Suttree was described in the reviews from the book as McCarthy's mea culpa. I wouldn't go that far. I think "No Country For Old Men" is his mea culpa. The best part of Suttree for me is the character of Harrogate. He's the compulsive loaded gun who gets into absurd scrapes of ambition. It's not often I laugh out loud at a book's contents but did this one. On the other hand it goes into darkness of spirit also. The negative is the passages of introspection and mind travel that I found myself mostly checking out of until the dialogue or sequence started again; something that I also found in McCarthy's border trilogy. Pretty good read.
this author really makes you feel like you're in the story. the writing is so rich, it is truly hard to put the book down
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Cormac McCarthy is an incredible author. His command of the English language is awsome. I am not a particular fan of novels of the Old West, but McCarthy could make his grocery list entertaining. He is discriptive in the extreme and his vocaublary is enormous. His tales are most often tragic and they just seem to stop rather than end. If you want a story with a happy ending, skip his books. If you like a book where the author is able give your a vivid mental image of the setting and deep insight into the characters, you will not find a better writter. I have now read everthing he has published and place him among my favorite authors.
Cormac McCarthy has received a lot of accolades for his work, and certainly the most praise and money for “All the Pretty Horses” but I believe that “Suttree” is his best and most compelling work. Without a doubt, “Pretty Horses” was the most cinematic, and obviously made the best movie, but to me it felt forced and even contrived. “Suttree” on the other hand, had a fierce feeling of realism throughout. Perhaps because I lived in Knoxville, Tennessee, while I was reading it, I felt all the more connected to the places and settings (even though it was a few decades later, and worlds apart socially). There was an underlying ease and familiarity with the stories and people who populated this book, as if he had known them all personally. Suttree was an intelligent, educated, upper middle class young man who had turned his back on his life of comfort and chosen a very hard and poor path for himself. Why had he done this? Who can know? You could argue that this story is no more, or less, realistic and/or believable than “Pretty Horses” but I found it to be considerably more gripping and immediate. This book is not for the faint of heart, no surprise that there is an underlying harshness to it, although I think that it would be considered less cruel, overall, than “Horses” but similar. Give it a read, this is an important and moving book.Read full review
Never before has a book captivated me like Suttree. The book has everything for me--genuine characters, depth, humor, an engaging storyline--I've read it twice in the past few months and am already looking forward to reading it again. Suttree is the story of a man with the same name who has lived a life that can best be described as, well... life. With a gravity (and yet a refreshing lightness and sense of humor), Suttree winds through his life much like the river his life (and this book) is based around. Being from Tennessee myself I find the authenticity of the characters, dialogue, and setting of this book wonderful, and they only add to McCarthy's beautiful, poetic narrative. I couldn't recommend this book enough to my friends. The book does not have a chilling mystery or chapters chock-full of action or deceit; the characters are mostly the delinquent members of a society that seems to be fading. But in reading this book there is a lot to be learned about oneself, and the struggle between life and death that is portrayed in the winding Tennessee river in the pages of Suttree. The amazing thing is wondering whether or not you knew it all along.Read full review
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