Coen

• He was particularly fond of short, declarative sentences and the word “and”.
• McCarthy’s much lamented death at 89 has attracted international headlines and a renewed interest in his writing.
• A journey through McCarthy’s work is not for the fainthearted, nor the weak-stomached.
• These are stories of society’s outcasts – those who have found themselves out of time, out of place, or simply out of luck.

Finding his place

• The first section is southern, gothic and modernist, set in McCormac’s native Appalachia.
• The Orchard Keeper (1968), Outer Dark (1968) and Child of God (1973) – lie within the southern gothic tradition of Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers and William Faulkner.
• Despite plots featuring murder, incest and necrophilia, McCarthy seeks the humanity in the grotesque.

Dark deeds and bad people

• Marking McCarthy’s move to the south-west, Blood Meridian is a novel of violence, based on the activities of scalp-hunter John Glanton.
• McCarthy’s fifth novel introduces readers to Judge Holden, a giant albino capable of horrific acts of calculated violence and the malevolent heart of the book.
• No Country For Old Men (2005), McCarthy’s final western, came to international attention with the Coen Brothers’ film adaptation.

Apocalypse and humanity

• His only future-set tale deals with the struggles of a nameless man and boy to survive in the wreckage of a post-apocalyptic America.
• The Road depicts the end of society, but also the moment that the values and language of that society also end.
• Heartbreaking at times, it wrings maximum effect out of its minimalist style.
• Here, McCarthy’s greatest novel plunges deepest into the American darkness and violence that so fascinated him throughout his career.