The Passing of Cormac McCarthy

The news of Cormac McCarthy passing was both a shock and a tragedy. A writer who only over the past couple of years I have started reading. His standouts for me are Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, The Road and one of his most recent novels The Passenger. McCarthy has explored in his writing the sheer brutality that can come from humanity with prose incredibly descriptive. Etched in my mind still are scenes from his books, the Comanche coming on the attack in Blood Meridian, The basement in The Road and both the book and movie moment of the coin toss in No Country for Old Men. 

I have for the past few weeks now been reading Suttree. Not a Western setting and more semi autobiographical than his other books, Suttree deals with isolation and a withdrawal from a previous life. Suttree, the protagonist who has separated himself from his family and lives alone on the outskirts of the City working as a fisherman and spends his free time around low lifes and criminals.

It has been a great pleasure to read his books and have nothing but respect and admiration for all he has put out into the world. Truly one of the greatest American writers of all time.