Customer Reviews

All the Pretty Horses (Border Trilogy)

5 star:		(176)
4 star:		(89)
3 star:		(35)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

You read the first sentence of a Cormac McCarthy novel and you know that this is not Grisham or Connolly or Child or Crichton or King, certainly not Patterson, or anyone else writing fiction today. And before the first page is turned he has launched into one of his frenetic poetic riffs that lurches and rambles and stops and starts and doesn't care about punctuation and you can almost hear your high school English teacher scolding about grammar and run-on sentences but you know that she could never even hope to string words together like this even if she dared. And then you realize that maybe you've actually never really understood the English language at all because no one before has ever ripped it and bent it and twisted it as beautifully as McCarthy does while making it all look so easy.

So were it not for McCarthy's ferocious prose, "All the Pretty Horses" may have been just another coming of age story. But in McCarthy's special corner of hell, along with the obligatory introduction to "young love", passage to adulthood may include exile in a foreign country, being hunted on horseback across a barren desert, variously stabbed, shot, tortured, or imprisoned. John Grady Cole is a sixteen year-old son of a Texas rancher who, up until his grandfather's death, worked the ranch and developed an uncommon kinship with horses. With his grandfather gone, his father dying, and his mother flitting around the cultural scene in post-WWII San Antonio, John Grady sets out on horseback for Mexico with buddy Lacey Rawlings. What follows is an odyssey of restless youth across a rugged country, a bleak and sometimes bloody journey that is not without the humor and easy banter of young teenagers on their own; the "road trip" that turns nightmarish and accelerates the process of growing up into hyper drive.

John Grady is an endearing character; there are no Holden Caulfields in the Texas borderlands. A stoic young cowboy, he has had the youthful innocence to which he is entitled ripped out too early, replaced by a work-hardened cynicism and homespun wisdom of the Texas plains. The reader cares for John Grady in the way of the classic Greek heroes, watching helplessly as the protagonist stone-by-stone lays the foundation of his own downfall. This is Cormac McCarthy, and therefore not a fairy tale; the reader would be naïve to expect an ending with a smiling John Grady riding into the sunset with his girl's arms around his denim shirt. But since it is Cormac McCarthy, you can expect unparalleled prose that delivers its message with the power and subtlety of a cattle prod. An American classic - required reading.

I didn't realize until I looked at the Amazon site that Frank Muller has narrated so many books. They have 84 Muller listings here, primarily for Stephen King, John Grisham and other best-selling authors. The only other Muller audio-book I was familiar with was his rendition of King's <The Green Mile>, which was excellent. Muller surpasses that here, however, as he renders McCarthy's prose faultlessly. He captures the accents, whether they be Texan or Mexican, faithfully and unaffectadly. This is a great acting-job, natural, unassuming, perfectly in-flow with the narrative. His shift from character to character is seemless. Muller is the latter-day role model for anyone wishing to narrate books. There is ample reason why he is so prolific.

The story itself lends itself to being told orally. It is a myth of the west, but I mean that in the greatest sense of the word. Mythic here does not mean unrealistic. Far from it. It is mythic because it represents higher truths, but tells a human story in as truthful a manner as possible. I hate to use a hackneyed term like "describing the human condition," but it does. There are other high-school terms I could use, such as "coming-of-age story," "piquaresque novel," "story of initiation," etc. , but they would all short-change McCarthy's accomplishment here. McCarthy represents what is increasiningly scarce in modern American letters. He is a truly original novelist. Yes, we can trace his roots, but he has acquired his unique voice by dint of much effort, trial, delving, maybe even bloodshed. He is one of those authors that after reading one of his works, we are left to ask "How did he come by that knowledge?" He doesn't just research a work. He must have, at least in part, lived it. For instance, in this work, I was left wondering how he could have aquired such an encyclopedic knowledge of all things having to do with horses. I worked on the backstretch of racetracks for five years and didn't know my nomenclature with anything like the authority he does.

It would appear that Muller, like McCarthy has thoroughly done his homework. Never once in the course of this unabridged audio does he stumble over a word, much less a passage. He speaks Spanish almost as fluently as English, which is important for this work. In fact I would suggest that if you do not comprehend Spanish readily, you refer to the text-form of the book and maybe a Spanish dictionary before listening to this tape, though you can still appreciate most of it.

My estimation of McCarthy, which was already high, as well as my opinion of Muller, were greatly enhanced by the experience of listening to these tapes.

(This review refers to the unabridged audio-tape version of <All the Pretty Horses>. I prefer printed versions of good books, but see nothing wrong with listening to books when we dont have our hands free. Cars, obviously. I know what you were thinking!)

I found this book on an empty, dusty bookself at the back of my high school library, it's cover and first few pages torn away and the corners burned round. I thought that either someone was very bored and destructive or frustrated by the difficulty of the first few chapters (this only after flipping it open to find out it's title, the side being illedgable). After reading it I realize it could even more easily have come from the frustration of wanting more! This book kept me reading from cover to cover and still awake enough to wish it were double it's size. While reading it I had no clue as to it's popularity or award, but I knew it deserved one. John Grady Cole is an amazingly believable hero. I found myself trusting him and not the author to carry the book, knowing that he would come through no matter what. Even as the dialogue turned increasingly to spanish I felt that there wasn't a need to understand every word, I knew Grady enough to know what he would say. After getting a friend to translate a bit I found that this was true. I can only hope the movie is even half as good! I'm going to buy my school a copy to replace the destroyed version that I found.

Since the early 1900's, America has greatly progressed industrially and technologically, thus causing the early 1990's publication of the western novel, All the Pretty Horses, to seem out of place. This untimliness, however, is no indication to the quality of the book. Cormac McCarthy demonstrates all the characteristics of a traditional Western: adventure, love, damsels, murder, horses, and a hero, while still maintaining the elegant language and style of writing he has created. Set along the Texas-Mexican border in the late 1940's, All the Pretty Horses relates young John Grady Cole's discoveries about religion, love, and life as he runs away from home and becomes a man. The idealistic Cole embodies the desires of all young adults, freedom and understanding, and sets out to satisfy them. Through several experiences that an average teenager would not have encountered, he realizes that reality can be cruel but maintains his amazing determination to live his life without the burdens of society.

McCarthy's magnificent wording and motifs demonstrate the many themes of hospitality, religion, freedom, and the quest for knowledge. The language appears to be deterring because of the author's choice to delete the majority of punctuation marks, however, if he had left the words in proper English format, the novel would have lost its realism and power. Unlike Charles Dickens, who is infamous for his lengthy, soporific descriptions, McCarthy utilizes his language to depict the Mexican landscape in a way that appeals to the reader. Not everything in the novel is pretty; as an adventure story, the book still enbodies the basic blood, guts, and gore; it simply describes them more completely than an average fiction novel. This quest for realism can become overused at times (i.e. entire dialogues written Spanish where occasionally a character may offer some form of explanation but usually leave the reader wondering). McCarthy's realism also extends to his multiple color motifs. Almost every pigment in the color wheel represents a quality in the novel, and because the author describes everything accurately, at least one of these recurring motifs appears on every other page. This does make analysis of the the novel fairly simple, but the overwhelming amount of color can become repetitive. McCarthy has mastered a wonderful command of language and exemplifies creativity well, but by stating the themes outright, he removes the opportunity for the reader to demonstrate his own ability to understand.

All the Pretty Horses embodies all the requirements of an interesting, adventurous novel that anyone could appreciate for its exciting plot and insightful discoveries of human nature. Whether searching for a wonderful book to read purely for entertainment or attempting to discover a piece of literature that is relatively simple to analyze, one should seriously consider All the Pretty Horses as an appropriate choice.

Many people compare, fairly or no, Cormac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses" to William Faulkner's literary work. What is neglected is the strain of Flannery O'Connor that runs throughout the novel as well. At any rate, "Horses" more than stands on its own as a startling achievement. It's prose is more accessible than Faulkner, and its themes less esoteric than O'Connor. "Horses" is an immaculate novel, dealing with the extreme facets of the everyday and the ways in which people become who they are.

John Grady Cole, a 16 year old boy, dispossessed of his family lands, wanders off into Mexico, accompanied by Lacey Rawlins, a close friend. Astride their trusted horses, Redbo and Junior, the two young men ride, searching for occupation and meaning. It may be somewhat idealistic that two ranch-hands like Cole and Rawlins should ride about, discussing throughout the novel things like the profundities of religion, life, and human relationships on so advanced a level, but McCarthy's grasp of vernacular - English and Spanish - makes the whole completely palatable.

McCarthy's writing technique leaves nothing to be desired - his evocative use of landscape draws the Texas-Mexico scenery off the page and into immediate experience. Impressionistic and yet utterly tangible, the cold of the evenings and the heat of the days is described as it is felt. McCarthy's characterization is just as remarkable. Minor characters like the various groups of laborers met along the way, Perez the mysteriously powerful political exile/prisoner, or children bathing in a ditch - all bring realism and depth to Cole's struggle into selfhood.

The most wonderful thing about "Horses" is that McCarthy doesn't beat you over the head with his major themes - they exist as constant undercurrents - humanity's relationship to tradition, the divine, to each other - these are the elements that course and pulse through the novel. Epic knife-fights in a Kafkaesque prison, emotional wounds that never heal, a covert love affair with Alejandra (the daughter of a powerful Mexican landowner), philosophical-historical conversations with her aunt Alfonsa, a problematic relationship with 'Jimmy Blevins,' a possessive young boy - all of these moments in the novel are saturated with fundamental thematic significance.

This is not a book to simply read. This book must be lived with, carried, held, gazed upon and treasured. Give it full reign of your mind and let the unknowable horses of your imagination take you into yourself.

A lot has already been said about this novel, so I'll address my review to those unfamiliar with Mccarthy's work. If you've never read Mccarthy before, this is a great place to start. The plot is tight, engaging, and easy to follow, and the language is gorgeous. If you enjoy this book and want to move on to others, read the others in the border trilogy before tackling "Blood Meridian."

Some people will take issue with Mccarthy's grammar, sentence structure, use of Spanish, and punctuation (or lack thereof). Mccarthy takes a lot of poetic license with his writing, and chooses words as much for their sound as for their meaning. The sentences are written with attention paid to rhythm and "breath," meaning that they don't always look or sound like conventional prose. This will be displeasing to some. As an example, the first line of the book reads: "The candleflame and the image of the candleflame caught in the pierglass twisted and righted when he entered the hall and again when he shut the door." Now, Mccarthy could have just as easily said "the candle flickered when he entered the room," or something like that, but the effect, aurally, is just not the same.

Read the first page of the book. If you don't catch fire at the beauty of it, then maybe this book, and Mccarthy's work in general, is not for you.

i was able to identify with this mainly because i had spent 4 years and 2 weeks in the jail that was described in the book "all the pretty horses". I will never forget reading this book about 2:00AM one morning a few years ago and was so amazed and shocked that they had carried this cowboy to a prison on Castelar Street in Saltillo. I must say that this author had to have been inside this prison to have described it so well. even more amazing was that the cowboy was thrown in a corner cell on the sixth floor of this place and I was thrown in a corner cell on the sixth floor, the first night that i was there and preceeded to spend the next few years in that same cell. The kitchen scene was well described and came vividly to mind when i read it and beleive me I saw many just as brutal scenes on my sojourn in Castelar 203. i wrote the publisher asking about being able to get ahold of Mccarthey but got no response. I understand that a movie is being filmed currently in New Mexico. Anyway, It was the best and worse four years of my life. The stories i have to tell! I was there between 1973 and 1977 for having violated their laws concerning antiquities. I am fifty years old now and there is not a day goes buy without a thought back to the biggest and greatest challenge a man can go through. Is this a book reveiw - only that i loved the book and have read all the rest of them. If anyone has any info over how he was able to describe the inside of this prison with such detail - i would like to hear it. thanks, a guy who lived it.

I read this book on the recommendation of an old friend and had difficulty putting it down. The descriptions of Mexico and horses were beautiful. The plot was engaging and the characters, John Grady Cole in particular, were like old friends by the end of the book. The story was an exciting and suspenseful page turner. From the standpont of pure enjoyment, I can't imagine anyone not liking this book. I liked it so much I went right out and bought The Crossing.

McCarthy has been both praised and damned for his lyrical, poetic, non-grammatical, punctuation-less, rare-word-studded prose, and this style is very much in evidence here. From the opening sentence to the last page, this style is ever present, becoming almost remorseless in its tone and evocation of time and place. If you've never read one of his works before, it might take you awhile to adjust to it, but once you do, the images it paints in your head will become brilliant and indelible.

The other renowned McCarthy trait, that of celebration of violence, brutality, of a harsh world where only the most determined survive, is present here also, but for this book it seems as if this fades a bit into the background, under the cover of a compelling coming-of-age story of a young sixteen year old horse-loving cowboy John Grady Cole who wanders off to Mexico in search of employment and finds his first love. Along the way we are treated to quite a bit of philosophical ruminations about religion and life's obstacles, problems, and purpose, frequently delivered in very short sentences of dialogue that are almost baldly stated, with little back-up ratiocination to justify their conclusions. It's not until nearly the end that we are treated to a multi-page discourse on these subjects, delivered by the girl's elderly aunt as almost an aside to the main story, but this section is really the heart of the book, and colors and limns all of Cole's actions and fate.

Cole's character is well defined, for all that we never really get inside his head (another McCarthy trait), as his minimal statements and large actions create the picture of just who and what he is. Unlike many of McCarthy's characters, Cole has a strong moral compass quite capable of withstanding the vicissitudes and chance disasters that happen along the way, a compass that shapes Cole as a most atypical McCarthy actual hero. Cole's traveling companion Rawlins and his love Alejandra are not so well defined, are almost stereotypical characters there to support the story and little more, while Blevins, the chance pick-up fellow traveler to Mexico, seems to be the embodiment of McCarthy's opinion about what should (and will) happen to the weak and foolish.

There is a fair amount of un-translated Spanish here. If you don't know the language, this may be a little off-putting, but I found most of the meaning of these passages to be derivable from context or Latin roots, but in few places I had to turn to my Spanish-speaking wife to find out what was being said. But missing some of this will not hurt your overall understanding of what's going on, as these sections rarely have great significance.

This is a gritty, realistic story. There are scenes within this that point out in no uncertain terms just how mean, dirty, brutal, and despicable people can be. Nor is there any Pollyanna ending, merely a continuation of the drive to live, and what's done is the past, unchangeable. But reading this just might form an indelible image in your mind, one that will color all your future impressions of life.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

This first novel in Cormac McCarthy's "Border Trilogy" is not one's typical Western tale of Indians and cowboys. I originally began to read All the Pretty Horses very reluctantly for my AP English Literature class in high school. However, the plot washed away all of my qualms. The protagonist, sixteen-year-old John Grady Cole, loses his father to illness and his beloved ranch to legal pettiness. With his friend Lacey Rawlins, he travels by horseback across the Rio Grande into Mexico in search of work and adventure. While they finally find work breaking horses on a hacienda of a wealthy hacendado, Cole and Rawlins also find romance and great trouble. While the plot is exciting, the actual story is not merely centered on horses and danger. It focuses more on a boy's coming of age and how he comes to terms with the choices he has made. McCarthy's style paints a wonderful picture of hacienda life in Mexico without using florid language and makes John Grady's tale an absorbing one. I recommend this National Book Award winner to anyone.