"No Country for Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy

A violent story about a man who finds a suitcase of money in the Texas badlands, a psychopathic hit man trying to get it back, and a sheriff who’s just trying to keep his people safe.

I’m shamefully late to jump on the Cormac McCarthy train. For years I’ve read interviews and reviews and essays about him. I have unread McCarthy books on my shelf. I especially admire him for writing into his late 80s. But until I read No Country for Old Men, I had only read The Road (which I loved). Even more incredibly, I’d put off watching the Coen Brothers’ film until I read the book. I realize this makes me profoundly un-hip, and undercuts my credibility in writing about this book. But here goes.

I might get in trouble from die-hard McCarthy fans for this, but No Country for Old Men goes on my very short list of books that were outdone by the movie. The film won multiple Oscars in 2008, including Best Picture, so maybe I won’t get in too many fights. It’s a very good book and a great film. The movie is mostly faithful to what McCarthy wrote, certainly to the spirit of it. But as captivating as McCarthy’s prose is, it doesn’t offer the visuals of the west Texas landscapes, the oppressive silence of certain scenes, or the sometimes amused, always menacing look Anton Chigurh’s face.

That said, McCarthy’s prose is fascinating. I’m in awe of how he captures the speech of his characters, particularly Sheriff Ed Tom Bell whose internal monologues preface each section of the book:

Young people anymore they seem to have a hard time growin up. I dont know why. Maybe it’s just that you dont grow up any faster than what you have to. I had a cousin was a deputized peace officer when he was eighteen. He was married and had a kid at the time. I had a friend that I grew up with was a ordained Baptist preacher at the same age. Pastor of a little old country church. He left there to go to Lubbock after about three years and when he told em he was leavin they just set there in that church and blubbered. Men and women alike.

It’s a violent story with some especially unempathetic characters, so the narrative might not be for everyone. But McCarthy’s prose is so unique, that’s the real reason to read it.

READ IT IF: You want a thriller with characters you can hear in your head.

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