No Country for Old Men (Vintage International)

Author - Cormac McCarthy ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Vintage was reviewed on 9-Oct-2008.

Search ISBN:0307387135 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. No Country for Old Men (Vintage International) Reference Book. Classifications : General AAS Literature Humanities New & Used Textbooks Custom Stores Specialty Stores Books General AAS New & Used Textbooks Custom Stores Specialty Stores Books General AAS Qualifying Textbooks Custo . Click the following link to view the cover of No Country for Old Men (Vintage International).

Related topics: General AAS. Literature. Humanities. Custom Stores. Specialty Stores. Books. General AAS. Custom Stores. Specialty Stores. Books.

1) Paperback Book No Country for Old Men (Vintage International) by Vintage. It wasn´t a country for old men or anybody else, for that matter, if you happened to be in the wrong place at the right time and saw too much - or dared to take that which seemed up for grabs in unique opportunity. Cormac McCarthy has done a superb job in taking us inside the bloody, ruthless and savage world of the drug dealers, tapping the black mindset that goes with protecting the flow of the territorial drug lord mega money. Revenue Unlimited, tax free, moving fluidly in the dark, belonging to or contributing to no society, McCarthy reinforces the realization that this is the biggest business of all; the CEO´s of this particular world don´t need corporate agreements or Philadelphia lawyers to protect their interests.

Therefore, the story is not just about a Texas lawman vs. the criminal element; it´s a war zone declared; but shadowy and iconoclastic; untouchable because there are no boundaries, no rules to play by; and because the days are numbered anyway, hair trigger reflexes take the place of judgment. It´s a worthless yet supreme powered underworld that is changing the shape and face of the rest of the country, which is now "no place for old men." The action chapters of the tale have a life of their own. One almost wants to dodge the flying glass, grimly visualizing the blood pooling under lifeless bodies - and is given sudden pause as one considers the headlines of today that offer a similar and foreboding future for the Border states.

Then, without warning, that part of the blood story subsides, and we are serenely brought down to the separated musings of Sheriff Bell; a calm normalcy returns like the incoming tide and the seagulls; the relief is intense and almost tangible. A sane, sensible, honest man hopelessly entangled as he doggedly performs his job while wading in a web of madness that is also highly evolved and cunning; offering soft observances of a world he no longer understands, and is afraid of - but not for himself. It´s almost as though a soothing hand has been placed on the fevered forehead - such is the change of the mood and the mindset. There are several of these departure chapters interspersed - and each of them has the same "release" effect on the reader. They are something steady to hold on to; to grasp.

Cormack McCarthy is a storyteller of the Border for the "Now" - and of unusual methods - including the lack of punctuation, which is a style, not an omission.¤

2) Paperback Book No Country for Old Men (Vintage International) by Vintage. I did the unspeakable, I watched the movie (most of it) first. Unfortunately I was therefore recalling all of the images that had been provided for me. Although I do think it made it easier for me to follow the story line since a lot of situations were left for you to figure out on your own. I recommend this to read but not for the faint of heart nor for children. The movie is also very watered down in comparison to the book.¤

3) Paperback Book No Country for Old Men (Vintage International) by Vintage. I recently read McCarthy´s "The Road", which I enjoyed quite a bit. I thought it was a powerful and important novel, one that I won´t forget. I didn´t feel the same about "No Country for Old Men". I thought that several characters in this novel were one-dimensional and forgettable. Sure, the story had some intense moments that got my heart pumping quickly, but the story seemed to drag -- at least for me. I ended up skimming the last thirty or so pages.¤

4) Paperback Book No Country for Old Men (Vintage International) by Vintage. What is with McCarthy and his excess use of word ´and´? Admittedly, the word ´and´ is very important in the English language, however, excessive use of this word is outrageously ignorant, not to mention very distracting? You hear ´and´quite a bit in everyday speech, I admit. But no one really uses ´and´ like a gazillion times in one sentence, like McCarthy attempts in all of his books. The first McCarthy´s book that I read is ´The Road´and I have to say, it wasn´t a bad read, although not very original. Nevertheless, I read on to his other books and it was uncanny how much he tries to be Hemingway, except he does not use the apostrophe for a word like ´didn´t´ (he writes didnt, how about a good typewriter huh?) nor does he use the quotation marks, just to be original I guess. But hardly, this guy is a hack. I love Hemingway and I appreciate his use of the word ´and´ in his writing. This guy is no Hemingway. He just tries too hard to be the great Hemingway and he uses a lot more ´and´ than he should. Anyone who reads and loves this guy, I´m sorry to say, is just not willing to admit that, deep down, this guy is untalented, unoriginal, and a hack of Hemingway at best. I would puke, yes puke, if they are stupid enough to award him the Nobel Prize. Well, they did give him the Pulitzer for a book about nothing more than a man, a boy, and a shopping cart with one bad wheel, " The Road" I admit is not a bad read, but for crying out loud, not something deserving of a Pulitzer Prize?¤

5) Paperback Book No Country for Old Men (Vintage International) by Vintage. ´No Country For Old Men´ starts fast, with a violent murder of a young deputy by a chained prisoner. Then it switches to Llewelyn Moss, who´s out hunting antelope when he stumbles across three trucks and multiple dead men in the middle of nowhere. In the back of one truck is Mexican brown heroin, in the back of another two million dollars in a case. Moss takes the money and heads home, but after waking up in the middle of the night decides to go back to the scene. Big mistake, this time he´s not alone, and the drug dealers are searching the land for him. After a narrow escape, Moss sends his wife to Odessa and takes off for Del Rio. Unfortunately, on his tail is Anton Chigurh, the deputy-killer.

All this happens within the jurisdiction of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. Sheriff Bell´s thoughts and reflections are scattered through the book inbetween chapters, giving us an inside to his character unavailable from other characters. Bell works hard on tracking down both Moss and Chigurh, always seeming just slightly behind the fleeing thief and his drug dealer tail.

While the book starts out fast, it slowly decelerates into too much reflection and not enough action. After an abrupt incident, it becomes nothing more than random, scrawled musings through to the end of the book; rather like an unfinished thought. My guess is that the author, entitling the book ´No Country For Old Men´ meant to focus on the changing times of Bell´s jurisdiction and how he handled his job and personal life through the changes, but it didn´t work with the rest of the book. Too many empty clothes hangers left in this closet.

A word about the author´s writing style: Cormac McCarthy is quickly becoming one of the most popular authors of present time, however, I still find his writing style slightly annoying. No quotes for dialogue, no indicator of who´s speaking, so there´s no division between prose and speech. However, he captures the good ol´ boy conversations and laid-back mentality of the characters quite well. I recommend checking it out from the library rather than a purchase.
¤

6) Paperback Book No Country for Old Men (Vintage International) by Vintage. In No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy simultaneously strips down the American crime novel and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible and as bloodily contemporary as this morning’s headlines.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 6-Nov-2008, 03073871359780307387134, 600-350-950-360-590-280-980-8

No Country for Old Men (Vintage International), Book, Image © Vintage

Search: Vintage, Book Posters, Book Art