Daren
The third of the Border Trilogy - to bring together the main characters from book one (All the Pretty Horses) and book two (The Crossing). John Grady Cole from the former, Billy Parham from the latter.
I was surprised to be thrown straight into the story - they are both working on a ranch together. No explanation of how either got there from the ends of their previous stories - I must admit, I expected it to loop back at some point... spoiler - it doesn't.
In reality this is John Grady Cole's story - the story of his falling in love (with a prostitute) and his unwavering ambition to free her from her bonds and marry her. I won't outline more of the story, but much of the book is other people (especially Billy Parham) trying to turn him from his goal, given the lack of sense Cole was making.
I will come out and say it was an unsatisfying conclusion. I enjoyed this far less than the other two books, and while it gave closure in some sense it was far from satisfying. Perhaps I should have expected that in a McCarthy novel - but I didn't need a nice ending, just a resolution more defined than I got.
Those familiar with McCarthy's writing will be unsurprised. The sparse conversations, the lack of punctuation, the irritation (for me at least) Spanish dialogue, the graphic violence. At least this one avoided the long detailed side stories of little relevance (for the most part).
I gave the first book 5 stars; the second four. I am generously giving this one three!
***
The third of the Border Trilogy - to bring together the main characters from book one (All the Pretty Horses) and book two (The Crossing). John Grady Cole from the former, Billy Parham from the latter.
I was surprised to be thrown straight into the story - they are both working on a ranch together. No explanation of how either got there from the ends of their previous stories - I must admit, I expected it to loop back at some point... spoiler - it doesn't.
In reality this is John Grady Cole's story - the story of his falling in love (with a prostitute) and his unwavering ambition to free her from her bonds and marry her. I won't outline more of the story, but much of the book is other people (especially Billy Parham) trying to turn him from his goal, given the lack of sense Cole was making.
I will come out and say it was an unsatisfying conclusion. I enjoyed this far less than the other two books, and while it gave closure in some sense it was far from satisfying. Perhaps I should have expected that in a McCarthy novel - but I didn't need a nice ending, just a resolution more defined than I got.
Those familiar with McCarthy's writing will be unsurprised. The sparse conversations, the lack of punctuation, the irritation (for me at least) Spanish dialogue, the graphic violence. At least this one avoided the long detailed side stories of little relevance (for the most part).
I gave the first book 5 stars; the second four. I am generously giving this one three!
***