What a coincidence, I've just finished McCarthy's 'The Crossing' as well, and agree with your review. Looking forward to 'Cities of the Plain' sometime soon!
I love this passage from 'The Crossing' and thought you probably also would have liked it:
"He heard the voice of the Deity in the murmur of the wind in the trees. Even the stones were sacred. He was a reasonable man and he believed that there was love in his heart. There was not. Nor does God whisper through the trees. His voice is not to be mistaken. When men hear it they fall to their knees and their souls are riven and they cry out to Him and there is no fear in them but only that wildness of heart that springs from such longing and they cry out to stay his presence for they know at once that while godless men may live well enough in their exile those to whom He has spoken can contemplate no life without Him but only darkness and despair....
To see God everywhere is to see Him nowhere. We go from day to day, one day much like the next, and then on a certain day all unannounced we come upon a man or we see this man who is perhaps already known to us and is a man like all men but who makes a certain gesture of himself that is like the piling of one’s goods upon an altar and in this gesture we recognize that which is buried in our hearts and is never truly lost to us nor ever can be and it is this moment, you see. This same moment. It is this which we long for and are afraid to seek and which alone can save us."
Have you read much else by McCarthy? I've only read The Road, which was as fantastic as I had always been led to believe.
Love that passage! I would definitely recommend reading "All the Pretty Horses" before going to the "Cities of the Plain." You can read the first two of the trilogy in any order, but they both have to be read before going to the last one. Also, "Blood Meridian" is excellent. I'm not sure I would say its my favorite, but its such an impressive book and he's clearly wrestling with the key themes of all of his books.
What a coincidence, I've just finished McCarthy's 'The Crossing' as well, and agree with your review. Looking forward to 'Cities of the Plain' sometime soon!
I love this passage from 'The Crossing' and thought you probably also would have liked it:
"He heard the voice of the Deity in the murmur of the wind in the trees. Even the stones were sacred. He was a reasonable man and he believed that there was love in his heart. There was not. Nor does God whisper through the trees. His voice is not to be mistaken. When men hear it they fall to their knees and their souls are riven and they cry out to Him and there is no fear in them but only that wildness of heart that springs from such longing and they cry out to stay his presence for they know at once that while godless men may live well enough in their exile those to whom He has spoken can contemplate no life without Him but only darkness and despair....
To see God everywhere is to see Him nowhere. We go from day to day, one day much like the next, and then on a certain day all unannounced we come upon a man or we see this man who is perhaps already known to us and is a man like all men but who makes a certain gesture of himself that is like the piling of one’s goods upon an altar and in this gesture we recognize that which is buried in our hearts and is never truly lost to us nor ever can be and it is this moment, you see. This same moment. It is this which we long for and are afraid to seek and which alone can save us."
Have you read much else by McCarthy? I've only read The Road, which was as fantastic as I had always been led to believe.
Love that passage! I would definitely recommend reading "All the Pretty Horses" before going to the "Cities of the Plain." You can read the first two of the trilogy in any order, but they both have to be read before going to the last one. Also, "Blood Meridian" is excellent. I'm not sure I would say its my favorite, but its such an impressive book and he's clearly wrestling with the key themes of all of his books.