All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Third reading; first read about 1994.

I have to be just in the right mood to read Cormac McCarthy. His writing is by turns spare and muscular and lyrical and exuberant, sometimes in cadences straight out of the King James Bible; his books have a tone of the mythic, with distinct echoes of Faulkner; his dialogue is without equal. But his writing is so often also violent and brutal and depressing, with no "happily ever after" endings. If I am feeling especially discouraged about humanity in general or specifically anxious and depressed about something in my own life, then reading McCarthy might prove fatal.

This is my favorite McCarthy novel, most probably because I can become immersed in the language and the plot and still maintain admiration for the hero and a hope after the ending that he may someday find his "happily ever after."

The year is 1949 and John Grady Cole is 16, when his world of riding horses and ranching is pulled out from under him when his grandfather dies and his mother sells the family land near San Angelo. Feeling that his life no longer has purpose, he enlists a friend, Lacey Rawlins, and the two run away to Mexico on horseback to find a place where a horseman's skills are still valued. On the way they meet an even younger runaway, whose eccentric and impulsive actions lead to their first troubles, and from that time on a sense of dread and doom pervades the story. "Somethin bad is going to happen," says Rawlins. And, indeed, he is right.

John Grady's dreams fall apart just as they appear to be near to fulfillment, and he comes face to face with a harsh and violent world he never knew existed. He is told, "What is constant in history is greed and foolishness and a love of blood and this is a thing that even God--who knows all that can be known--seems powerless to change."

In addition to the engrossing plot, this novel contains an almost mystical celebration of horses, which is convincing even for someone who has never ridden. Those who know and love horses will surely find it impressive.

Many readers of McCarthy will undoubtedly be disturbed by his disregard for "correct" punctuation. For example, he uses no quotation marks. I'll admit to some initial irritation, because I tend to see this as a sign of arrogance on the part of the author. However, the way he handles dialogue leaves no doubt regarding who is speaking, so I soon forgot about the issue. Some readers may also dislike the sporadic use of untranslated Spanish dialogue. With only a high school level of instruction (and a lifetime in Texas), I was able to easily translate almost everything. Only twice did I have to resort to the internet to translate for me.

Forewarned is forearmed--McCarthy is not for readers who want sugar-coated reality. But for powerful writing, McCarthy is one of America's best.