A beautiful masterpiece of Western literature | All the Pretty Horses

a raw yet elegant coming of age story; hablas espagnol? | All the Pretty Horses | Cormac Mccarthy

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	• All the Pretty Horses Cormac Mccarthy Vintage, 1993 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 296 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Definitely a Acquired Taste

I have looked at some of the reviews here, and am a bit surprised as the number of people who hated this book. It is a challenge to read, but this is no "Ulysses." The main themes can be understood with a little careful attention. Some have compared McCarthy's style to Hemingway's but this is not a fair comparision. McCarthy's prose is far more complex. Hemingway wrote arresting prose, but at times his minimalist style was cartoonish. McCarthy is simple the way Picasso is simple -- that is to say, only if you do not look hard enough.

McCarthy's skill with language is unequalled among living American authors. It is the language that is the star of this book, and if you cannot appreciate the language itself the story will not bear the weight. Yes, I found myself re-reading passages and puzzling out the construction of some sentences, but I did it with the same pleasure a sports fan looks at a replay of a spectacular play. This is a book for the patient. Not every book pays off like a James Bond novel.

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A beautiful masterpiece of Western literature

Sometime in the 1940s, John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins, two Texan teens, head off to Mexico on horseback. Their journey is one of laughter and horror, as these two boys are forced to grow up fast and hard.

That's about the best I can give you for a plot summary. It's amazing that "All the Pretty Horses" runs just over 300 pages. It feels more epic in nature. It IS epic, I suppose; just a short one. McCarthy's prose is as rich and vibrant as ever, though it's a bit more restrained here than in other of his works--I can see why this book is among his more commercially successful novels. Indeed, it's an odd companion to his other great Western piece, "Blood Meridian" (which is arguably a superior book; but then, that's like asking which gold medal shines brighter--there's just no reason to contrast two great literary works). Perhaps this makes "All the Pretty Horses" a good starting point for those interested in reading McCarthy's novels (I also recommend "No Country For Old Men," as it is even leaner and than "Horses"). That's not to say, though, that "All the Pretty Horses" doesn't stand up to the rest of McCarthy's catalogue--it does, admirably so. Cole is an interesting and engaging protagonist, and the way McCarthy switches from humorous scenes to tragic ones reflects the patterns of daily life. "Horses" is an amazing, enriching novel, and Cormac McCarthy is without a doubt one of the best writers/storytellers out there today. They don't call his novels "classics" for nothing.

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a raw yet elegant coming of age story; hablas espagnol?

'All the Pretty Horses' is a very well written saga of a teenage boy from Texas, circa 1940s, wandering off down to Mexico with his buddy. Both guys are horsemen. Their Mexican adventure turns sour very quickly and they are then thrust into a mix of love, death and everything in between. The author's prose and characterizations are perfect. The only reason I don't give this book five stars is because I found the heavy use of Spanish dialogue to be very distracting. Although oftentimes one can get the gist of what was being said, too many times I was left puzzled. Yes, the use of Spanish did add quite a bit to the feel of the story. I think it would have been helpful if the author supplied translations (in footnotes, for example).

Bottom line: quite an amazing story, .. and I don't even like horses. Recommended.

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guess I'm not ready for this yet?

I found this book an effort to read. Confusing at the start, yet did grab me midway but I was ready to discard with about 1/3 left, but thought better of it and completed. Yes, his writing is very descriptive and captures the essence of every sense the reader needs to be placed within the story. However, it just seemed to skip and jumble along, the ending wasn't anything like the many my mind conjured up, it wasn't really anything special at all...Grady continued on rambling as did the book. I perhaps need to read another of his works to get a better grasp of the talent of this writer, as so many have applauded his style.

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Breathtaking and... breathless

I can read English, French, Italian. This novel ranks with Proust's La Recherche du temps perdu, and Manzoni's Promessi sposi. Breathtaking scenes follow more breathtaking scenes and the whole leaves the reader breathless. Magnificient, none like it.

Now a major motion picture from Columbia Pictures starring Matt Damon, produced by Mike Nichols, and directed by Billy Bob Thornton.

The national bestseller and the first volume in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy, All the Pretty Horses is the tale of John Grady Cole, who at sixteen finds himself at the end of a long line of Texas ranchers, cut off from the only life he has ever imagined for himself. With two companions, he sets off for Mexico on a sometimes idyllic, sometimes comic journey to a place where dreams are paid for in blood. Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.

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