Cormac McCarthy: The Kekule Problem

[heydaralon]

This is a very interesting article by Cormac McCarthy I stumbled upon the other day. For those of you who have never heard of or read McCarthy, you have bad taste, because he is probably the best American novelist of all time. This article isn't new, but it is worth reading.


Anyway, its is about the subconscious and language, and why he thinks our mind works the way it does. Great stuff:

http://nautil.us/issue/47/consciousness ... ul-problem

Who knows if its true, but its pretty cool to me that a novelist is discussing neuroscience in an engaging and accesible way. I love seeing overlap like that.

[TheReal_ND]

That fucker ruined post apocalyptic fiction for me.

[Fife]

That's a good piece, and prompts another reading of Blood Meridian. That ought to get the Yuletide Spirit flowing nicely.

Some of the best writers think about dreams and the weirdness of language quite a bit.

You all might like some of the stuff from Walker Percy: The Message in the Bottle: How Queer Man Is, How Queer Language Is, and What One Has to Do with the Other


. . . and I bet a few here have read Dostoyevsky's short story before: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

[GloryofGreece]

This is a very interesting article by Cormac McCarthy I stumbled upon the other day. For those of you who have never heard of or read McCarthy, you have bad taste, because he is probably the best American novelist of all time. This article isn't new, but it is worth reading.


Anyway, its is about the subconscious and language, and why he thinks our mind works the way it does. Great stuff:

http://nautil.us/issue/47/consciousness ... ul-problem

Who knows if its true, but its pretty cool to me that a novelist is discussing neuroscience in an engaging and accesible way. I love seeing overlap like that.

Most of the important valuable insights were done through literature for most of the 18th-20th centuries. Looking forward to reading the article. I've really learned most about the human condition and society overall through literature and storytelling for sure.

[heydaralon]

That fucker ruined post apocalyptic fiction for me.

Blood Meridian is great. If you haven't read any of his other books, you should check them out. I've never read anything by him that wasn't amazing. Child of God, Outer Dark, and Suttree are among my favorites. The horses trilogy he wrote, All the Pretty Horses, the Crossing, and Cities of the Plain are good as well, though the Crossing is the best of the 3.

[heydaralon]

That's a good piece, and prompts another reading of Blood Meridian. That ought to get the Yuletide Spirit flowing nicely.

Some of the best writers think about dreams and the weirdness of language quite a bit.

You all might like some of the stuff from Walker Percy: The Message in the Bottle: How Queer Man Is, How Queer Language Is, and What One Has to Do with the Other


. . . and I bet a few here have read Dostoyevsky's short story before: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

I will check it Percy's stuff. The only familiarity I have with him is from the brief intro in Confederacy.

Not only are McCarthy's books great, but several great films have been made based on his works. No country for old men is in my top 5 favorite movies. Sunset limited is based on his play, and the movie was good without being preachy. An overlooked McCarthy gem was The Counselor (2013). He wrote the screenplay. It got horrible critical reviews, which shows how fucking dumb critics are. The movie is a straight up play, with amazing dialogue and beautiful solliloquies. It is crazy that it even got made to be honest. It had a big budget and actors and Ridley Scott directing it, but the writing stood out, and rarely do you see anything like that on the screen in this day and age. Have you seen the Counselor? If not, check it out, seriously. The directors cut of the film is better than the theatrical release, which is always the case with Ridley's Scott's stuff. A masterpiece, and I don't use that term lightly.

[TheReal_ND]

That fucker ruined post apocalyptic fiction for me.

Blood Meridian is great. If you haven't read any of his other books, you should check them out. I've never read anything by him that wasn't amazing.

Everyone keeps telling me to read that one.

[heydaralon]

That fucker ruined post apocalyptic fiction for me.

Blood Meridian is great. If you haven't read any of his other books, you should check them out. I've never read anything by him that wasn't amazing.

Everyone keeps telling me to read that one.

Its not a long book. I read it probably once a year and every time I do I get something new out of it. Honestly, though you can't go wrong with any of his books.

[Fife]

Everyone keeps telling me to read that one.

You'd dig it the most. Also, you don't have to worry about it being made into some movie.

It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way.

[heydaralon]

The Child of God movie was awful. James Franco fucked that one up bigtime. They tried making Blood Meridian into a film, which I think was a terrible idea. It has been in development hell for years. Andrew Dominik wanted to make Cities of the Plain into a film. That guy is in my opinion one of the best living directors today, so its a coin toss as to whether it will translate well.