Cormac McCarthy. Some say he is the greatest living American author, yet others have never heard of him. He has written ten novels, a couple of plays, and a screenplay. His works typically are considered “Western” or “Southern Gothic.” He has won a number of prestigious awards, including a National Book Award in 1992 and the Pulitzer Prize in 2007. The New York Times Book Review wrote, “[McCarthy] puts most other American writers to shame. [His] work itself repays the tight focus of his attention with its finely wrought craftsmanship and its ferocious energy.” Here are a selective few descriptions of some of his novels worth reading:
- All the Pretty Horses – This is the story of a 16-year-old cowboy, John Grady Cole, who leaves his family and ranch when he learns it is being sold. On horse, with his best friend Lacey Rawlins, the two take off, crossing the border into Mexico. They encounter another runway, Jimmy Blevins, who joins them, and the three find themselves in difficult situations. This novel won McCarthy a National Book Award.
- No Country for Old Men- This novel also takes place on the United States-Mexico border but is about an illicit drug deal that went wrong. The protagonist, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, tries to tackle the expansive investigation primarily on his own, hindered by the sociopathic assassin, Anton Chigurh. The film by the same name was adapted from this novel; it won four Academy Awards.
- The Road - Set in a post-apocalyptic world, an unnamed father and son take a journey of several months across the destroyed Earth. The Road was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
- Blood Meridian – This novel placed third in The New York Times Magazine’s list of the top 100 greatest American novels of the latest quarter-century. It features a teenage runaway known only as “the kid” and his encounters with the Glanton gang.
Most of the timeless, classic novels we hear about are written by authors of other eras. Reading McCarthy’s work now might give you a chance to experience literature written by one of the greatest authors of our time (who is often compared to William Faulker) Cormac McCarthy.
