Product Description

An epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, Blood Meridianbrilliantly subverts the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the "wild west."  Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1770 in Books
• Published on: 1992-05-05
• Released on: 1992-05-05
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com
"The men as they rode turned black in the sun from the blood on their clothes and their faces and then paled slowly in the rising dust until they assumed once more the color of the land through which they passed." If what we call "horror" can be seen as including any literature that has dark, horrific subject matter, then Blood Meridian is, in this reviewer's estimation, the best horror novel ever written. It's a perverse, picaresque Western about bounty hunters for Indian scalps near the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s--a ragged caravan of indiscriminate killers led by an unforgettable human monster called "The Judge." Imagine the imagery of Sam Peckinpah and Heironymus Bosch as written by William Faulkner, and you'll have just an inkling of this novel's power. From the opening scenes about a 14-year-old Tennessee boy who joins the band of hunters to the extraordinary, mythic ending, this is an American classic about extreme violence.

Review
"McCarthy is a writer to be read, to be admired, and quite honestly—envied."
—Ralph Ellison

"McCarthy is a born narrator, and his writing has, line by line, the stab of actuality. He is here to stay."
—Robert Penn Warren


From the Hardcover edition.

Review
"McCarthy is a writer to be read, to be admired, and quite honestly?envied."
?Ralph Ellison

"McCarthy is a born narrator, and his writing has, line by line, the stab of actuality. He is here to stay."
?Robert Penn Warren


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Violence & Gore and Very Little Else
Where to start with this book? This is my 5th novel by CM. I am familiar with his style, his keen eye for detail, his characters, his way with dialogue, and the violence. This, however, just seemed like a complete "gore fest" to me. Barbaric characters, wayward souls, wasted, wasted lives. It is a difficult and tedious read, humorless, rudderless, and unrelenting violence. Not McComac's best or even better novels, I think.

Interesting
I find it interesting that one reviewer entitled their review with a Slayer song and a Misfits song. Most people who've read this book would miss that referrence completely and I find it interesting because these bands are both giants of their industry who don't deserve the massive praise they get, so its ironic they're linked with this book. But that's music and this is a book. While Im not a real big fan of this book - it tends to plod along like a half dead horse staggering under the burden of an equally half dead man across the mexican desert - there is a quality about it that made me want to read more and left me feeling as if I'd learned something about life once I'd finished. If you like suffering you'll like this book. If you're one of those people who think reading great authors will make you a better person, you might be pleasantly surprised that this book might just enlighten you a little.
On a side note, No Country For Old Men will make you sad. The Road will touch you deeply and leave you terrified.

stop the long reviews: this is an AWESOME book!
Lets, please, keep the reviews brief.
I have ADHD and loose track of the plot,charachters and situations faster than I can say 'pffft'. I read this book over two weeks and everytime I picked it up, it would enthrall me.
Amazing prose, lyrical. an american classic.
If you liked 'the road' and 'no country...' this book is for you.
Dont read Harold Bloom's introduction before you finish the book: He does the book justice, but gives away key details.
5 stars!