Reddit reviews Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West (Vintage International)

Blood Meridian is shockingly violent and has one of the best evil characters ever written. It is set in the past, but in the USA (mostly; there are some scenes in Mexico), and is one of the best books about violence I've ever read.

When I was reading a lot of true crime, The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer was a book that really stuck with me. You know, and its'a bit cliche, but if we're talking fiction, I really enjoyed both Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris was writing in his prime, well researched, true crime format (something he abandoned with Hannibal, and Hannibal Rising), and it doesn't get much easier to read.

Depending on what you like, Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West is one of the most violent books I've ever read. It's from Cormac McCarthy, definitely literature, definitely a western, and...historical fiction, and wow, it's incredible. The antagonist, Judge Holden...he's probably a serial killer, it's debatable, but IMO he's every bit as large of a character as Hannibal or Darth Vader.

amazon links

Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West

Whittaker Chambers: A Biography not sure if this is the one he was mentioning


Nomadology: The War Machine

This is a question that fascinates me to this day as I've always been absolutely enamored with America's westward expansion during the 19th century. I love western movies/books/shows (and yeah, you bet your ass I'm deep into Red Dead Redemption 2 right now), but I've known since I was a kid when we learned about the era in school that those stories are usually exaggerated if not outright fabricated with some exceptions.

That said, in my experience, a lot of the wild west "mythology," usually takes a kernel of truth of something that did in fact happen and either exaggerates it and/or portrays that sort of event as being common all across the Western US. Obvious examples would be the OK Corral -- something that did happen but 1) has been exaggerated (and romanticized) and 2) was pretty much a one-off thing, yet movies/stories would have you believe that kind of thing happened in all manner of towns. It certainly makes for excellent and entertaining stories that in some cases do capture the spirit of the era even if there's little truth to the story being told, but they aren't exactly representative of the reality of the era.

However, I do want to draw attention to a true story that inspired my favorite book of all time: Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. If you haven't read the book, then go read it. It is a masterpiece of American literature and one of the best ever written, period. Some refer to it as an anti-western as it takes place in 1850 along the Texas/Mexico border region and follows the Glanton Gang -- an actual gang of outlaws and ne'er-do-wells who went hunting for and scalped Apaches as mercenary work for Mexican authorities. The story (both in McCarthy's book and in actual history) shows the brutal, bloody, horrifying violence they committed and the atrocities they left in their wake, eventually killing agrarian Indian tribes and ordinary Mexican citizens for the hell of it and scalping them as well.

McCarthy based his book on the autobiography of Samuel Chamberlain titled, "My Confession." Chamberlain was one of the people who rode with the Glanton Gang and both saw and participated in the horrible shit they did. The Glanton Gang was ended with the "Glanton Massacre." The gang became partners in a ferry operation at the Yuma Crossing of the Colorado River. The Yuma Crossing was a popular crossing for people looking to head to California during the gold rush and, true to form, the Glanton Gang began kidnapping and killing people and stealing their belongings and gold, including Mexicans, Americans and Indians. It didn't take long for their sins to come back to haunt them, as a band of Quechan raided them one morning and killed nearly the entire gang.

I mention the above story because it serves as an example of what I described above. The Glanton Gang was a real gang of brutal, murderous outlaws who killed and robbed basically everyone they came across throughout Mexico, Texas, Arizona, etc. In many ways they are the kind of evil gang you'd expect to see in a wild west story. The thing is (as far as I know -- I'm not a historian), gangs like that weren't as common as those stories would have you believe.

John Joel Glanton

A pretty good short summary of the Glanton Gang and My Confession

Amazon link to Blood Meridian because it's a great book worth reading

You are totally awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XT60E0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1RHM3VGJHM5FM&coliid=I2G5TZGNC85CGX

you have a delusional belief about reality. reality is impossible to understand on an absolute level. direct communication is impossible. transmission of true intent is impossible.

we learn a symbolic system of expression (language), and we identify with our use of those symbols in our thoughts. we also have animal impulses that can fill our mind, and sometimes we identify with these, and other times we feel controlled by them. for example, does hunger feel like you?

in any case, any communication is magic. people have been working on this language (collection of symbols) forever. this language is somehow transmuted and evolved by needs and wants of humans back since the dawn of language. when you say "mother" or "car", it evokes a set of impressions within you. you might say "mother" and it will give you a positive emotional tone, but you're saying it to another person who has a negative emotional tone. everyone's symbolic system of impressions and associations is different.

still, people argue over the technicalities of certain symbols using nothing but other symbols. we argue over the technicalities of those symbols. we are doing this with squiggles and lines and sounds, like an occultist reciting invocations.

we are all completely fucking mad, wandering around in the dark. you are depressed because you think that we're not supposed to be this way, but we are. it's the only way for us. communication is magic, so the best option available is get better at magic. stop using magic to frame the world negatively and demotivate yourself.

i can't convince you of this shit. i would encourage you to find some sort of developmental spiritual practice. i can't tell you what.

the most convincing treatise on the madness of humans i've ever read is beelzebub's tales to his grandson, but you have to make the effort to read it. if you prefer novels, the road and blood meridian by cormac mccarthy or slaughterhouse five by kurt vonnegut give some sort of picture of the madness of the world. aleister crowley has a ton of fascinating writings. the book of lies and the book of law are short and strange.

you think you know things that you have no idea about. nobody can help you unless you let go of this.

It's dense but very rewarding. It's an, "epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion" and there's a dancing bear. Best book ever written.

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.

The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

Ben Nichols - The Last Pale Light in the West

Really solid dark country inspired by Cormac McCarthy's book Blood Meridian. I particularly like the title track.

Keep working out, and read books. Good books.

The Naked and the Dead.

Blood Meridian: or, the Evening Redness in the West

The Book of Job

These are serious, adult, masculine books that will leave you questioning, well, everything, and will definitely give you a bias for getting up and living a life instead of letting one happen to you. Bonus points, you read these in a coffeeshop and someone might strike up a conversation with you. But you actually have to read 'em.

Good luck.

Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy