Cormac McCarthy was a famous American writer who wrote several important novels for American culture. Chief among his famous works are books such as No Country for Old Men and The Road, both of which are mostly known for their film adaptations. He also created several other novels which covered American culture, and the novel which I personally believe is his best work is the Western Novel Blood Meridian; or the Evening Redness in the West. This article will cover my opinions on McCarthy as a writer and why Blood Meridian is my favorite book out of McCarthy’s stellar lineup. This article will also serve as a short history of McCarthy and his life before his untimely death earlier this year at the age of 89.

A picture of Cormac McCarthy in 1973 (David Styles/Public Domain)

Cormac McCarthy was born in 1933 in Providence, Rhode Island, but McCarthy spent much of his childhood being raised in Tennessee by his parents. McCarthy spent much of his childhood in the quiet backcountry of Tennessee before enrolling in the University of Tennessee in his early adulthood. His debut novel, known as The Orchard Keeper, was published in 1965 by McCarthy. Using the small success of the novel, McCarthy then began to travel across the world for his novels, using a literary grant to travel to Southern Europe and publish his second novel, Outer Dark, in 1968. After returning to the United States from Europe, McCarthy published another novel, Suttree, in 1979. However, Suttree failed to garner commercial success like his other early works, resulting in him using a MacArthur Fellowship (an educational grant awarded to individuals who show “genius” or “success” in a field of study/research) to travel to the American Southwest to research and write one of his most famous novels, Blood Meridian, in 1985 (he also released All The Pretty Horses while in the Southwest in 1982).

First Edition cover for Blood Meridian, released in 1985. (Fair Use/Random House Publishing)

Blood Meridian is considered by many to be the “Great American Novel” (I also hold this belief). The Great American Novel is a modern concept, which states that one (or several) books which have been published by American authors over the years are reflective of the culture, impact, and history of the United States. However, one book in particular is specifically important to the concept of a GAN, and the book which is chosen (or nominated) becomes the GAN. There is currently no single GAN, but Blood Meridian is part of a long list which are considered a “Great American Novel”. Blood Meridian is set in the mid to late 1800’s in the American Southwest, during a time of violence and expansionism in the United States and Mexico. The story follows a young boy (named The Kid) as he joins up with the Glanton Gang, a gang of scalphunters (people who scalp off the heads of Native Americans) led by one ‘Glanton’, a former US Army officer. However, many people consider the real antagonist of Blood Meridian to be one Judge Holden.

An illustration of Judge Holden, as illustrated by Samuel Chamberlain. Judge Holden in Blood Meridian is based directly off of Chamberlain’s own autobiography about his time in the real life counterpart of the Glanton Gang. (Samuel Chamberlain/Public Domain)

Judge Holden in Blood Meridian is portrayed as a sadistic, yet cunning and charismatic figure. In the novel, Holden is the right hand man for Glanton, being the enforcer of the Glanton gang, and also serving as a lecturer. He holds several lectures throughout the course of the novel’s story, on topics such as Geology, religion, philosophy, and astrology. His beliefs are espoused in long-winded and sometimes esoteric lectures about said topics, however, his actions throughout the story consistently show that he is a much more muddy and mysterious person than most believe. For example, the Judge demonstrates his knowledge in dozens of topics and languages throughout the story, while also possessing an unnatural level of strength, intelligence, and resistance to sleeping. In another instance of strange knowledge in the book, the Kid visits a bar near the end of the story, dozens of years after the Glanton Gang was ended. In the very same bar is the Judge, who looks as if he has not aged a day since the Kid last laid eyes upon him (the Kid, at the end of the story, is in his mid 40’s), and the Judge also seems to have ‘predicted’ the Kid’s arrival, and was merely ‘waiting’ for him. This specific detail, along with other events which occur in the story, have led some readers to believe that the Judge is an allegory for Satan, or the “nature” of man. Holden is most certainly the most despicable member of the Gang, far beyond even the likes of Glanton himself. The violence and atrocities that the Judge commits in the story are almost a direct copy of the violence which did indeed occur during that time period in the American west. Due to how violent his actions are, I 

will not list them here, but rest assured that they are, indeed, abhorrent.

Movie director Ridley Scott, pictured in 2015. Scott, along with several other high profile film producers, have tried and failed several times to create a film adaptation of Blood Meridian. (Bill Ingalls/Public Domain)

Blood Meridian is also considered by many to be McCarthy’s Magnum Opus novel, even though his most popular works are No Country for Old Men and The Road. Both of these novels are mainly known for their very successful film adaptations, which saw widespread popularity and critical acclaim. Blood Meridian, unlike the aforementioned novels, was considered so violent as to be an “unfilmable” movie, especially for the likes of Hollywood. As a result, Blood Meridian has fallen into obscurity. Despite this obscurity, many fans of the late McCarthy consider it to be his greatest work (myself included). After the success of Blood Meridian, McCarthy later went on to write No Country for Old Men and The Road, and after their film adaptations, produced several other works before his unfortunate death in mid 2023. The loss of Cormac McCarthy is sad, however his legacy, which is long and star studded, has provided McCarthy with an amazing lineup of works, and his works have also significantly influenced American history and culture.