All the Pretty Horses through p. 115 - Ryan

Apologies for my late arrival.    The old man is turning 65 and I blew into town for his shindig aboard an oversold Amtrak train seated across from a foul smelling dog.  I will not bore you with the details of an otherwise uneventful trip, so let’s dive right in…having never read anything by McCarthy, I was not sure what to expect, but being well aware of his reputation (and that of this book in particular) my expectations were high.  Thus far I have not been disappointed.  He sets the stage beautifully; I was immediately invested in the life of John Grady Cole.  Sorry fellas but this is already a “he had me at hello” type love affair with this novel.  Doubtful you’ll hear a critical word from me on the subject, should McCarthy continue to deliver as expected. 

What has struck me thus far is the manner in which the story will apparently unfold.  The unidentified narrator’s use of plain speak run-on thoughts, along with era appropriate aphorisms is an approach I find rather seductive; I find myself seemingly closer to the storyline than I imagine I would have otherwise been if the novel was conveyed using a more contemporary approach.  I’ve attributed the lack of punctuation and overall unconventional style to this fact – having never read anything else by McCarthy am I off base on this?  And I’m not buying the ambiguity rationale Matt postulated earlier, because he seems to insert just enough “so and so” said to stave off any real confusion as to attribution.

Are you both telling me that you guys didn’t climb aboard after seeing how McCarthy infuses this catch as catch can style with the use of rich metaphorical prose in describing the life of a ranch hand in Texas?

    

The boy who rode on slightly before him sat a horse not only as if he’d been born to it which he was but as if were he begot by malice or mischance into some queer land where horses never were he would have found them anyway.

That is slick.  Couple this with the way in which the context of the story unfolds not in the backdrop via the narrator, but through snippets of conversations between John Grady and his old man, or Rawlins, the lawyer – whoever – and we’ve got the makings of one hell of a yarn. 

Ryan