OUTER DARK by Cormac McCarthy

[@williamhurrelbrink3324]

As a visually impaired (blind, if I may) person, I am just recently discovering McCarthy via audiobook and I am on my second listen of this great work. This book is so full of emotions and so well written, I can hardly absorb the enormity of the basic story let alone its deeper meanings and spiritual connections although it is all right there, there is so much imagination evoking language that my brain cannot even keep up with the scenes that I’m creating. This book, like BM is very dark. And very sad. But it is also so very real that what you are saying 2:50 happens through the book. I have this horrible feeling when imagining the tinker. Just give me the chills talking about him. There is this beautiful way that although culla is a horrendous piece of garbage, Cormac pulls on our strings and we feel scared for him, or sorry for him too. I don’t know. It’s just such a good book and raw look at human nature that we try to shield ourselves from. Great video. Thank you.

[@iansmith9125]

There is definitely a proto judge in the figure of the head of the gang. Outer dark is a sign of things to come

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Yes, McCarthy's Ur-villain.

[@OWlsfordshire]

Think these alluded supernatural forces are just a common theme in McCarthy's novels. Same way with No Country for Old Men.

[@Invincible_Force]

I found a copy of Blood Meridian at a charity sale 2 days ago. Every page I turn falls out and I add it to the pile that came before it. I can't understand how it came that I took so long to read McCarthy but it feels, with Blood Meridian being my only exposure, that I had to wait for him to find me. A very powerful author.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I love this! There's something--I don't know--endearing?--about having to handle each page that way. And I think you're right. Cormac found you. His grip is tightening.

[@thebigredfish]

Just finished this book, and its one of the best Mccarthy books I've read.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Indeed, he is a master. Can’t wait for his two new novels later this year!

[@carterlinsley8221]

There's this Charlie Rose interview where David Foster Wallace identifies one of the greatest powers of fiction to be that moment of identification wherein the reader must look briefly up from the page, exasperated, to say: "my God, that's me." As a reader and thinker, I've found that I have now enjoyed that same experience of identification one too many times during watchings of your videos to have not commented thus far. You are doing incredible, resonant work, and your passion for scholarship and articulation has been a continual koan of golden light tolled upon my subscription box since the day I discovered your channel.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I really, sincerely appreciate your kind words, Carter. It means a lot. It is a pleasure to share my passion here. All my best to you!

[@BIGBIRD208]

I was moved just reading your comment.

[@jackseney7906]

12:20 Finally someone on You Tube comes right out and says that reading is better than audio-booking! Finally! 👍

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I definitely enjoy traditional reading much better. I don't think listening to an audiobook is the same as reading, but I'm not really sure what it is. Of course, these opinions have to be taken within the context of me being a person who is not an auditory learner. Cheers!

[@t0dd000]

@@LeafbyLeaf It's listening. I'm not sure why people get apoplectic and insist it's the same as reading. It's listening. I also didn't read all those books my parents read to me as a child. Anyway. Listening is fine, but it's not the equivalent to reading.

[@AlbinoAxolotl1993]

What about reading aloud, being your own audio book?

[@leopoldbloom5009]

Amazing review! Loved the passages you picked, especially the last one. This imo is the best passage in the book:- "The tinker in his burial tree was a wonder to the birds. The vultures that came by day to nose with their hooked beaks among his buttons and pockets like outrageous pets soon left him naked of his rags and flesh alike. Black mandrake sprang beneath the tree as it will where the seed of the hanged falls and in spring a new branch pierced his breast and flowered in a green boutonniere perennial beneath his yellow grin. He took the sparse winter snows upon what thatch of hair still clung to his dried skull and hunters that passed that way never chanced to see him brooding among his barren limbs. Until wind had tolled the tinker’s bones and seasons loosed them one by one to the ground below and alone his bleached and weathered brisket hung in that lonesome wood like a bone birdcage." That alliteration in the last sentence gives me life.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Breathtaking. Luminous. Life-giving and life-affirming.

[@timkjazz]

Cormac McCarthy is my favorite writer. My first encounter with Cormac was while stationed at Ft. Huachuca and being presented with a hardcover 1st edition of Blood Meridian in 1989 for $2.00 when he was a well-kept secret and before his books became incredibly valuable. I still have the book, along with all his books in 1st edition hardcover editions. Despite the many reviews of Blood Meridian you should absolutely do a review, it is quite possibly the finest novel ever written by an American and I would love to hear your take on it and the unimaginably horrific yet stunning character Judge Holden.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

What a great story/memory to have tied to an author/book. I'm a sucker for such things, as I have so many pieces of my life tied to books. Judge Holden still haunts me. *shudder*

[@gjsykes7924]

@@LeafbyLeaf I would quite like to see a joint Blood Meridian review with Better Than Food. I know a while back Mr Sargent was interested in doing a re-review of Blood Meridian.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Coincidentally, we are recording a joint video in a couple weeks! It won’t be on McCarthy, but it may be the first of many collaborations.

[@gjsykes7924]

@@LeafbyLeaf That's great to hear. Thank you. I will keep a look out for it.

[@ryanmullaney9791]

Huachuca is the perfect place to read that.

[@TS1111WYWH]

From page 211, “And she waited again at the front door with it open, poised between the maw of the dead & loveless house & the outer dark like a frail thief”. A haunting, captivating, & wicked read. Really enjoy your augmented take on it!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Yet another great line! Thanks for sharing it here.

[@ellismanning3163]

Excellent insights matey, much appreciated! His setting description gets darn near fervent sometimes, I always get hit with that feeling of sorta religious awe whenever a character looks upwards to open sky in his stories. He really gives his wildlife and nature the aspects of dread that they deserve.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! And to think that he was writing this while in Europe, i.e. from his memory of Appalachia!

[@riphopfer5816]

You have an extraordinary way of analyzation literature, and then passing passing that analysis along to the rest of the world-who might not all have your degree of erudition- without coming off in anyway, superior or condescending. That’s a sign of a very wise man, and his greatly to your credit. Your citation of Eliades whilst exploring one of the wider themes and cultural motifs embodied in this novel was a stroke of brilliant And. It has put not only this book, but Eliades on my reading list. Thank you very much for your review; you deserve a much wider following.

[@riphopfer5816]

You have an extraordinary way of analysing literature, then passing that analysis along to the rest of the world-who might not all have your degree of erudition- without coming off in anyway, superior or condescending. That’s a sign of a very wise man, and his greatly to your credit. Your citation of Eliades whilst exploring one of the wider themes and cultural motifs embodied in this novel was a stroke of brilliant And. It has put not only this book, but Eliades on my reading list. Thank you very much for your review; you deserve a much wider following.

[@barbarajohnson1442]

So great to learn of another McCarthy novel! The darker side of American life, all those dark roots of our curious, ambitious country, and of human nature, no doubt. And the constellations we create to survive. He does "paint" with words. Thank you again, for an inspiring read as I find the longer nights upon me.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Well put! I love this: "...all those dark roots of our curious, ambitious country, and of human nature, no doubt. And the constellations we create to survive." Glad to hear of another soul taking advantage of these long nights.

[@joseramirez-hh2sw]

I'm picking it up. Also I just can't stop taking in all of these great books you talk about. I am drunk on reading.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

allpoetry.com/Get-Drunk

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Be drunk on poetry!

[@joseramirez-hh2sw]

@@LeafbyLeaf wine or poetry or virtue, but be drunk!

[@n2the1]

Truly, it was incredible. I had to go back and read lots of parts as soon as I got close to the end. One of my favorite scenes was Holmes' abandonement, aka sacrifice, of the new born. The way it was described was unbelievably good.

[@russellmanweller6694]

I only can remember the story when I try to, then the scenes come back like I lived them. Then I forget again. The strange places it took me were burned into my brain. It will remain a part of lived experience throughout your life, even if it means nothing to you.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

That’s the power of art, indeed!

[@MegaElpunto]

Wonderful! Pulling out Eliade surprised me! This was the first time I've seen a book reviewer mention SaP. Great connection, loved this kind of analysis.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Not sure how it even came to me. As the characters were moving around it just came to me--the sacred space and the profane space. And I had read the Eliade years and years ago. When I went back and reread my notes on Eliade's book, it was too perfect.

[@sampeck5545]

Thank you for the review! Such a beautifully dark book by one of our greatest living artists in any medium

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! Completely agree about the book, and the artist.

[@rationalthought846]

Bravo. Great review of a great book that is still mostly unknown except by McCarthy fans. I agree- one of the most disturbing books but beautifully written. You gave some great examples of his prose that shows why McCarthy is so highly regarded by many.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

McCarthy has mastered the art of articulating that blurred border between the beautiful and the brutal.

[@_.Sparky._]

Great analysis thank u. I love how u contrast Eliades notion of sacred time with McCarthys special outer darkness.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much! It's amazing how this connections formulate in one's mind while reading. When I was reading _Outer Dark_ I hadn't read the Eliade in probably 8 years!

[@Ozgipsy]

Meridian is an over-reviewed work. Yet after all of it Blooms tidy comments in it are still some of the most insightful.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

This is why I haven't reviewed it on this channel: it has plenty of attention. But, along with _Suttree_ , it's still his best work.

[@travelthroughstories]

Great review! I'm also partial to a lot of McCarthy's earlier works. The way he builds atmosphere, as you note, in his Appalachian novels is (almost) unparalleled. I really liked your connection to Eliade - it would make sense that McCarthy read him as he's so into Jung and others of that ilk...really cool!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! He really is a master of the craft. My next video of a McCarthy will definitely be Suttree.

[@travelthroughstories]

@@LeafbyLeaf Definitely looking forward to that one!

[@philipbrown2225]

You sir are an amazing resource. Thank you for doing this channel and sharing your inspiration :)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Very kind of you to say!

[@marinamaccagni5253]

I love mccarthy! Suttree is one of my faves! Even if blood meridian is a masterpiece! Great review as always!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I commit to doing Suttree as my next McCarthy!

[@cntrlrb20]

@@LeafbyLeaf You’re going to love Suttree. Just read the italicized intro of the book and you’re going to say, “Whoa.” I can’t wait for your video on it. I can’t even wait for you to read it. Wow. Suttree and Blood Meridian are probably his two most poetically written books. Absolutely floored me and brought me back to being a teenager reading Kerouac or Thomas Wolfe for the first time. It’s literally like Faulkner if he had absorbed the great American post-Faulkner greats and late 1900s American vernacular and soul.

[@alphonseelric5722]

@@cmoore7821 one of the quotes from the book is etched onto a pavement in the....market square(?)

[@justinluther2924]

I just read it for the second time (so as to keep the story in mind this time as I'm reading, like you say). So brutal and evocative. McCarthy is truly one of the best.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Indeed, one of the greatest living writers, indubitably.

[@joeomalley2835]

Just found your channel. Nice review and commentary. The Road was my first McCarthy read and I've read the first two of the Border trilogy and also Suttree and have liked them all. I'm about a third of the way through this one. Anyhow, awesome analysis here. I subscribed.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hey there! Glad you found me. Happy reading!

[@MrShaiya96]

intensive mindfulness meditation has helped me get through all these long and difficult books. highly reccomend

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Indeed, the ability to be at peace with only one's self/mind is an enormous key to getting the most out of life, let alone books!

[@OWlsfordshire]

I took "Outer Dark" as being what we're born into. The book ends with the main character watching a blind man wander off into a swamp and thinking that someone ought to warn a blind man where he's heading and what's out there. It made me think about how the baby had no choice about what he was born into or how he was treated once he got here.

[@mik9napkin598]

That final scene with the killers. Woo nelly. That'll be stuck with me til the end.

[@mcdowntrend]

I just finished this book today and I'm still reeling. Its title is almost an understatement. It's difficult to put into words just how desolate and depraved this novel gets. Thanks for your thoughts!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Indeed. Cormac can be savage!

[@timkjazz]

And as always, a stupendous review, your insight is razor sharp here.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much! And tough I will probably do Suttree as my next McCarthy, I will eventually have to reread Blood Meridian. It already beckons.

[@timkjazz]

@@LeafbyLeaf Great William Gay reference, hopefully some reader will check him out, very worthy writer.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Definitely. I’m going to do a video on Twilight soon.

[@timkjazz]

@@LeafbyLeaf Can't wait, great book.

[@JasonFuhrman]

Fantasitc review/overview. Not sure how I missed this one, but thanks for brining it to my attention.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! My pleasure!

[@bardsnoserag]

Is that Samuel Beckett peering down at us from the top shelf? Definitely shades of his work in Outer Dark too, no?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Yes, those are his piercing portals judging us. Indeed, Beckett in McCarthy.

[@ffridiejr]

Thanks for the video! One of my favorites. I think for Cormac humanity is the dark.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Glad you enjoyed it! I think you're right about ol' Cormac.

[@stevenapkins6460]

I unironically recommend this and the road whenever anyone asks me what fatherhood is like.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You know, yeah, I can definitely see that.

[@sturmovikcarr7289]

I don't have my copy with me, but I remember that "meat" being described as truculent and possibly fierce.

[@89Dustdevil]

I feel like since McCarthy wrote The Road, that is all so many people know him for because it was so popular and most of his books were written so long ago. Outer Dark, Child of God and Suttree were all amazing too, not to even mention Blood Meridian. All the Pretty Horses was pretty good too, but the other two in the trilogy weren’t great imo.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

The Road becoming a movie sealed the deal for the popular consciousness. It was, in fact, the first book of his I read. Before the movie came out. For me, All the Pretty Horses is pretty high on the list of his remarkable work. Next up for the channel will definitely be Suttree.

[@89Dustdevil]

@@LeafbyLeaf I’ll be looking forward to that. It’s probably his best book that never gets talked about.

[@GodwardPodcast]

Just read this -- glad it led me to your excellent channel.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Welcome!

[@kfwimmer]

I would love to hear you talk about Blood Meridian. Please!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Never know what the future holds... :)

[@MaximTendu]

Two things I keep on hand whenever it's time to read McCarthy: a Bible and a dictionary. And, a wee dram, if it's not asking too much. I'm all for physical books myself, but something tells me you might like The Sunset Limited, directed by Tommy Lee Jones: McCarthy's words maintain their sexiness even beyond the page.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hahah--your instructions are spot on! Thanks for the film rec!

[@rickharsch8797]

Not even a dog barked him down that road...

[@palodine1]

really great review. thank you

[@stephenmorton8017]

sounds like we left the Heart of Darkness and went to run with the goats of the scapes.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

:):):)

[@Cheatcoe]

About time someone reviewed this book.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I am honored to lead the way.

[@jasonuerkvitz3756]

What an incredible, insightful and sensitive review of one of the best books I've ever read. I hope you see my comment and would be willing to engage in a brief discourse. Here is the comment I left on "Write Conscious": _Outer Dark_ is certainly one of my most favorite novels by McCarthy. I've thought about this for some time and I have to put _All the Pretty Horses_ first, followed by _Outer Dark_ then _The Road_ and then _Blood Meridian_ . *_SPOILERS BELOW_* I have to ask anyone who has read the novel what they think the actual sin is that is the cause of the Purgatorial trek of Culla and Rinthy. I am not fully convinced, nor does the narrations specifically state that the baby in the novel is due to Culla and Rinthy having an incestuous relationship. A careful reading would find that the father of these two--one described clearly as a man, and the other as a younger girl--is absent, however aspects of his existence lingers in the beginning of the novel. One of which is a broken shotgun. The shotgun is a critical concept as it is Promethean in nature, as well as representative of the hunter, the protector, the provider. The weapon is broken and Culla is unable to fix it. Not having any knowledge of the weapon's upkeep provides a clue to the state Culla finds himself in at the start of the novel. Could he have used this weapon to kill the now absent father? Did the father rape the daughter? What is the initial sin that leads to the sequence of transgressions, the ill-fated plight of Culla who is inducted, courted, by the unholy Trinity? I argue that the initial sin is the failing of the father in teaching Culla any skills, leaving him useless, and a blight and burden on normal society. He isn't viable for marriage without skills and without a job. He can't raise his sister's child, so he tries to sacrifice the baby to nature, the universe, yet even in this he is a failure. He's so disastrous, he can't stand being spoken to in a critical way that he steals from his initial employer. This theft leads to the squire's murder. He steals clothes from a dead man later and is chased from wherever he goes. In contrast, Rinthy is welcome as she is a symbol of fertility, her use is in propagation, where as Culla's use is lacking, and he instead preys in subtle, thieving ways on the towns he passes through. He eats the unholy meat, perhaps the flesh of the child, or of some hapless person, and he is forced to relinquish the boots he is unworthy to wear, and is instead forced to wear the boots of the fool, boots wired closed, almost like shackles. He is so void of scruples, and humane reflex, he cannot reach for someone swept away by a stampede of swine. Nor is he cognizant enough to warn a blind man of his pending danger, even when the thought naturally occurs to him. His constant blunders lead to the murder of the tinkerer, an unskilled tradesman in his own right, and his ultimate state as a pariah from all that world that is civilized, incarcerating him to a land of darkness, to the outer darkness itself. I argue that the outer darkness is the physical representation of the ignorance of one's existence if they are untrained, illiterate, unskilled, but instead a blundering, blind parasite on society. The original sin is not the implied incest, but instead the failing of the father to teach his son. A father is to pass the fire to the son, and the son is to bear that flame long after the father's passing. The Promethean symbol is impotent. All fire is commanded then by the leader of the unholy Trinity, and therefore, he is but a guest at its side, a fool, bound to stare hopelessly, fecklessly into its unwieldy light, ignorant to its mastery and the industry from its use. In _No Country for Old Men_ Ed Tom laments that 18 year olds are too stupid and untrained, too unmotivated to get out and make something of themselves as he recollects that by 18 men of his time were married, working and starting a family. The Man from _The Road_ and Llewellyn of _No Country_ are the quintessential "skilled men." John Grady Cole is perhaps his most elegant of skilled men in that his mastery is of horses--the horse long considered the symbol of knighthood, of chivalry, of excellence, and of course one of the most beautiful animals on earth (in my opinion). The Kid, of _Blood Meridian_ is unskilled, illiterate, and only capable of killing as he is a crackshot--his fate is to end up raped, his soul consumed by the Judge. You see, in McCarthy's entire corpus of work, he exalts skill above all things. It's as if he is contending with Nietzsche's ubermensch--dark versions of which are found in Judge Holden and Anton Chigurh--and arguing that the skilled man, who works his arts through the love of others, is the greatest representation of Man. Without it, a person is damned to barbarism, to cannibalism, damned to walk in line with the unholy Trinity, to dwell ceaseless in the outer dark.

[@Rick_ardoCastillo]

Hola amigo, de antemano debo disculparme por escribir esto en español, mi Inglés no es muy bueno. Acabo de terminar de leer la novela hace unas horas, es la cuarta que leo de McCarthy (y la que más me ha desconcertado) no hay muchas reseñas en mi idioma sobre sus obras. Opino que el "pecado" que desencadena la trama no es otro más que el propio abandono del bebé por parte de Culla, claro que es algo hereditario por decirlo de alguna manera, Culla no tiene las herramientas necesarias para enfrentarse al mundo porque su padre nunca lo instruyó como se debía, eso transforma al resto del mundo en un lugar hostil, difícil y oscuro (esta misma perspectiva del mundo es compartida por Rinthy y se deja ver en una conversación que tiene con una mujer donde parafraseando dice algo como "le tenía miedo al mundo incluso antes de que hubiese gente asesinada por ahí" la diferencia es que en Culla caía la responsabilidad de la crianza de su hijo en lo a aprender a desempeñarse en la vida respecta y al faltar a esa responsabilidad lo vemos sufrir a lo largo de toda la novela teniendo desgracia tras desgracia, la oscuridad exterior implica la falta de conocimiento y el miedo a un mundo para el que no estás preparado en esencia, apreciaría mucho discutir los temas los libros de McCarthy por privado contigo, aquí no son comunes los fans de sus novelas, saludos!

[@fictitiousfictitious8964]

You go places no one else goes to. Thanks

[@LeafbyLeaf]

It's my pleasure to share the experience!

[@visheshchaudhary8289]

Finally a book not out of print or hard to get will order it right away

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hahaha! Sorry about that.

[@architchaudhary1285]

Great review. I love the circular dialogue throughout, where Rinthy and Culla are always stuck in the same repetitive conversations about home, purpose, running off etc. with society at large. I think it's an allegory for inexpressiveness and the cultural construction of language. The 2 of them, illiterate and outsiders to civilization can't communicate with the social because they don't have the words to do so, nor the common meanings needed. That is why maybe McCarthy went outside of tradition (classical, modernist, postmodernist et al.) to write a completely external novel. Secondly, I am very fascinated by the narrator. He seems typical omniscient and objective, but a lot of the confusion and irrationality is because of the narrator's refusal to mention people beyond generalizations such as 'he', 'man', 'woman' etc., he never even mentions the time each episode is supposed to take place in. Another thing, The triune is presented as avengers chasing Culla, as manifestation of his guilt but it is largely ambiguous if that is really the case; what bothers me is that in their 2 meetings with Culla they don't seem to be men seeking someone out. They regard him with a nonchalance atypical of what they are characterized to be. Similarly, the italics scene right after Culla is ran off from the town for allegedly digging up a grave is presented as if the leader of the triune (Harmon?) is leading the charge against him, but that scene occurs in Preston flats and has no bearing (then) on Culla! The narrator is surely engaging in some chronological tricks to orient the book to a particular narrative, but the events narrated contradict the formation of any such narrative if read closely. McCarthy seems to be extending his metaphor for limited vision and blindness inherent in man's fate to fiction as well; the Narrator itself is attempting to orient the book that doesn't yield to any complete explanatory narrative, just like man searches for meaning in symbols and motifs that can't rhetorically be proven to have it. Potentially a/an (limited?) Omniscient unreliable narrator; don't see them too often, if at all.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much for this substantive input, Archit! Your notes on "inexpressiveness," "limited vision," "blindness," "search for meaning," etc., are probably most directly faced in McCarthy's dramatic dialogue Sunset Limited.

[@jaxhoffalot2812]

I'm really interested in the historical rural Southern settings that McCarthy articulates in his early works (Orchard Keeper, Outer Dark, Child of God), what other authors or titles cover the same?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and Breece D'J Pancake all spring to mind.

[@georgeliverpudlio1258]

I will have to try this. Really great review. Thanks! 👍I read The Road and All The Pretty Horses many years ago. I liked these a lot. I struggled with Blood Meridian. I think I was in a bad mood. 😀 What the Coen brothers did with No Country for Old Men was fantastic.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

All the Pretty Horses is a wonderful, beautiful, exceptional book that doesn't get enough attention. I agree about the Coen brothers--great film!

[@sturmovikcarr7289]

Glanton and most of that crew of bloodthirsty marauders were constantly in a bad mood. They would turn fresh cream sour immediately.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I’ve never heard that quip before, and I love it!

[@Neat0_o]

Great review. I just picked up this book and plan to read it soon. Definitely going to subscribe because you seem like you know what you’re talking about lol. Cheers mate 🍻

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much! Happy reading!

[@juanpadilla3203]

Man, after reading this I felt sick. I understand the power of the writing and ability to tell a story is a skill to admire. What’s the point of this level of violence? The end makes you feel like you’ve witnessed tragedy for the sake of tragedy. I should also say Blood Meridian is, if not my favorite novel, it’s one of.

[@Craw1011]

Please tell me you'll do a review of Passenger! Having read an ARC and watched your videos for a while now I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Eventually. Yes. Of course. :)

[@anoushkab.8298]

This comment might be unrelated to the video but seeing as you like discovering new types of books, I must really recommend a classic of the Indian literature. I haven't seen you read it on your channel and I would love to hear your thoughts if you ever come around to it. Since I know you love big books, I would specifically recommend Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy' which has been called India's 'War & Peace' on numerous occassions.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I’ve got it on my shelf!

[@anoushkab.8298]

@@LeafbyLeaf Would you consider making a video of it? I would love to hear your thoughts.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Definitely!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Definitely!

[@lalitborabooks]

Excellent review as always. His style is definitely unparalleled in modern literature. I have read No Country for Old Men and Blood Meridian, but I intend to read them all. McCarthy however sometimes borderlines on being incomprehensible (to me) especially when he is depicting nature. Maybe he is too intelligent for an average reader (like me) but nonetheless even if we get 60% of it, It still is one of the best reading (and literary) experiences.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! McCarthy is a lot more complex than it appears. There is an enormous amount of ideation going on in his work, especially in the interplay between nature and humans. You're keying in on something by noting bewilderment. Use it. Press into it.

[@lalitborabooks]

@@LeafbyLeaf Thanks

[@ElevenDollarCheese]

Try the audiobooks while really stoned. I'm not a big cannabis guy, but I must have listened to Blood Meridian 4 times without hearing it until the kid at work gave me some edibles. Jesus Christ, I felt like I was on a horse in Glanton's crew. McCarthy goes into such detail in his descriptions that it's really easy to just zone out for 30 seconds and miss the impact it can have. If you hang on every word, the effect is extraordinary, he reminds me of Poe in that regard. He can basically put you in the scene, while at the same time causing a gut punch with maybe 3 words. Example: towards the end when the 2 new recruits are speaking w David Brown and he says "They (the Apache) wont ride at night" They ask him "why not" he says...."because it's dark". I never realized just how much was being said there. Is Brown saying that that is the level of intellect you're dealing with, that they are scared of the dark? The narrator says it with such contempt that it seems he considers them like children. Just a masterpiece that needs to be dissected front to back to really appreciate it.

[@lalitborabooks]

@@ElevenDollarCheese That surely must have been some experience

[@ElevenDollarCheese]

@@lalitborabooks I'm in my 40s now, been years since I partook. I sat unable to even get off the couch for over 2 hours staring at the audible page on my phone, half expecting it to change. Another scene that I never noticed was after they outrun Elias, they end up in that 5-hut village, and the kid leads them into the barn to sleep. He describes the auras of the static electricity coming off all of their clothes in the pitch black of the barn, turning them into an 18-member platoon of sparking outlines that upsets the lone foal in the corner. Just unreal how I could have listened to it so many times, and never even picked up on any of that. So hard to give undivided attention like that at all times.

[@michaelmathews4554]

This is a serious question: what about Cormac McCarthy draws you guys in? I tried getting into "The Road" and "No Country for Old Men." It was not the most fruitful of affairs. What about McCarthy am I missing?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

For me it's (almost entirely) all about his aesthetics. The style and syntax. Word choice and arrangement.

[@michaelmathews4554]

@@LeafbyLeaf Thanks! It was the arrangement of the words that threw me off, actually (for eg: in situations where he uses the word "and" 3-5 times in a sentence). I will try to be a little more open-minded and go through his work again.

[@alphonseelric5722]

@@michaelmathews4554 that polysyndetic writing is his style. Apart from the fist one all his books are like that. I recommend you listen to one of his books and maybe you come to appreciate the prose more that way.

[@michaelmathews4554]

@@alphonseelric5722 Thanks

[@brettbonn5178]

Anyone find it bizarre the hardcover of this is $900? I can't find it anywhere at a reasonable price.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

These day, sadly, I don't find the price-gouging bizarre. Once something smells of OP, people inflate the prices to absurd lengths. Luckily the paperback is affordable and tend to turn up in secondhand stores.

[@JonathanRossignol]

@0:00 OCD on fleek! #LFLR "V.B.W."

[@journofay]

The lecture voice stays at the same tone its hard to distinguish between reading the book and commentary.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Ah, great critique. I will take this into consideration for future videos. Thanks so much!

[@rickharsch8797]

Outer Dark is great, too.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

:)

[@Im_No_Expert_72]

Well done 💯

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thank you 😊

[@DrZodaco]

Hey do you happen to have a goodreads account?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

www.goodreads.com/author/show/15085013.Chris_Via

[@visheshchaudhary8289]

Great video 👍🏻

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks!

[@marshallbarrows5626]

Try Child of God. My first McCarthy, but extremely formative in my taste

[@LeafbyLeaf]

It's on my list for sure. Thanks!

[@cosminblk8359]

Wow man, you're reading a hell number of books. I'm wondering how many of them do you consider to be somehow useless or overrated.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Of course, as with anything one consumes en masse, there is inevitable chaff amongst the wheat. But, for the most part, those books don't make it onto the channel. I try only to make videos of books I believe worth reading.

[@rickharsch8797]

The wicked wood

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Outer Wilderness

[@rickharsch8797]

Suttree!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Oh, yes. It is a mandatory book for the channel’s future.

[@filipjernes7939]

its quit good but the use of english to describe different things can be quit tricky for a non english speaker...

[@az0bis9]

you always recommend books that are difficult to read.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Difficult in what way?

[@az0bis9]

@@LeafbyLeaf difficult in terms of overwhelming prose and no apparent plot like "Satantango" or "You bright and risen angels" which I read after your recommendations and I was really struggling through. I like challenging books but I feel that you read them very slowly and attentively like a riddle with lots of secondary literature to go along with it and you really try to figure out the meaning of the story while I often read as fast as possible and later read the explanation on Wikipedia, anyways, now I'm gonna need to read this book Outer Dark because you hooked me. Greetings from Germany

[@Dr.Sadegh]

Perfect review , I wish I could talk to you via WhatsApp or Skype

[@LeafbyLeaf]

We could probably set up something. Send me an email.