Wednesday, June 1, 2011

All the Pretty Horses/Cormac McCarthy/302 pp.

I avoided reading this book because I thought it was one of those books on everyone's "YOU-MUST-READ-THIS-RIGHT-NOW" lists (like a certain soon-to-be-retired talk show host's "Book-of-the-month-for-mindless-sheep" club). I tend to avoid books people say I must read, partly out of sheer contrariness to group-think. Also, as a reviewer on goodreads.com says, "the title is all full of wuss." But a good friend had recommended McCarthy's The Road, which I loved, and I know McCarthy also wrote No Country for Old Men, so I gave this book a try as well. Overall, while I didn't like it as much as The Road, it was a very enjoyable read. John Grady Cole is a young man whose family ranch is being sold, so he goes to Mexico to find work (and adventure). In the process he falls in love with the rancher's daughter, gets mistaken for a horse thief, almost gets killed in a Mexican prison, and does a lot of communing with nature. Through this series of events, you see John Grady growing up; he leaves Texas as a boy, running away from home, and returns as a man, ready to find his way in life.

goodreads

goodreads page on The Road

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