Customer Reviews

Cormac McCarthy's Western Novels

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If you're a bit puzzled by all of the cheering for Cormac McCarthy, look here. I don't agree with everything he says, but Owen packs this slim volume with plenty of eye-opening (and sometimes mind-boggling) insights.

His discussions and comparisons and references have inspired me to go back and read Jack London's short story, "To Build A Fire," with new appreciation; then led me to Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat," then to T. R. Fehrebach's THE COMANCHES, which I might otherwise have never discovered.

The basics are here. Mr. Owens has understanding of symbols and themes, with some good structural analysis. Mr. Owens realizes that McCarthy's western novels are unique, even monumental. I read Owens' book because after reading the trilogy, I was astounded at the mastery of the work...the language, the imagery and the grasp of the Americas--the historical, the spiritual, the mythic--seen through the eyes of witnesses to horrific history. For me the only other American writer in McCormac's company is, in my opinion, not Faukner, but William Carlos Williams ("In the American Grain"). I read Owens' book because I wanted a conversation about the novels, and, ironically, there are not many people with whom I can discuss this trilogy. Not many people I know are going to like the West, and extreme violence, and cowboys, and horses, AND understand enough Spanish.
Mr. Owens is one of the legion, arisen since the sixties, of the Blame America (not the karma of the world) academics. He attempts, awkwardly, to interject sentiments of anti-imperialism into the literary criticism, where it dosn't fit. I suppose he realises this and creates an afterword which is much more honest, if not correct.
Mr Owens is pre-2001, and I wonder if at this point, we are still to blame.
Mr. Owens work is good. I was a little put off by his emphasis as I saw it.

This book is more of a long essay (100 pages?) mostly concerning 'Blood Meridian' which I think is the least interesting of the so-called 'Western' novels. It does contain interesting material and a lot of research went into it.