretty Horses. And I’ve recently finished No Country for Old Men (mainly so I could go see the film!) and I’m not sure about it (though I loved All the Pretty Horses, and will continue with the border trilogy).
It’ll be interesting to read your thoughts on these books.
Logophile
logophile 14 January, 10:21 PM
Mister Pip isn’t usually the sort of book I’d go for, but I can’t ignore the excellent reviews it’s had.
I’m afraid I didn’t like The Gathering at all.
Now I’ve read a lot of McCarthy I would say the Border Trilogy is his more accessible fiction, with No Country for Old Men mid-range and Blood Meridian in the odd and inaccessible category.
Stephen 15 January, 12:55 PM
A friend of mind just passed me The Girl at the Lion d’Or which I am itching to start. Also, I just read Mister Pip. Looking forward to your thoughts on both!
verbivore 15 January, 03:07 PM
I’m halfway through Lion d’Or and I’m, well, not sure! But we shall see…
Stephen 15 January, 03:09 PM
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