"The Passenger" by Cormac McCarthy (2022)

"In Juarez Mexico.

"Yes.

"What happened to the cabin?

"It burned down.

"Was there anyone living in it?

"No.

"How did it happen to burn down?

"I don't know.  Maybe it was struck by lightning.

"Struck by lightning.

"One might suppose.

"You left school after that.

"Yes.

"Why?"

Cormac McCarthy's books have been discussed here several times already.  My sometimes almost coherent, sometimes barely incoherent thoughts on All the Pretty Horses, Blood Meridian, Cities of the Plain, No Country for Old Men, Outer Dark, Suttree and The Crossing are linked here for the sake of a dubious posterity.

The Passenger is McCarthy's second-to-last novel.  His last novel, Stella Maris, is a companion novel to The Passenger.  In this review of The Passenger I may be missing aspects of a much larger story, but I have no idea when I'll be reading that more recent book, or even if I'll happen upon it anytime soon.  Whatever the case, I find that I have to take breaks between McCarthy novels, and I'm not in a rush to read Stella Maris, however entertaining (or turgid) it might be.

On to the novel at hand.  The Passenger is about a man by the name of Western mourning his sister's recent death.  This story opens on a salvage operation involving a missing plane, and to some extent the novel leads you to believe that this salvage operation will somehow tie into the book's conclusion, but no, it adds little to the final chapters aside from both a sense of paranoia and the protagonist's reason for being in a certain place at a certain time.  Ultimately he doesn't know what forces are acting against him or why, and in this respect he's no different from you or I, however world-wise we may think we are.

Apart from the salvage operation there are digressions into quantum physics, automotive maintenance and several other, seemingly unrelated topics.  The section on quantum physics seems especially detached from the plot, and one gets the feeling that the author was using this section to parade his knowledge of obscure subjects at the expense of the story he was trying to tell.  I'm not sure, again because I haven't read Stella Maris.

The Passenger is also a long book, and at several junctures I found my patience tested.  Given the way in which conversations are described (or not described) in this book, I had trouble keeping track of who was talking and why.  This approach to such exchanges also makes interactions between three or more characters almost impossible, given that it would be very, very hard to know what was being said and to whom.  This (dare I say it) shortcoming also makes these conversations seem somewhat artificial, and especially so given how well similar conversations worked in previous novels by the same author.

Was The Passenger entertaining?  I'd have to say that no, it wasn't, and that compared to many of McCarthy's other novels this one gave me the most trouble.  It seemed very random to me at times, and far from the concentrated effort that I enjoyed in Blood Meridian or the author's Border Trilogy.

It's possible that after reading Stella Maris I'd find that the parts which don't seem to fit in The Passenger suddenly make sense within a larger narrative.  Maybe.  Whatever the case, I'm in no hurry to read that other book.

Related Entries:

"The Memory Police" by Yoko Ogawa (1994)

"The Librarianist" by Patrick DeWitt (2023)

"The Jealousy Man" by Jo Nesbo (2021)

"The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo (2007)

"Suttree" by Cormac McCarthy (1979)

"Supposing there be any soul to listen and you died tonight?

"They'd listen to my death.

"No final word?

"Last words are only words."

Cormac McCarthy has been discussed here many times.  This is the eighth of his novels I've read, and the seventh to be reviewed here.  You're welcome to check the sidebar for other reviews of his books.  Suffice it to say that Blood Meridian remains my favorite.

Suttree is the story of Cornelius "Buddy" Suttree, a fisherman living in a houseboat on the banks of a river in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Suttree lives a somewhat Bohemian existence fishing and collecting an odd assortment of friends.  He spends time in and out of jail, and is content to live life in the moment, no matter how unpleasant that particular moment might be.

As a character Suttree is definitely among the most interesting of Cormac McCarthy's creations, probably because McCarthy modeled the character on himself.  I don't think I've gotten such a sense of personhood from any of McCarthy's other books, and this was a nice change from his other, bleaker stories in which characters who are little more than ciphers ask existential questions and try not to die.  Suttree felt like a living, breathing person, and his story - although seemingly random at times - felt very personal and very real.  There are certainly McCarthy novels that end with a bigger bang, but the depth of characterization that went into Suttree gives it both a beating heart and an easy smile.

This aside, the first few pages of this book are no picnic.  In his descriptions of Knoxville McCarthy pretty much outdoes himself in terms of obscurity, and those unable to skim will find themselves consulting the nearest dictionary.  The good news is that after the first few sections it gets much easier; the bad news is that those first few sections require a well-lit, quiet room where you can think over what you're reading.

It should also be said that Suttree isn't without a sense of humor.  It's not laugh-out-loud funny, but the characters often find themselves in humorous situations, and these situations make the book much better.

All in all I'd recommend Suttree, but only if you've read McCarthy's other novels.  It can be maddeningly verbose, and I was sometimes tempted to skip over certain sections.  I didn't however, and I'm glad I saw it through to the end.

Related Entries:

"Cotton" (a.k.a. "The Ballad of Lee Cotton") by Christopher Wilson (2005)
"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett (2009)
"The Story of My Teeth" by Valeria Luiselli (2015)*
"The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu (2016)

*Cormac McCarthy probably wouldn't like the last two books listed above.  He has voiced a distaste for magical realism.

"Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy (1985)

"The first of the herd began to swing past them in a pall of yellow dust, rangy slatribbed cattle with horns that grew agoggle and no two alike and small thin mules coalblack that shouldered one another and reared their malletshaped head above the backs of the others and then more cattle and finally the first of the herders riding up the outer side and keeping the stock between themselves and the mounted company."

Blood Meridian was published six years after Suttree, a book I've yet to read, and seven years before All the Pretty Horses, the first book of his Border Trilogy.  I imagine that the long gap between Suttree and Blood Meridian indicates the vast amount of research the author had to do in order to write this book.  Compared to McCarthy's earlier novels, it involves a higher order of detail altogether.

In the novel, a young man known only as The Kid leaves the East behind and joins a failed expedition to Mexico.  This failed expedition leads to his incarceration in that country, after which point he joins up with a corporal Glanton and his associate The Judge.  As they attempt to kill every last Indian they encounter, the party grows more and more bloodthirsty, and they spend much of their time as fugitives, fleeing authorities in both the U.S. and Mexico.

It's a really dense book.  It is, perhaps, the densest thing that McCarthy has yet written.  It's also breathtakingly violent, majestic, and saddening.  And while the ending is somewhat ambiguous, it's still a satisfying read, and I would heartily recommend it.

Like all the greatest books, I think I'll be carrying parts of this one around with me for many years to come.

"No Country for Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy (2005)

"Anything can be an instrument, Chigurh said.  Small things.  Things you wouldn't even notice.  They pass from hand to hand.  People don't pay attention.  And then one day there's an accounting.  And after that nothing is the same.  Well you say.  It's just a coin.  For instance.  Nothing special there.  What could that be an instrument of?  You see the problem.  To separate the act from the thing.  As if the parts of some moment in history might be interchangeable with the parts of some other moment.  How could that be?  Well, it's just a coin.  Yes.  That's true.  Is it?"

I've read most of Cormac McCarthy's books, so I suppose you could describe me as a fan.  I started off with "The Road" - a book I didn't even like that much - and from there moved on to his Border Trilogy.  I think he's one of the best writers working today.

Like several other Cormac McCarthy books, "No Country for Old Men" was adapted into a film of the same name.  The film version was directed by the Coen Brothers.  It's a great movie, and quite faithful to the book.

If you haven't seen the movie, "No Country for Old Men" begins with a hunter discovering a bag full of money in Texas.  Afterward he attempts to escape the sinister individual attempting to reacquire that money.  Later on a local sheriff becomes involved, and matters become more desperate as the hunter flees across the border into Mexico.

It's an excellent book, but that's no surprise.  If you've read the Border Trilogy, and if you've seen the movie version, you probably figured that out already.

"Outer Dark" by Cormac McCarthy (1968)

"When he did come he looked like a man who has a long way to go.  He had the supplies in a sack over his shoulder and he went by slowly with his eyes to the ground.  She crouched low while he passed and when he was gone she rose and dusted off her dress and took up her bundle and returned to the road again, walking out his tracks to the crossroads and the store."

"Outer Dark" is Cormac McCarthy's second novel, written long before the books that would truly establish his reputation.  He was 35 years old when it was first published, and it wasn't until the early 90s - when McCarthy was in his sixties - that his Border Trilogy cemented his status as one of America's greatest living writers.

Which might lead one to assume that "Outer Dark" is a work less mature than more recent, celebrated novels.  Such an assumption, however, misses the mark.  "Outer Dark" is no less developed than later novels such as "The Crossing," "The Road," and "No Country for Old Men," and it displays all of the strengths which later made McCarthy famous.

The novel follows the wanderings of a brother and sister after the birth of their child.  The father, perhaps shamed by the parentage of his new infant, leaves the child in the forest, where it is discovered by an itinerant merchant.  After she recovers from a difficult labor, the mother goes in search of the child, with her brother only a few steps behind her.

Like other McCarthy novels, this book showcases McCarthy's penchant for wordplay and dark themes.  To say that the ending of the novel is shocking is something of an understatement, and in terms of violence, this might just be the bloodiest novel that McCarthy has ever written.  If the ending of the Border Trilogy sat with you, you really ought to read "Outer Dark."

This is an excellent book, and I would recommend it without reservation.