Hell aint half full. Hear me. Ye carry war of a madman's making onto a foreign land. Yell wake more than the dogs.
Rich is a big McCarthy head. For Benny and Cam, it's their first taste, and we're going straight to the top shelf: the 1985 epic historical novel Blood Meridian; or, The Evening Redness in the West.
In this discussion we cover the first half of the book (chapters 1-12) as a meditation on violence, manifest destiny, self-mythology, and McCarthy's own cunning plot to positioning himself within the literary canon.
At the centre of it all there is the judge: a towering, hairless enigma who might be a false god, or a devil... or something even worse.
CHAPTERS
- (00:00:00) quick background
- (00:06:07) introducing the Kid and the judge
- 00:12:46) why did Captain White’s expedition fail so badly?
- (00:24:54) Comanche war party run-on sentence fever dream
- (00:34:12) Sometime come the mother, sometime come the wolf
- (00:42:00) the strangely egalitarian Glanton Gang
- (00:56:13) Judge Holden piss-infused gunpowder volcano massacre
- (01:15:19) Decoding the story of the harness-maker and the traveller
- (01:28:01) Goodhart’s law in scalp-hunting bounties
- (01:34:48) First impressions of McCarthy
- (01:37:32) Listener mail: Knausgaard and autofiction rant revisited
WRITE US:
We love listener feedback. Send us a note at douevenlit@gmail.com to correct our bad takes, add your own, or just say hi.
NEXT ON THE READING LIST:
The Odyssey - Homer (Emily Wilson translation)
Popular Podcasts
Spooky Podcasts from iHeartRadio
Whether you’re a scaredy-cat or a brave bat, this collection of episodes from iHeartPodcasts will put you in the Halloween spirit. Binge stories, frights, and more that may keep you up at night!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.