No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy is set along the Mexico-Texas border, similar to his Border Trilogy. However, this novel occurs in our contemporary era, complete with drug smuggling, drug cartels, and crime that has transformed and terrorized the southwestern landscape. One day, while out hunting antelope, Llewellyn Moss stumbles upon a botched drug deal. A pickup truck is surrounded by dead Mexicans, and the truck contains heroin and over two million dollars in cash. Moss takes the money, setting off a series of catastrophic violent episodes and murders never before witnessed. In that milieu is the chaos and destruction left by drug dealer and assassin, Anton Chigurh.

At the heart of this tale is Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. He has been protecting this county since the 1950s after serving in World War II, but he is growing weary and disillusioned by the rapid changes in the country that threaten everything he has always believed in. One of the strengths of this book is the insightful and troubled monologues by Sheriff Ed Tom Bell throughout the book, often opening each chapter. For example, he says, "There's no requirements in the Texas State Constitution for bein a sheriff. Not a one. There is no such thing as a county law. You think about a job where you have pretty much the same authority as God and there is no requirements put upon you and you are charged with preservin nonexistent laws and you tell me if that's peculiar or not. Because I say that it is. Does it work? Yes. Ninety percent of the time. It takes very little to govern good people. Very little. And bad people cant be governed at all. Or if they could I never heard of it."

Cormac McCarthy is a highly gifted writer. Although I'm not one who enjoys reading about violence, I was captivated by his brilliant writing and was able to find a greater thread of hope in all of this mayhem, particularly in Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. McCarthy makes his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of my favorite places. Through his prose, I believe he has become as enchanted as we all are when we gaze out over the vast beauty of the Southwest.

I had already watched and adored the film. However, I discovered that my memory was quite ingenious in withholding the knowledge of what would occur next until it actually happened on the page.

The novel is penned in the simple prose that a talented yet alienated teenager might embrace. Up to the halfway mark, it reads like a somewhat dark crime story lacking in much depth.

Then, all of a sudden, there is this hallelujah moment. The villain delivers a speech about why he has to kill this innocent girl, and it is as if lights were suddenly shone to reveal all the clever and wonderful design of the novel that had been unfolding in the dark.

It transforms into a kind of fable about the paths of life and the nature of bad luck. From that moment on, it was a fantastic and moving read, with an especially spine-tingling emphasis on the consoling and restorative beauty of human relationships.

It is the only bulwark we possess against all the bad luck lurking in the shadows out there.

Coac McCartney's "No Country for Old Men" offers a reading experience that is both quick and intense.

For those who, like me, saw the Cohen brothers' movie first years ago, the book is just as bleak and violent as the film. Chigurh is truly one of the most evil and conscience-free villains in literature, perhaps on par with The Joker. He kills willfully and without a hint of remorse, slinking back into the shadows unseen and uncaught. Moss, on the other hand, is a tragic yet heroic character. He gets involved in something far beyond his considerable abilities to control. Bell is exactly as he was portrayed in the film: tired, old, and jaded.

The writing style is distinct, typically lacking quotation marks but filled with wonderful descriptions. For example, "It was a big redtail...Any small thing might venture to cross. Closing in on the prey against the sun. Shadowless. Lost in the concentration of the hunter." (P. 45). This attention to the dead hawk by Bell mirrors his attention to the various victims of the cartel and Chigurh. Another notable quote is, "Anything can be an instrument, Chigurh said. Small things. Things you wouldn't even notice. They pass from hand to hand. People don't pay attention. And then one day there's an accounting. And after that nothing is the same." (P. 57). This serves as the leitmotif of the entire novel, emphasizing that nothing ever remains the same.

Moss and the hitchhiker's exchange is also telling. "What do I gotta do for it?" "You don't gotta do nothin. Even a blind sow finds a acorn ever once in a while." (P. 233). Moss never asks for help and yet throws himself into a doomed quest, for a goal he scarcely understands, knowing full well he will likely never reach it.

The last encounter between Chigurh and Carla Jean is equally chilling. He leaves her fate to the toss of a coin, saying, "I only have one way to live. It doesn't allow for special cases. A coin toss perhaps. In this case to small purpose. Most people believe there cannot be such a person. You can see what a problem that must be for them. How to prevail over that which you refuse to acknowledge the existence of." (P. 260).

As in most of McCarthy's novels, there isn't a clear moral to be found. The world is filled with inescapable evil, and at some point, one must choose a side. When one straddles the line like Moss, the outcome is usually not favorable. Nevertheless, it is a powerful read that was also made into an epic film, and it's hard to forget.

I saw this movie when it was released in 2007. It truly terrified me because I am well aware that there are indeed truly evil people existing in this world.

McCarthy knows that too, and so does Sherrif Bell, a good man who endeavors to protect the people in his Texas County to the best of his ability. He thought he had a firm understanding of the rules governing good guys and bad guys, until Anton Chigurh emerged. A ruthless psychopath who kills for the sheer sport of it, sometimes even using a coin toss to determine whether someone lives or dies. The situation is set in motion when a local hunter stumbles upon a drug deal that has gone awry, discovers a briefcase containing 2.5 million dollars among the dead men, and decides to take the money. So we have a classic modern western with elements of law enforcement, intense chases between hunter and prey, guns, numerous dead bodies, and palpable suspense. EXCEPT, that Chigurh is the hunter, and appears to be almost superhuman in both physical prowess and intellectual ability. To quote from another movie where the man in the white hat chases Butch Cassady and the Sundance Kid, "Who is this guy?"

What makes this book brilliant is the interior monolog of Sherrif Bell, who prefaced each chapter with his thoughts about this particular case, as well as his entire 36-year career. He is now an old man and is losing heart and confidence in the face of the way society has changed and his ability to understand and cope with it. I adored this man, his deep love and admiration for his wife, his old-fashioned ways of using common sense and intelligence to combat the bad guys, and his profound thoughts on his own generation and what he witnesses happening in society.

It is a story within a story that also tells another story about our society and what is transpiring. I thought it was truly incredible, but then again, I think in the same way that Bell does. There are indeed Anton Chigurhs out there in the world, lurking and waiting for all of us.

“The dead man was sprawled against a rock, a nickel-plated government.45 automatic lying cocked in the grass between his legs. He had been sitting upright but had now slid sideways. His eyes were wide open, as if he was intently studying something minuscule in the grass. There was blood pooled on the ground and splattered on the rock behind him. The blood was still a deep, dark red, shielded from the sun's rays. Moss picked up the pistol, his thumb pressing the grip safety and lowering the hammer. He squatted down, attempting to wipe the blood off the grips onto the leg of the man's trousers, but the blood had already congealed too firmly. Standing up, he stuck the gun in his belt at the small of his back, pushed back his hat, and blotted the sweat from his forehead with his shirtsleeve. Turning, he stood there, surveying the countryside. A heavy leather document case stood upright beside the dead man's knee, and Moss knew precisely what was inside it. He was scared in a way that he couldn't even begin to understand…”

- Cormac McCarthy, No Country For Old Men

My experience with Cormac McCarthy has been a rather mixed bag. At times, I find it almost impossible to endure the pretensions of his convoluted Old Testament prose, the philosophical density that borders on opacity, and his unwavering refusal to use quotation marks to set off dialogue. However, on other occasions, his alarmingly vivid worlds, his remarkable ability to turn a phrase, and his beautiful sense of place hold a great deal of appeal.

No Country For Old Men firmly falls into the “hit” category for me. Despite being as affected as everything else McCarthy has written – you could search all the way to the distant horizon without finding a single quotation mark – it has the virtues of brevity, simplicity, and memorability. The pacing is brisk, the characters stand out鲜明, and just about all of McCarthy's punches land with the intended impact.

This can be classified as either high-brow pulp or low-brow literary fiction. Whichever way you look at it, the story is archetypal and stripped down to the bare essentials: there are three men vying for one pot of money.

The first of these men is Llewelyn Moss, who stumbles upon $2 million and several dead bodies while out hunting. Unable to resist the allure of the cash, he takes it. Unfortunately for him, this was not abandoned property. Others soon give chase, abetted by some poor decisions on Moss's part. With the hunt on, the intensity rarely lets up.

The two men following in his wake are Carson Wells and Anton Chigurh. Wells is a former Special Forces operative, while Chigurh is a walking embodiment of destiny. To Wells, Chigurh is: “[A] psychopathic killer but so what? There's plenty of them around.” But he is much more than that. With his penchant for allowing his victims a coinflip to save their lives, he takes on a mythical quality.

The moral center of the story is Sheriff Bell, an old man who sees the writing on the wall. Positioned as a hero, the stalwart Texas sheriff, Bell is revealed to be something of a coward, having run from danger all his life and grappling deeply with those choices. While Moss is pursued by Wells and Chigurh, Bell brings up the rear, trying to save Moss from his own self-destructive decisions. Although most of the narrative is told in the third person, Bell is given several first-person scenes – set off by italics – in which he ponders, pontificates, and shares his dreams with us.

No Country For Old Men is incredibly cinematic, which makes perfect sense considering it was originally developed as a screenplay. It also makes sense that the Coen Brothers were able to adapt it so masterfully, shooting most of the novel's dialogue word for word. That dialogue is highly stylized and achieves a pleasantly consistent idiom, as demonstrated in the exchange between Moss and his wife Carla Jean:

What’s in the satchel you brought in?

I told you what was in the satchel.

You said it was full of money.

Well then I reckon that’s what’s in it.

Where’s it at?

Under the bed in the back room.

Under the bed.

Yes mam.

Can I go back there and look?

You’re free white and twenty-one so I reckon you can do whatever you want.

I ain't twenty-one.

Well whatever you are.

And you want me to get on a bus and go to Odessa.

You are gettin on a bus and going to Odessa.

What am I supposed to tell Mama?

Well, try standin in the door and hollerin: Mama, I’m home.

Where’s your truck at?

Gone the way of all flesh. Nothin’s forever…

Just as impressive are McCarthy's skills with landscapes, the harshness of which often mirrors his worldview:

He stood there looking out across the desert. So quiet. The low hum of the wind in the wires. The high bloodweeds along the road. The wiregrass and sacahuista. Beyond, in the stone arroyos, the tracks of dragons. The raw rock mountains, shadowed in the late sun, and to the east, the shimmering abscissa of the desert plains under a sky where rain curtains hung dark as soot all along the quadrant. That god lives in silence who has scoured the following land with salt and ash.

I appreciate novels that aren't one-dimensional but rather a complex blend of different elements, because life itself is a multifaceted tapestry. No Country For Old Men is sometimes tense, sometimes humorous, sometimes offbeat, sometimes moody and reflective, sometimes impenetrable, and often brutally violent. It is a satisfying hybrid that moves at the speed of Chigurh's captive bolt pistol. It even manages to linger in the mind long after the final page has been turned, a new old-fashioned morality play set against a backdrop of deserts, drugs, and highly competent killers.

This book is a taut thriller that features crisp and naturalistic dialogue. It has a certain allure that keeps the reader engaged. However, I must admit that I'm rating it a bit low. Given the author's reputation, my expectations were rather high. I had anticipated something truly extraordinary.

Moreover, when compared to the movie adaptation, I found myself liking the movie better. The movie seemed to capture the essence of the story more effectively and presented it in a more visually appealing way.

Despite its flaws, the book does have its moments. The plot is engaging, and the characters are well-developed. The author does a good job of creating a sense of tension and mystery throughout the story.

Overall, while this book may not have lived up to my expectations, it is still worth a read for those who enjoy thrillers. It offers a unique perspective on the genre and has enough elements to keep the reader entertained.

My presumption is that almost everyone will have either read this book, or seen the Coen Brothers movie of the same name (2007).

The movie is quite faithful to the book, aside from changing the viewpoint. In the book, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell owns the narrative, and thus some of his inner speculation and thoughts are clipped in the movie.

The book, published in 2005, seems set in the 1980s. This was a time when Vietnam vets had returned to the States and were still grappling with their past, some ten years after the war. Service in Vietnam is central to Sheriff Bell's internal narrative. Moss is also a Vietnam vet and uses his skills to evade his pursuers in the desert. However, I was a bit surprised by the presence of a cellphone in a pocket, as in 1980, the brick-sized originals had only just hit the market. I guess this was something that should have been addressed during the editing process.

It is Llewelyn Moss who sets off the chain of events when he takes a bag of money from a murder scene in the desert. The scene is that of a drug deal gone bad, which he stumbles upon while hunting antelope.

The characters are well-developed. Anton Chigurth, terrifyingly played by Javier Bardem in the movie with his horrific long hair, Moss, and Bell are all strong characters. Even the minor characters are fleshed out well, such as Carla Jean Moss, the hitchhiker, and Carson Wells (to a lesser extent). The Mexican drug runners remain less defined, except for Listo. But then, they all end up as corpses shortly after being introduced.

The southern dialect, lack of punctuation in places, and purposefully incorrect words in the dialogue are characteristics of the book. At first, they can be a bit distracting, but as I got into the story, this became less of an issue. Well, except for the wrong words, which always make me re-read the line two or three times to make sure it's not me. This book is far from difficult to read (unlike, say, Irvine Welsh for some readers).

McCarthy keeps his writing interesting. He omits details and then introduces them later in the story under the assumption that the reader will understand. For example, Carla Jean doesn't tell Sheriff Bell where Llewelyn is hiding within the dialogue, but we know that the Mexican (Listo) overhears the detail, and we learn about it when Bell arrives to find the aftermath.

And then there's the title, famously taken from Yeats' poem "Sailing to Byzantium", but not referenced in the book. The theme, which is carried in Bell's monologues, is that Bell and the older people he knows in general seem not to understand the changed world and come to terms with how dangerous it has become. He mentions at one point that in the 1930s, problems in schools were talking during class, running in the hallways, and chewing gum. Now, in the 80s, it's rape, arson, and murder.

I'm fond of a bit of Grit-Lit every now and then, and this book definitely fits the bill. I've previously read McCarthy's The Road and enjoyed it too. So, I'm in the process of tracking down his Border Trilogy (I have 1 & 3), and they will inevitably follow.

5 stars!

A few quotes:

“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.”

“Chigurh shot him through the forehead and then stood watching. Watching the capillaries break up in his eyes. The light receding. Watching his own image degrade in that squandered world.”

“What business is it of yours where I'm from, friendo?”

Sorry, old man.

Old beliefs are dead. Your faith and morality, which were once held dear, now seem to have no value in this rapidly changing world.

Things are evolving at a breakneck pace. People are in a mad rush, solely focused on chasing after money.

They are willing to kill each other without a hint of remorse or hesitation.

There appears to be no hope for us anymore. Only chirugh (whatever that may be) is considered real.

Everything around us is falling apart, piece by piece.

You, dear old man, are an outsider in this chaotic scene. They won't even bother to kill you because you are seen as that useless.

The only thing left for you to do is to mourn the loss of a bygone era.

Your time has truly come to an end.

Sorry, but this is indeed no country for old men.

(20 June, 2021)

I didn't really expect that I would like the style of this writer so much at first.

However, it was really excellent.

Surprisingly, this writer's unique style managed to capture my attention right from the start. The way they presented their ideas and stories was truly captivating. Each word seemed to be carefully chosen, creating a vivid and engaging picture in my mind.

I found myself completely immersed in their work, unable to put it down. It was as if I was transported to another world, experiencing everything along with the characters. The writer's ability to evoke emotions and make me feel connected to the story was truly remarkable.

In conclusion, I am extremely glad that I gave this writer a chance. Their work has exceeded my expectations and has become one of my favorites. I can't wait to see what else they have in store for us in the future.

I was constantly reminded of the lyrics from a favorite Warren Zevon song as I delved into this novel.

“. . . I'm hiding in Honduras
I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns, and money
The shit has hit the fan . . . ”

NCFOM takes off like an Uzi, with a drug deal gone wrong and a decent man making a bad choice. Set in the drug-ridden Texas calderas of the 1980s, it features Mexican black tar heroin, guns of all calibers, packets of hundred-dollar bills, testosterone in overdrive, and plenty of nail-biting tension. The unpunctuated dialogue is some of the best I've ever read, and the characters are truly memorable. There's the most evil character I've ever met outside of James Lee Burke's Legion Guidry, and the most upright, philosophic sheriff in all my fictional experiences to date. This book is not for the faint of heart, but it's a great read for anyone else. It also serves as a strong reminder to me to memorize a few of Sheriff Bell's sayings. He was the highlight of the novel for me.

“What do you say to a man that by his own admission has no soul? Why would you say anything?”

“Some things aint changed. Common sense aint changed.”

“You don’t always know how quick you’ll be back when you set off someplace.”

“My daddy always told me to just do the best you knew how and tell the truth. He said there was nothin to set a man’s mind at ease like wakin up in the morning and not havin to decide who you were.”

“You care for someone you try to lighten their load.”

I'm glad I read this book with a small group, as there is a wealth of material for discussion. McCarthy makes you think, feel, and want to talk about it. I gave it 4.5 stars, rounded down because for me, the book could have ended after Chapter XI.

I recently saw a movie that completely captivated me.

After watching it, I was so intrigued that I immediately picked up the book to gain a more in-depth understanding of the story.

The story was truly fascinating, filled with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The writing was also of the highest caliber. Cormac McCarthy's prose is both beautiful and powerful, painting a vivid picture in my mind.

As I delved deeper into the book, I found myself becoming a huge fan of McCarthy.

His ability to create complex characters and a rich, immersive world is truly remarkable.

I now consider him to be a grand writer, one whose work I will continue to seek out and devour.

Overall, my experience of seeing the movie and then reading the book has been a truly unforgettable one.

I highly recommend both the movie and the book to anyone who loves a great story and beautiful writing.

‘What’s the most you ever saw lost on a coin toss?’

No Country for Old Men is an outstanding addition to the collection of books that I have reread. It truly earns its place among the greats. This is one of the most intense works of fiction I've come across. Narrated by Tom Stechschulte, who I now hold in as high regard as the remarkable Will Patton.

There are numerous elements that make this story so captivating. The dialogue centered around the hitman Chigurh is the absolute highlight for me. Sheer menace and danger personify this man. If ever the dialogue in a book could make you feel as if you're teetering on the brink of a perilous encounter, this is it. The only character who comes close to this is Preacher Jack Collins from James Lee Burke's Rain Gods, and interestingly, it's narrated by the same man.

The audio version further emphasizes the threat that Chigurh poses. The conversation between him and the store owner at the start of the story, over the toss of a coin, is simply disturbing and incredibly tense. Your attention is completely riveted, just like in the scene with Wells, the second hitman, which is taut and without a hint of wavering.

Finally, his conversation with the young woman, the wife of Llewelyn Moss, is something he doesn't have to do, but his own morally disquieting code won't allow him not to. And once again, it all comes down to the toss of a coin, life or death.

'Every moment in your life is a turning and every one a choosing. Somewhere you made a choice. All followed to this. The accounting is scrupulous. The shape is drawn. No line can be erased. I had no belief in your ability to move a coin to your bidding. How could you? A person’s path through the world seldom changes and even more seldom will it change abruptly. And the shape of your path was visible from the beginning.'

No Country for Old Men is one of the most gripping stories I think I've ever read. My review only highlights the parts that really grabbed my attention and slapped me in the face. Of course, there are a few more things going on, but most of you already know that. The film dialogue is copied almost word for word in many of the scenes involving the hitman, which in itself shows just how powerful the story is.

Intense and, yes, fucking powerful stuff.