After two weeks of non-stop soccer-watching bliss, it’s all coming to an end on Sunday. I would suggest that this would lead to an upturn in productivity but I just got GTA 4 in the mail yesterday, having bought it on eBay for $35…
After a month-long hiatus, I listened to the second half of Owen Wister’s The Virginian and finished it yesterday. My verdict: not very good. It’s widely regarded as the first Western published, and I expected more cattle rustling and villain foiling rather than protracted courtship scenes.
There are many problems with this book (especially for a pinko lefty reader such as myself) but politics aside, there is a massive problem with the title character. It won’t surprise you to learn that the Virginian is a real man’s man, one who knows right from wrong and doesn’t need law or religion to understand the world, and of course he’s the guy nearly everyone in the book looks up to—if not upon their initial meeting, then over time. The problem? He never makes a mistake. Basically, everything he says is true and everything he does turns out to be the correct thing to have done. This makes for extremely dull reading, but the book does an excellent job describing both the American West and the kind of man (and to a lesser extent, woman) it takes to settle there.
Which is why casually rereading Blood Meridian alongside it has been so enjoyable. Against the flawless, chivalrous Virginian you get McCarthy’s ultra-violent kid, and McCarthy depicts a very different kind of American West and the kind of men who inhabited it. My next audio book is going to be Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage, another classic Western, and I’m starting The Orchard Keeper by McCarthy in hard copy. And I’m continuing to read Blood Meridian, because I love it.
I’m also working on rewriting the novel I wrote last summer and lo! ’tis way more work than I expected. I knew minor repair work would be needed but I underestimated the extent of the job. To belabor the construction metaphor, I believe the novel is structurally sound but it’s fleshing out every scene, removing clunky dialogue, and smoothing out the storyline so the beginning actually points to the ending that’s taking much longer than I expected.
My goal is to get a revised draft in front of my summer reading group by July 31st. It’s going to be tight.
Current Mood: Fine | 
9 Comments
My next audio book is going to be Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage
Good choice for audio. Reading RotPS is a hard slog. Listening is much better. I’ll save my comments on it until after you’ve finished. Let us know what you think.
Good luck on the novel.
Funny that you mention Blood Meridian, I finally started it and now can’t stop. Regardless, every page takes a while to digest because the writing is so tight, really incredible and enjoyable. I’m nearly finished but will probably re-read from start to finish as soon as I’m done. What a story and what an amazing job of telling it…
Oh, I should add, not for the weak of stomach however.
I will be honest man…GTA IV – I did not enjoy it that much at all. I know I should have, but I haven’t even used my xbox since I bought it, and only played it for 2-3 hours.
and doesn’t need law or religion to understand the world
Psssh. I told you Westerns are libertarian!
What? Huh? Something here other than footie?
Dr. Phil
Hmmm, I’ve answered each of these posts twice now but for some reason my blog is rejecting comments…but only from me!
John, I remember you reading the Grey. I wanted to read it because along with the Wister, it’s seen as a book that helped launch the genre.
Roberto, I can’t wait to talk Blood Meridian with you. In Spanish, if our vocabulary allows it. What’s Spanish for “thrapple” I wonder?
Nick, I’ve logged about an hour of GTA IV and I can’t quite see all the fuss. Best game of all time? It seems like the natural progression from the others in the series. I will report once the genius of the game dawns on me…
Eric, you also challenged my statement that Westerns were not aristocratic, but this section [http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/58/105/18665/1/frameset.html] of The Virginian argues for a kind of natural aristocracy. I would also add that the Virginian’s Southern manners are just as importantly to his manliness as is his Western ruggedness. You’re like a broken clock my friend, right twice a day. ;)
Phil, I aim on remedying that soon…
Ha! I just got pwned!
On a more serious note, I really liked that quote where he ponders democracy. It’s very insightful.