Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy
41 people recommended it in 27 threads, 2007–2024.
What people on Hacker News said
I read Blood Meridian cover to cover and then immediately reread the whole thing on two separate occasions about twenty years apart. All four times it was different.
Worth reading for the landscape descriptions alone, McCarthy transforms the American west into a hellscape of inhuman violence, savagery, and evil; and yet, it's a beautiful descent into madness.
And for me, it made the work pop with a "Wow!"
Together these works revealed a vanity in traditional intellectualism that is propped upon a facade of 19th century values which are easy to idolize.
That's some of the stuff that comes to mind as having shifted my perception on things in some fundamental ways.
The First chapter regarding the Wolf is one of the most uniquely environmental sections I've seen by prominant American authors.
For fiction, “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy, “100 Years of Solitude” by Marquez, and “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison (or really anything by Toni Morrison, it’s all amazing).
P.S. Just wanted to throw a bonus recommendation here, on a completely different tone: Blood Meridian (best enjoyed without spoilers).
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