Lecture on Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian: Part 1

[@danielbrowne9089]

I heard Aaron on the art of darkness podcast (thoroughly recommend it) and had not read any McCarthy. His passion and enthusiasm for the works lead me to thus far read 6 of Cormac’s oeuvre. Thank Aaron, I’m forever indebted to you

[@PlayRoom44]

Just downloaded all 6 lectures. I quit Twitter where I found you. Thanks for being obsessed with Cormac too❤

[@Hosshasheartburn]

Finally had a chance to start your lectures after finishing the book. I haven't had the satisfaction of reading a novel with an accompanying lecture providing context since college...I forgot how much I miss that, especially after reading something like BM where I would constantly read something insane, and ask myself "What the fuck did I just read. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!" Thank you for taking the time to make this incredible resource available to the public. Big shout out to the Lemon Party boys for introducing me to Cormac McCarthy and your channel!

[@AmericanGwyn]

You’re so welcome!

[@H1N1777]

I love that I’m not the only one being introduced to brilliant literature and excellent commentary on it from the most retarded podcast ever lol

[@callmeozen]

I just finished re-reading this, first time since I was a kid and I LOVED this lecture! Thank you for uploading. Can’t wait to dive into the rest!

[@semperfi2974]

Mongols were probably pretty fair on horseback too

[@bobboberson2736]

First thing that came to my mind too lol, I heard stories that mongols could shoot birds out of the sky while in full gallop

[@x9H05Tx]

McCarthy calls the Comanche war party a Mongol horde when they attack the military expedition. It's impossible to really say who were the better horsemen but I'd assume that thousands of years riding the Steppe would make the difference.

[@folkestrid5923]

Ha, my thought exactly. Simply put, steppe nomad cultures tend to make horse archers skilled enough to make the world tremble.

[@mastercharlesdiltardino8058]

​@x9H05Tx yeah the Mongols had horses longer but who was under more pressure to get good?

[@shinjukucalling763]

Imagine saying flea bitten savages are better riders than the mongols lmfao

[@melanisticmandalorian]

I love a book lecture littered with history, takes to a whole new level.

[@thestrangah9690]

Haven’t started watching this completely yet, so I’m gonna edit my comment as time goes along hopefully. First little tangent, I really love the cover art for this specifically it very much reminds me of dawn of the dead I really love the notion of the kid being born a killer, even though he has a free agent as stated by Tobin and the choices he makes definitely rejects the judges, overall philosophy that he tries to impart on him. I think his birth very much falls in line with a chosen one aspect nearly. I think this, especially coincides with the ending of the book when the judge does what he does with the man at the end because it’s a pyrrhic victory. The kid could’ve been the perfect dancer or warrior or what have you but since he rejected the judge, he decided to get that Pyrrhic victory When it comes to the first impressions of the judge and his overall appearance, of course, he is seen as devolution trickster he like he said, and how others have compared them to paradise, lost in other scenes within the book but I think he is almost a parody of Homo sapiens, and if anything. I don’t think he’s a demon or the devil, but he’s almost like if a demon or a devil created a man this is the kind of man they would create. If man really is of antic clay, then the judge was sculpted out of the hands of a demon at least

[@ryanwinegardner3586]

Great stuff! Getting such powerful insights into Blood Meridian is a great way to approach the book

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you!

[@LAHFaust]

The first time I read Blood Meridian and The Kid meets The Judge I laughed because I thought he was going to be one of the "one-shot" characters McCarthy loves to have in his books. But when The Kid joins the Glanton Gang and The Judge is there my blood ran cold. I've heard theories that Chagur is meant to embody death or chaos but The Judge makes him look utterly mundane.

[@toussaid5340]

Excellent lecture. Lucky students

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you!

[@davidcavazos2270]

This is great! I really enjoyed how you established the context for the novel

[@AmericanGwyn]

TY!

[@LifeOnUranus]

awesome lecture. if only they taught history like this i might have even liked it.

[@runtheriver3670]

Bro you're spoiling us Love this channel of yours Thank You so much Watched them all the past 2 days. Was thinking ah shucks...be a week or two before he uploads more Then this just landed Amazing stuff you're doing Thank You

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you! So much more to come. And it will always be free.

[@runtheriver3670]

Wonderful Free as a Comanche who just found the horses The southern border and plains history is mindblowingly interesting bro Fuckin lovin this I'm in Ireland Lots of Irish names involved But the whole thing And the upper hand changing with tech/horses/fence posts! Endlessly fascinating Will be tuned in Thanks again God bless ya

[@AmericanGwyn]

@@runtheriver3670 Thrilled to do it. Just want these to find the people who will appreciate them-you are clearly one of the people. Bless you!

[@grocerybird]

Great lecture. Thanks for taking the time to record and upload it. Looking forward to more.

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you!

[@gwilymeades]

You've got the voices perfect! I no longer have a copy of this book but the local bookstore has it, and I'll be picking up a copy and following your lectures. They're great, thank you! I'm also waiting for the Library of America editions, fingers crossed that won't be too long! (They should've done them before Cormac died in my opinion, I mean Philip Roth got his...just saying)

[@barbarajohnson1442]

Wonderful! CM does direct us, so true, to see the truth about the dark side of our nation, its roots, and of all " nations"... of humanity. Nice to find you!

[@texashistorylessons]

Excellent lecture. Thank you for sharing this as well as the No Country for Old Men. A good summary of Texas history as well. I like looking into literature-both works from the time period and more modern historical fictions as well-to gain insight into what things were like in the past. Looking forward to the next lectures.

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you so much!

[@kohdicraig5179]

This is great! Thank you for putting out these lectures

[@AmericanGwyn]

So glad you're enjoying them!

[@josiahhamilton9601]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@leitmotif7268]

Obsessed with this channel, loving this lecture series, hoping to see more from you! I know you’re focused on Blood Meridian here but I would love to hear more analysis of other literature from you! I really enjoy the way you discuss the themes of the book with your students and they’ve been contributing to the discussion very well.

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you!!!

[@shoresofpatmos]

So good!!

[@Shinryakugun]

Really been enjoying your work!

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you so much! Appreciate you. If you know of anyone else who might be interested, please share it with them. 🙏

[@suburbianghost]

This is awesome! Thank for this lecture!

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you!

[@oo-ru5lt]

Oh God these are so good 😩

[@robinlewis8101]

What a lucky group of college students, what an experience to be able to delve into this novel with you. Very cool.

[@AmericanGwyn]

Too kind, sir!

[@lottoguy6457]

I’d pay to have this guy read the audio book. The official one is fine but he is great.

[@dustmemory9891]

This is fantastic, thanks for uploading! Hope to hear your talk on No Country for Old Men as well.

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you!

[@barbarajohnson1442]

And on THE PASSENGER and STELLA MARIS!

[@elricofmelnibone425]

The way you ended this lecture legitimately made me laugh out loud 😂

[@waltergross1269]

Awesome, thank you for this

[@TheRyanAkers2]

I feel like I need a cliff notes version of this book, have me read the passage then give plain context and explanation of what I read. Kind of like Dante's Inferno (another book I had no business reading). I completely missed how the judge had stolen the revenerends offering hat on my first read through. I just know it'll feel like a different book the next time I read it

[@robinlewis8101]

I completely missed that too. (And probably so much more.) What a gift this lecture series is.

[@iamthe1337est]

Nice lecture. Great readings. Thanks!

[@LosZetasUno]

Instantly subscribed. So nice to actually get a thoughtful discussion on Blood Meridian instead of cringey bullshit.

[@elizabethbarker5937]

shoutout to prof gwyn! a good lecture and a good book.

[@AmericanGwyn]

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@bravefury]

Were you writing The Cannibal Owl during this time? How much did this piece influence The Cannibal Owl?

[@AmericanGwyn]

@@bravefury actually, I wrote TCO in the summer of 2015, then stuck it in a drawer

[@92sammyp]

When the judge tells the traveler story by the fire to the Glanton gang is that related to the young boy "the man" kills before walking into the final bar for his reunion with the judge? I remember one of the boy's friends says after he's been shot something to the effect of, "it's not his fault he's crazy mister, his father was hit over the head by a maniac and buried in the woods." I couldn't help but make that connection considering it ends the penultimate scene, providing some sense of closure before the final confrontation with the judge. Does anybody know if the two were meant to be connected, or just a coincidence?

[@fakethinksy101]

Please make more! This lecture is excellent.

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you. Part two of the lecture coming tomorrow evening!

[@fakethinksy101]

@@AmericanGwyn awesome man, thank you for doing this. This is valuable stuff, I can’t wait for part two!

[@fortytwogallonsofforestgre8085]

I love this guy's narration of the book. He should do a full version

[@AmericanGwyn]

🙏🙏🙏

[@JayMontana-ou1ry]

I definitely agree, his voice suits the tone of the story perfectly. The existing audio book works pretty well, with the guy who reads it, but I've always thought it worked best if you listen to it while reading the book at the same time, which I've done a couple of times. Especially if you don't speak Spanish. As huge fan of blood meridian this has become one of my all time favorite KZbin channels. Thank you sir for making it

[@pizzacheeseman2854]

Loving all your content thank you for putting this out there! I’m still trying to understand the significance of the story of the harness maker, hopefully it’s covered somewhere in here

[@billyalarie929]

37:22 this still blows my mind every time I read it

[@weggiemiller41]

Your hayseed character voice sounds so much like goddamn EB Farnum. Thanks for posting this, Aaron.

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thanks for listening!

[@garybaste3589]

maybe you can do a video on the epilogue!

[@deathpig.9847]

Just to be clear, natives didn't have an immigration policy.

[@joeyk169]

love these! thank you! BUT "texas had a serious comanche problem" is an incredible thing to say. it's like saying "hawaii had a serious hawaiians problem".

[@Edge_Boye]

“Rabid rape dog park has a rabid rape dog problem” let’s change that 🤠

[@ElonMuskrat-my8jy]

Based President Polk 💪🔥

[@Madstmichael77]

The Mongolians and Tartars mstered the horse in war long before the Comanche and were arguably more skilled.

[@nickbuendo]

HOLY crap these recent comments are oddly hateful... Everyone has their opinions hahaha. Anyways, I loved the narration it helps get into the story and the beginning was great where you provided a much needed context AND showed that the Natives were just as brutal. Also the white jokes are fun hahaha what the f**k are these people complaining about!!! Thanks for sharing I'll definitely be listening to the rest of the lectures for some reason this book makes me want to go back to college courses and have an hour long discussion on one chapter, I miss it!

[@AmericanGwyn]

I love it when the posters go hard.

[@nickbuendo]

@@AmericanGwyn hahaha great attitude to have!! Thanks again professor

[@weathergage]

Right !

[@rjfarris8324]

The 🐐

[@AmericanGwyn]

😂😂😂😂

[@MIKE_THE_BRUMMIE]

Horses evolved in North America and spread across the land bridge with Russia...so when the land bridge melted the horses went extinct in north America. Crazy to think how long it took for the horses to be reunited with their ancestral land.

[@cumbre3824]

45:34

[@francisjudge]

the Scythians were alleged to be the masters of all things equestrian.

[@MIKE_THE_BRUMMIE]

el gran reemplazo

[@zarathustra8424]

Great lecture but the radio theatre reading of the book seems a bit reductive. Perhaps the college kids enjoy it, but it seems to take away any weight the actual words have. Imagine reading Thus Spake Zarathustra in this manner; I see McCarthy in the same light.

[@albertodelgadillo9636]

Damn guess not sounds like this man dont like hisself cant hear a lecture from someone like that

[@dongvermine]

Wrong scumbag

[@jacoblevenson7934]

4:10

[@iammraat3059]

💥💥

[@Mike60606]

I would love to hear this guy talk about black people the same way he talks about White people. Is this dude a college professor?

[@timjarvis5968]

Apparently UNC Charlotte, are the young dirty white boys in his class just supposed to listen to his race baiting leftist pledge of allegiance? Diversity of thought not really welcome at these "institutions of higher learning"

[@timjarvis5968]

Apparently UNC Charlotte, are young dirty white boys in his class just supposed to listen to his race baiting leftist pledge of allegiance? Diversity of thought not welcomed at these "institutions of higher learning"

[@stephen8342]

I agree, talks about dirty white boys but pretends the natives were actually all good and not unwashed savages. It’s the noble savage bullshit that they’ve tried to peddle for decades

[@dongvermine]

Extremely famous and celebrated professors buddy

[@Mike60606]

@dongvermine Makes sense why college kids these days are degenerate invalids who whine about student loans they can't pay for because their degrees are worthless.

[@chrispalm5455]

Fantastic content!

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you!

[@Shanesawendsley]

More like the Comanche had a Texan problem

[@AmericanGwyn]

FR!

[@Shanesawendsley]

​@AmericanGwyn great lecture though.

[@eriklarsen7630]

What a cringe accent when reading from the book

[@dongvermine]

Wrong scumbag

[@ashcarrier6606]

Strange how you glossed over the part where Santa Anna suspended the Mexican Constitution and declared himself dictator. The Mexican Constitution that guys like Jim Bowie had sworn to abide by as a Mexican citizen. The 18th and 19th Century American mind would've automatically dismissed an aurocrat like Santa Ana. And that is what happened. The Mexican Constitution was legitimate, in their mind. Santa Anna wasn't.

[@yossarianyossarian3957]

"Once upon a time, Texas had a serious Comanche problem. Alright? This was before Texas was in the hands of the Anglo, and Texas was a part of Mexico." ive got to thank you for putting the white supremacist, settler-colonial perspective out front so i dont have to waste time with the rest of your lecture. another, more accurate way of beginning, might have been: once upon a time, texas had a settler-colonial problem...

[@earlycuyler8659]

Shitting on the white man are we lol?

[@jgrew]

"You know how white people are "😂😂

[@fergal2424]

could he say that about any word other 'colour' or race? needless lame race baiting comments.

[@Dogar230]

Yeah, it's funny how he'd talk about how "dirty" white people are, especially when they're being contrasted to a savage tribe like Comanche, who were even filthier than the whites

[@jays2551]

​@@fergal2424 cry more about it

[@Drod6969]

Stands up to anti white racism bud. It’s more like: “you know how black ppl get”

[@Drod6969]

We know how black ppl are. Fixed it

[@JamesMcCallum-oo1xn]

Breathe bud. You sound nervous. & remember the Comanche weren’t a Texas problem. Texans arrived 500 years after the mesoamericans. Don’t be racist towards Americans domestic policy towards its indigenous people!

[@Davod2139]

What an unpleasant lecture

[@davidwright8432]

Don't interpose the interrorgative 'right?' at the end of each sentence. It's really annoying. Right?

[@melanisticmandalorian]

You da man !

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you!!!

[@melanisticmandalorian]

@@AmericanGwyn Some might get the impression you might be Judge Holden, trying to increase your reach, trying to nab a new kid. Too bad Judge, I am a middle aged man.

[@suburbianghost]

This is awesome! Thank for this lecture!

[@AmericanGwyn]

Thank you! Another coming today!