I'm about 100 pages in and I get what's happening, but I feel like I'm not really understanding what's going on. Are there any hidden meanings or messages I'm missing? Any symbolism? Anything I missed by not speaking Spanish?
>>8395013
spits
>>8395017
What?
What happened the YaleCourses lecture on YouTube if you can't even finish without feeling like "Am I getting it."
>>8395035
It's a retarded "meme" people whose attention spans have been withered by 4chan use to make fun of McCarthy, because supposedly he mentions his characters spitting one too many times in B.M., which is in fact a realistic detail, since they're hungry and therefore their mouths are producing excess saliva.
idk lol
>>8395064
and they rode on
>>8395067
Have you ever considering not parroting what you see repeatedly on 4chan?
Homer was a retard because he used "winedark sea" a lot, huh? Retard.
>>8395064
I spat reading this post...
[rides on]
>>8395064
got any new books planned, cormac?
>>8395398
bump
>>8395013
http://www.bookdrum.com/books/blood-meridian/9780330510943/bookmarks.html
Thank me later.
>>8395071
>Homer was a retard because he used "winedark sea" a lot, huh? Retard.
>winedark sea
>Retard
>thinks Homer wrote in modern English
Hi guys ignore the trolls and baiters.
I'm really interested in McCarthy but only read The Road so far. What themes does Blood Meridian cover that makes it a worthy contribution to literature? Troll answers will be ignored.
>>8395013
The spanish is pretty straightforward, there's not a lot of in jokes or exposition that you're missing. Rather than trying to mine the text for a hidden meaning, take the story at face value and then think about what such events imply, philosophically. Many interpretations of Blood Meridian revolve around trying to make sense of its relentless violence and horror. Is man fundamentally brutal? Is God evil, to have made such a horrendous world?
Also pay attention to Judge Holden, who is more or less the center of the book's tragic events.
Do I need to be familiar with the Bible before I read this?
>>8395059
>huh?
Look up the term Manifest Destiny. It was extremely relevant to the exact period BM is set in. The US presidential candidate ran and won on it (as a darkhorse) because it justified the American expansion west / taking lands form Mexico. The Judge as a character should start to make a lot of sense after that (he is pretty much a logical conclusion/embodiment of the concept), and also consider the fact that the plot of the novel is a destructive movement westward.
>>8397657
not necessarily.
BM needs to be read more than once to have a critical understanding of it, it's thematically dense and the narrative can get challenging to follow. I'm pretty familiar with the Bible and I'm pretty sure most of the Biblical themes went over my head while I was busy wrestling with the prose and narrative. a rereading will definitely be more rewarding as far as allusions and such. the first round isn't meant for scrutiny
>>8396385
It calls into question the foundation of America. Manifest destiny as an expression of man's fundamental blood thirst. Reality as a blind pointless play scripted by an uncaring god.