Blood Meridian Audiobook By Cormac McCarthy cover art

Blood Meridian

Or the Evening Redness in the West

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Blood Meridian

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Richard Poe
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Author of the National Book Award-winning All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy is one of the most provocative American stylists to emerge in the last century. The striking novel Blood Meridian offers an unflinching narrative of the brutality that accompanied the push west on the 1850s Texas frontier.©1985 Cormac McCarthy (P)2007 Recorded Books Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Westerns Scary Suspenseful Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

“The authentic American apocalyptic novel…I venture that no other living American novelist, not even Pynchon, has given us a book as strong and memorable as Blood Meridian.” (Harold Bloom)
"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)

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A friend of mine mentioned that Cormac McCarthy described his Pulitzer Prize winning 'The Road' book as his most optimistic. Having found it bleak and spare and a slice of the dystopia that seems to await us, I thought what are his non-optimistic books like. "Blood Meridian" answers this question with a punch to the consciousness that left me reeling. Brilliantly written and conceived Cormac uses starkly defined characters, almost archetypal in their construct, to drag the latent depravity and soulless nihilism embedded in the human condition. It's not easy reading. The casual descriptions of brutality are at times shocking and that, I think, is the point.
So, yes, by contrast, "The Road" is brim full of hope and optimism.
Highly recommended.

Existential leavings

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Best book ever, written by the best American author alive, and read by the all-time great, Richard Poe.

Such a violent and brutal tale told with such beautiful, tender words. The contradiction makes this a truly extraordinary story.

My all-time favorite.....by a lot.

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Immense, beautifully written, and bloody novel. Reader has the perfect voice for this type of story.

Awe and blood

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Equal parts disturbing and entertaining, this is not for the faint of heart. But I guess that's the whole point of the story. The Judge is one of the most chilling characters ever rendered.

Violent and Haunting

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Is there anything you would change about this book?

It could have been shorter without detracting from the story. I get the impression that liek many of today's film directors, the author had a good idea and interesting characters but no idea where to go with it or how to end it.

Which character – as performed by Richard Poe – was your favorite?

Individuals don't stand out as much as the overall high quality of the reading and the depth it imparted to the characters.

Was Blood Meridian worth the listening time?

Marginally. Much like the characters, it wandered about a lot, sometime with little apparent purpose in terms of readability or plot.

Bloodthirsty - but maybe just for the sake of it

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The writing. The narration. All of it.
If you're considering it, get it. You won't be disappointed.

Its incredibly good

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I have read this before but just wanted to hear the narration. Worth the token.

Challenging but masterful

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Cormac McCarthy is an excellent author and this work contains many a fine turn of phrase. But its subject matter is horrible: war and killing in the Southwest prior to the Civil War. The main character is an orphan boy growing up as he travels through the territory. One of the characters he meets in his travels is (apparently) the Devil. All of that is well and good. The part that is hard to listen to is the horrible encounters of the boy as he is traveling. Described in loving and extreme detail. Much blood and guts on the ground; dying people. Lots of cruelty. I do not understand why authors think the first couple of hours of a story should be spent trying to make their readers puke. It was as if, with each paragraph, he was trying to best himself with more disgusting descriptions. Horrid stuff! They will never make a movie for the Hallmark Channel from this book! Reader was good.

Horror story

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Long hard to get into wouldn't recommend just read because I paid like the author

Ok

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Fantastic performance of a an incredible book.

Once you hear Richard Poe's readings of each character's voice, you cannot imagine them any other way. Unforgettable. My favorite book and audiobook by far

Fantastic performance of a an incredible book

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