No Country for Old Men (Vintage International)

Received the Book in good condition, wrapped in bubbles. About the book- what more can I say.... It's a modern day classic on it's own right!

Review for No Country For Old Men; ISBN: 978-0330454537; Publisher: Picador; Film Tie-In Edition. This is a very satisfactory paperback edition put out by the publishers, Picador. It has very legible typeface the quality of the paper used is excellent with an excellent spine that is not likely to fall apart in a hurry. So that’s that about the physical book. The Review: There are some books that you would not read or even be interested in if they hadn’t been adapted into movies and award winning ones no less. I remember watching the Coen Brothers adaptation over 7 years ago and I remember most of the plot beats and twists in the narrative. While reading the book, I often wondered what kind of effect certain sections would have had on me if I hadn’t already seen the movie and knew what was around the corner. Would I be impressed by the writing more? These were the questions going through my head as I read this book. But this is what happens when you watch the movie first and read the book second. It also doesn’t help that movie was excellent with Javier Bardem creating one of the most frightening villains ever put on film. Okay enough about the (excellent) movie now. My first Cormac McCarthy novel and I suppose this book was as good a place as any to start. Let’s begin with the prose first. There is a complete lack of punctuations (even quotation symbols are deemed superfluous by McCarthy). The characters speak in a vernacular that is particular to the states of Texas and others in its vicinity. If you’ve seen enough movies about cowboys, you won’t have any trouble knowing what I mean. And McCarthy does seem to have a knack for that particular lingo. The lingo seems to combine its own brand of philosophy and wisdom to deal with life that I find very fascinating. The dominant character in the story is old Sheriff Ed Tom Bell who is on the verge of retiring. Upending his plans of an uneventful plan is a massacre in the desert involving Mexican drug cartel members among many others and a whole lot of cash. Involved among all of this is Llewelyn Moss who happens to come across the scene of bloodshed and makes off with the money. This kicks the narrative into motion with various interested parties pursuing Moss in order to retrieve the funds in his possessions. The dominant theme in this book is how the only happy people are the ones that die young while the old have to endure a lifetime of hardship and yet the outcomes of their lives remain uncertain to them. It is mostly about old Sheriff Bell grappling with the changing social landscape around him where people no longer seem to possess scruples or decency. There are some heady issues that McCarthy tackles, some of them are: ethics, morals, scruples, decency and the inability to come to terms with the things that we deny.

Book arrived in pristine condition no complaints good offer

This novel proceeds on a break neck speed. It is written mostly in dialogues and thoughts. Sometimes you feel like reading a James Hadley Chase novel but soon you find the difference in narrative and a dose of philosophy.

How do you justify killing an individual and then walk away without an iota of remorse, without breaking a sweat? Moss has led a decent normal life up until the point he comes across several dead bodies while he on his hunting trip in the desert. Drug deals gone awry, lot of dead bodies and a brief case full of money. If you have witnessed this, then by default you are in trouble. There's no other way. Chigurh is a serial killer on the run. One of the most gruesome characters in literature I've read lately. The book is not just about the murders but also about the declining morals in the country, failure to uphold the laws.

No Country for Old Men – Cormac McCarthy I came across the movie with the same name and I watched it. It was so cool. Then I found out that it was based on a book. I found the book on amazon.in and got it. Before giving my review, let me just copy the notes from the back of the book. “Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, stumbles upon a transaction gone horribly wrong. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice – leave the scene as he found it, or cut the money and run. Choosing the latter, he knows, will change everything. And so begins a terrifying chain of events, in which each participant seems determined to answer the question that one asks another: how does a man decide in what order to abandon his life?” It is a western thriller based on a small town in Southern Texas. There are likable and unique characters – Moss described above, his wife – sweet and smart girl, Bell – the Sheriff of the town, Chirugh – the psychopathic killer (I can’t say he is “likable”, but he has a unique style and dialog) and others. The writing style is very unique – There are dialogues, but no punctuation marks. I think it is very pleasant to the eyes. The main story is in the standard font. But Sheriff Bell’s (played by Tommy Lee Jones in the movie) thinking and internal dialog (usually separate chapters interspersed) are in italics. Also, the language is Southern drawl. He writes as people talk in the South (e.g. I aint making no promises, he said. That’s how you get hurt). The title of the novel has some philosophical overtones. He is talking about that in today’s world, with the drug problem, the law and order situation has completely changed. He is getting older and is about to retire. Some excerpts from the book: ….this country has not had a unsolved homicide in forty-one years. Now we got nine of em in one week. Will they be solved? I don’t know. …..Of course here a while back in San Antonio they shot a federal judge. I guess he concerned em. Add to that that there’s peace officers along this border getting rich off of narcotics……A crooked peace officer is just a dammned abomination. … He is ten times worse than the criminal. And this aint goin away……. I am giving the book 4.5 stars (****1/2). The movie won four Academy Awards.

This is an extraordinary book about the circumstances around a drug deal gone wrong and how it affects naive players who get sucked into it. The way McCarthy has written this book is awe inspiring. The book is so fast paced and you cannot put it down even for a minute. The language is little different and it would take some effort for non-native speakers to get involved initially. Once the story starts, you would get connected with every character and would not want the sad ending that the book takes you through. I would recommend this to every connoisseur of great fiction writing. You will never forget these characters for a long time to come.

Novel is great, but paper quality is pathetic! It kills the experience of reading such a great piece of writing.

I have read many novels by Cormac McCarthy and this is the latest, after a gap of a few years since reading 'The Road'. This novel is a relatively recent work and is probably better known in it's cinematic version, adapted by the marvellous Coen brothers, which was rightly garnered with all the top Oscars in 2008 and which I saw before reading the book. This excellent novel sits in the comparatively short section of McCarthy's works, (unusually) has several clearly defined sub-plots and will be far more 'accessible' to most as whilst it has the core identifiable characteristics of McCarthy's writing style, it largely omits the use of lengthy sections of foreign language and unpunctuated sentences for which he is 'better known' in earlier works. I read this book after seeing the fantastic film 'version' (and I use that term entirely intentionally) and was struck with how markedly the tone of each differed - there is a huge opportunity to be 'distracted' by the compelling action which occurs in the story (and which, necessarily, drives the film presentation) and hence miss what I believe is the true plot behind McCarthy's prose. This difference is perfectly demonstrated when you read the (intentionally vague) story introduction printed on the back of the book and quoted in the Amazon description, repeated below : "Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, stumbles upon a transaction gone horribly wrong. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice - leave the scene as he found it, or cut the money and run. Choosing the latter, he knows, will change everything. And so begins a terrifying chain of events, in which each participant seems determined to answer the question that one asks another: how does a man decide in what order to abandon his life ?" It emphasises my point since it omits any mention of who I believe are the true main characters of this tale : the 'hitman' (Anton Chigurh) and Sheriff (Tom Bell) 'pursuers', with the latter being the less colourful but actually more 'dominant' of the two; this story nevertheless does have 3 important threads.... And I think my point is proven since we are first presented with some musings of an as yet unknown character, THEN introduced to the soon-to-be pursuer Chigurh - as he deals with the aftermath of his handiwork which then get Moss involved (so it is he that is actually introduced last of the 3). So, those first few pages already show us perfectly how things are on different levels, since the book is partly written in firsthand, italicised, chapters to give us the thoughts of Sheriff Bell (who is that initially unknown character) but also/predominantly in thirdhand, as events are described to us and we are let into the minds of Moss and the eventual pursuer (a VERY unpleasant place to go !); but crucially the thoughts of Moss are stated to us, whereas we can only learn about whatever thoughts the enigmatic/ruthless/weird pursuer might have through his verbal exchanges with others..... This story is clearly actually about the Sheriff, with the hugely dominant plot being something of a MacGuffin - the weighty sections of the book are given over to Bell airing his thoughts to us. So, I believe that this work has to be considered in terms of both 'what happens' (emphasised in the film) AND 'what is it about' (emphasised in the book), as the answers to those 2 questions are quite different. Both are hugely compelling and, largely, attractive considerations as much of what occurs is so gripping and the 3 main personalities so incredibly intriguing. You will try and sympathise/understand the Sheriff, root for Moss and (certainly in my case) be completely, totally and utterly captivated by the chilling nature of the odious Chigurh as each follows their path through that 'MacGuffin' series of events. It is easy to see why the Coens snapped-up the opportunity to adapt this literary masterpiece for the screen. The contrast in presentation 'emphasis' is understandable, since the film would be rather droll for many if it contained ALL the musings of Sheriff Bell which feature so prominently in the book. The reason I have included so many references to the film is not just that I don't want to reveal too much about this superb overall story written by McCarthy to spoil things for you. It's also because if you enjoy this book as much as I did, and are similarly captivated by some of the most intriguing characters you will ever read about, then experiencing them in the superb film portrayals will enhance your experience all the more.

Un par de cineastas tan geniales como los hermanos Coen no pudieron encontrar cómo mejorar la narrativa y grabaron la adaptación casi cuadro por cuadro, con el diálogo casi sin alterar, eso habla mucho de la calidad de éste libro.

Como todo lo.d Mccarthy, una joya. Esta vez con una prosa simple y diáfana. Lo más intenso, sus últimas líneas. Maravilla.

Pour les cours. Au top

Cormac McCarthy è forse uno dei più grandi scrittori viventi! Da Premio Nobel per la letteratura!