Point Appertaining To Books The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain (The Border Trilogy #1-3)
| Title | : | The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain (The Border Trilogy #1-3) |
| Author | : | Cormac McCarthy |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 1040 pages |
| Published | : | September 28th 1999 by Everyman's Library (first published 1994) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Westerns. Literature. Novels. Historical. Historical Fiction. American. Classics |
Cormac McCarthy
Hardcover | Pages: 1040 pages Rating: 4.44 | 5449 Users | 309 Reviews
Interpretation During Books The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain (The Border Trilogy #1-3)
I have this vague idea of going back and writing reviews of some of my favorite books, read long before I heard of Goodreads. And yet strangely, it’s somehow harder to write reviews of the books I love the best. I’m not sure why that is- maybe it’s because I feel SO MUCH for the books that are like old, beloved friends, that combing through all my weighty feelings and associations with them to find the right words is almost impossible. So there is my disclaimer that this will probably be a rambling, besotted jumble of thoughts, more than a true review.I have a great deal of respect for Cormac McCarthy’s talent, and have been impressed by everything I have ever read by him. That said, these three books are the only ones that I truly love. I love almost everything about them, the unique, gorgeous poetry of McCarthy’s syntax and the depth of his philosophy, the complexity of his primary characters, who I love dearly. I also love how deeply he draws on numerous archetypes and myths that span almost every era of World Literature. You can delve deep with McCarthy, folks- as deep as any literary-analysis loving English major/book nerd dares to go. Personally, I wrote a 30 page paper on the role of myth and legend in the trilogy for a graduate level literature class, and it was my favorite paper that I wrote in college. There was just SO MUCH to sink my teeth into, and I never enjoyed analyzing literature so much before or since.
The first book in the trilogy is the most famous, winner of the National Book Award, frequently on AP Literature exams, etc. (And also, sadly, the inspiration for an absolutely horrid film version starring Matt Damon.) All the Pretty Horses is the boyhood story of John Grady Cole, a post World War version of a questing knight. His journey into the wild open land of Mexico, in search of a world that no longer exists (if it ever did, outside of stories) is at the simplest level a brilliantly drawn coming of age story. But instead of the clichéd resolution (adolescent loses his innocence and idealism after facing harsh realities/darkness of life) John Grady, the true Quixotic hero, manages to find a path where the idealism and belief in beauty outlives the innocence, and I think that’s a gorgeous thing.
The second book in the trilogy, The Crossing, is my favorite of the three. I love the two young brothers, Billy and Boyd, so very much, and McCarthy’s writing is so raw and beautiful it sometimes physically hurts. I also love his brilliant incorporation of the Corrido (Spanish ballads about oppression, history and tragedy, and often Quixotic reform) and the social bandit/outlaw myth. But it’s Billy’s story most of all, how his deeply sensitive nature is both shaped by and shapes fate, and how he is destined to love and try desperately to save wild, doomed creatures- both human and animal. I really can’t say much more about this one, because I’ll end up either giving copious spoilers or crying, or both.
The third and final book, Cities of the Plain, covers much more time, and completes the stories of the two protagonists from the other books, Billy and John Grady. While in my opinion this is the weakest in the trilogy, McCarthy’s weakest is still better than most contemporary novels I have read. And I love the relationship that develops between Billy and John Grady, and how seamless and authentic their characterization is throughout the trilogy.
While any of the three books can be read alone, in my opinion they shouldn’t be. The full effect of McCarthy’s poignant story about these two young men, and all they loved and lost , only comes from reading all three together.
Particularize Books In Pursuance Of The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain (The Border Trilogy #1-3)
| Original Title: | The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses / The Crossing / Cities of the Plain |
| ISBN: | 0375407936 (ISBN13: 9780375407932) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Border Trilogy #1-3 |
Rating Appertaining To Books The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain (The Border Trilogy #1-3)
Ratings: 4.44 From 5449 Users | 309 ReviewsCriticism Appertaining To Books The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain (The Border Trilogy #1-3)
I really liked these books individually, but in that capacity there were things that kept me from absolutely flipping over them. With All the Pretty Horses, I just wasn't that into John Grady Cole's character - a bit too good, too easily admirable. The book gave us two other significant characters so it's not just the "JGC is awesome" show, but he's so obviously the superior product to them that it's hard to fully rally behind them even for contrarians like myself who couldn't fully get behindThe title could have been "Never go to Mexico". Nothing new about the dangers of traveling and the usual corruption, bad chance, blood, evil man that kills young boys and co scenario's. I feel exactly the same emotions when I watch the news. I could adapt to his different writing style but not to his passion for suffering and crualty and I had the feeling that when he got ennoyed with one of his characters he just found a thrilling way to get them out of his book. For me it was like driving for
Reviews:- All The pretty Horses- The Crossing- Cities of the Plain
Very much enjoyed the trilogy as a whole. I went into it blind in terms of story, leaving me to believe after the second book that the three books together were linked in theme only. That was surprisingly, and enjoyably, false. A few thoughts on each book:In All the Pretty Horses, the first novel of the trilogy, McCarthy laments the passage of time, the ways that life pulls the earth from under us. The novel concerns 16-year old John Grady Cole, and as he passes into adulthood, we mourn with him
It took me a while to get through this trilogy, since I took a break between the second and third book, but I'm so glad I finally finished it.All the Pretty Horses was definitely the strongest and most even, in my opinion. McCarthy introduces his epic hero, John Grady Cole, and it's hard not to fall in love with him from the beginning.The Crossing, which introduces the trilogy's second protagonist was my least favorite of the three. The narrative kept wandering into philosophical discussions for
"He knew that our enemies by contrast seem always with us. The greater our hatred the more persistent the memory of them so that a truly terrible enemy becomes deathless. So that the man who has done you great injury or injustice makes himself a guest in your house forever. Perhaps only forgiveness can dislodge him.""When you look at the world is there a point in time when the seen becomes the remembered? How are they separate? It is that which we have no way to show. It is that which is missing
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