Baby, I'm Sick Of You

The Duke Jenkins Aristocrats - Baby, I'm Sick Of You

So, the newest book I finished (harking back to my NY Times post) was Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. This actually was a while ago, but somehow I haven't gotten around to writing on that. The book in general is kind of weird, in a way it is a Taratino movie as a book (and published before Tarantino ever did anything), lots of kind of senseless violence and virtually no plot (if that doesn't sound like Kill Bill I don't know what does, even though it has to be admitted that Kill Bill actually has a more coherent stoy line than this book had).

I cannot really claim that I didn't like the book, it wasn't bad in parts. But I guess I just can't really get into these later postmodern novels. Faulkner is full of violence (and every other human tragedy) but there these things are explained to an extent. The black guy who starts running amok in one book (can't think of the title or his name right now) one can feel with, even Quentin Compson committing suicide in the Sound and The Fury makes sense somehow. Maybe one is disappointed with how people decide to act sometimes, but you get it at the same time. In the Blood Meridian this kid is just a senseless killing and fighting machine. No explanation is offered, there is no thinking on his part portrayed that would somehow offer a reason for the things he does. I don't like that as much. I feel like the great advantage of a book over any other medium (mainly films) is that an inner monologue can (and often in good literature is) the main device used to portray what is going on and more importantly why. When this is missing, when it is just a group of riders, pillaging, raping and killing I don't really get the point anymore.

Anyway, I got myself another one of his books so maybe it'll grow on me, seriously need to start reading faster and more again though, too much time at the computer and going out (with the world cup definitly to blame for the latter).

Below, two pictures meant to convey the fun that the world cup here is and for those of you who don't know me, I am neither one of the guys in the sombrero nor the dude with the Ukrainian jersey.