Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy - Review

[@m-train2334]

Just finished Stella Maris about ten minutes ago after having completed The Passenger last month. I found this to broaden my understanding of both novels, which I enjoyed immensely. Needless to say, I love your review. Subscribed.

[@rororeads]

Thanks so much for subscribing. From starting this channel I’ve realised that my taste in novels is insanely eclectic, which means it’s a hard Chanel to sub to…as it might be a while before I read something similar to the video that made you / people sub. But that I appreciate it and hopefully they’ll be stuff for you to enjoy. Have a good one!

[@jobuckley2999]

Thanks for the heads up on where to stop the video. I thought I would wait for the paperback but now I think I must read the book sooner. Today? I enjoy thought provoking books and McCarthy is known for that. Your channel is excellent. Thoughtful and concise. Well done.

[@thetheatrezoo3603]

I just reread the chapter in The Passenger when the Kid visits Bobby because I've been leaning more and more toward the Kid being of divine origin. In the last few lines of the preceding chapter, Kline says that sometimes a person is more willing to talk about certain things with a stranger on a bus than they are with their spouse. This goes along with the Kid's statement about coming on a bus and that some people see him and some don't. Bobby then mentions having perhaps seen the Kid previously on a bus. Now, to place the interaction into the narrative - Alicia was visited by the Kid when she was younger and the last entry in The Passenger mentions how he had been coming less frequently. When he visits Bobby, it's a few years after she died, but he also talks about something coming in Bobby's future and suggests that he, the Kid, didn't operate on a linear timeline. (He also kept saying he was working on his own time, which makes wonder if the storm was a response to the Kid going rogue.) Bobby does ask if the Kid was there to help, to keep Alicia alive, and the Kid says she probably would have killed herself even sooner if not for his visits, but his people just couldn't figure her out. She didn't fit the template. To put this all together, I think the Kid, if not divine, was working for redemption (after all, a lot of this story is about failed redemption, and he does present as a bit fiendish in appearance) because Alicia was destined for greatness but all she really wanted was non-existence. The Kid broke away and visited Bobby to see if Bobby could shed any light, but was disappointed. This led to the Kid eventually giving up on saving Alicia, though I believe the woman visited her one last time alone. This isn't in my own review, kzbin.info/www/bejne/omiThXyLbLucmac, but from thinking and talking about it, it seems more plausible to me now. It's a very Shakespearion tragedy.

[@rororeads]

Thanks so much for your insight. Some ingesting thoughts. I’ll check out the link.

[@thetheatrezoo3603]

@@rororeads Thanks

[@richardlopez2932]

I'm on the fence about the Kid being stuck out of time as it were but I'm starting to think it's fairly plausible. I mostly just thought that him having a similar name to the Kid in Blood Meridian was a coincidence. But when I think of how the plane is found in the beginning of the Passenger and how that might figure into the oil rig in Florida and the IRS seizing Bobby's money and Kline's thoughts on the JFK assassination, it stands to some reason that these events share some theme of an authoritarian government abusing its people. And I guess nobody knows much of anything about the bottom of the ocean.

[@t0dd000]

I read the book. I can't imagine keeping as engaged by listening to it, but the thought of two actors reenacting the dialogue would be a fun way to revisit.

[@richardlopez2932]

Same for reading both and the unrivaled likelihood that I'll read both of them again. He continues to break new ground with everything he writes from beginning to end. Aside from government conspiracies and women as protagonists and hallucinations given considerable voice there's the notably dumbfounding confession towards the end of Stella Maris that I'd be interested in discussing with anyone that isn't my mother. Your thoughts?

[@larrycarr4562]

Ha! I was describing Stella Maris to my son, and he accused me of “spoilers”. I’m with you don’t think you can spoil what unfolds in the dialog. Also interested that you mentioned pausing the audio, I vastly prefer reading in print, easy to pause reread, reflect, highlight and make notes as one goes. Starting and stopping the audio seems to me exhausting. But I admit having read the book, now listening to the audio would enrich both the experience and my understanding. Bottom line though with McCarthy, gazing upon Cormac’s beautiful printed prose is superior and as good as an experience that I’ve had from an author. Although Nabokov, Mann and Pynchon, for different reasons, provide also that special lift for this reader. Good job with review!

[@markhnk]

Stella Maris made me want to re-read The Passenger. I consider the two books only as one book. Why? Because so when somebody asks me what one book I would take with me on a deserted island I can say this one and bring two. These books are so rich.

[@richardlopez2932]

Suppose there's no word limit here. Compare either of the new books to the previous eleven. Spare me nothing.

[@t0dd000]

I loved The Passenger, but I loved Stella Maris even more.

[@Rhall20448]

Do suppose that there is a similarity between Alicia and the Quentin Compson Character in The Sound and the Fury who commits Suicide, I believe, because he has incestuous longings for his sister and also, although not schizophrenic, lives in a world of fantasy?

[@user-vq5px3ji1o]

Thanks, great as usual. Been waiting for this one. I read it (I have the audio version but couldn't wait) and I'm sure it is a different experience. It lends itself to audio much better, I would suggest. My two penneth - loved it, but my one gripe was that the mathematics elements lost me. Very few readers will understand the thinkers and their theories discussed. He clearly wanted the books read in a certain order. Why? As you say yourself, how would The Passenger feel if you have read Stella? A revisit with that in mind in the future, methinks.

[@Eternalplay]

Audio book is amazing