All the Pretty Horses (Border Trilogy Series #1)

Not So Pretty Story

A tough ranch kid in some vague time period finds everything he desires in his little Texas hometown just beyond his grasp. Devoid of prospects, his buddy and him take off in search of adventure and fortune. Lucky for them, a wild, uncharted, mythic land is within an easy horseback ride. Not so lucky, on the way to this strangely archaic old Mexico they befriend a mysterious boy with serious issues. They know this good deed will not go unpunished, but that's the way they roll. This is the set up to explore what happens when people with civilized values cross the border into much darker territory. Tom Sawyer it's not! It gets unblinkingly dark, and resolves to gray. Those unfamiliar with McCarthy's work be aware that he seems overly fond of scenarios involving cowboy boots full of the wearer's blood. Be aware McCarthy favors of a writing style largely devoid of punctuation. Periods are about it. If you have leave the narrative to re-read a paragraph to get the gist, that's your look out! At the back of the book is a study guide with discussion questions. Sophomores need guidance to really appreciate a book like this. That would be most readers, I guess. It is a great adventure story with thought provoking themes if you can stomach the eccentric writing style and condescending attitude of the presentation.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

To the abyss and back

This book will reshape your soul. I don't think it's posssible to find another author who can capture the most isolated moment a human soul can bear and give it beauty in a way that releases you. This passage alone is worth the price of the book - 'He slept that night in a field far from any town. He built no fire. He lay listening to the horse crop the grass at his stakerope and he listened to the wind in the emptiness and watched stars trace the arc of the hemisphere and die in the darkness at the edge of the world and as he lay there the agony in his heart was like a stake. He imagined the pain of the world to be like some formless parasitic being seeking out the warmth of human souls wherein to incubate and he thought he knew what made one liable to its visitations. What he had not known was that it was mindless and so had no way to know the limits of those souls and what he feared was that there might be no limits.'

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

It's Okay

This novel is a pretty good plot, but the lack of punctuation and slowly progressing story make it difficult to get through at times. The themes and charactization of the book rely on the main charater, John Grady Cole, adventuring into the dying wild west to live out his dream of living off the land in a life full of horses after growing up in the modernizing of Texas. Throughout the novel the image Cole once had of being a cowboy is wreaked when he faces the reality of social constraits and difficulties presented in the time. Additionally, the book as some comic relief, but at times can be rather violent and saddening.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

My Review For Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses

Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses, first of his Border Trilogy, tells the 1948 coming of age story of the protagonist, sixteen year-old John Grady Cole. After his grandfather passes away, his actress mother sells their west Texas ranch and Cole quickly finds himself as the first line in the family without the comfort of working the family ranch. Fleeing on horseback to Mexico to find work with his close friend Lacey Rawlins, they soon meet up with young Jimmy Blevins as the cross the Rio Grande, who proves to be both a comical and a tragic character throughout the story.

As they journey through the foreign, unforgiving terrain of Northern Mexico, Blevins becomes separated from the trio and the two friends encounter fierce storms, horse chases, and the unfamiliar lifestyle that comes with the territory before they are hired as vaqueros, or cowboys, on a vast ranching estate. Horses, forbidden love, a new culture, and uneasy locals all become part of the norm for Cole, who ultimately realizes that his Mexican expedition was a riveting experience that he could have never imagined.

A tale of a boy and his relationship with man, horse, and mother nature, McCarthy's novel describes the infusion of the untamed Mexican terrain with the antiquated culture of the American cowboy. Marked by McCarthy's reduced amount of punctuation, it is complete with drama, loss, and ultimately redemption in this story about the West and Mexico.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not to be taken lightly.

Cormac McCarthy reaches inside you and does not let go. His writing style is not the usual, which of itself makes you pay attention, but he makes you want to, until the very end. Mr. McCarthy's use of the language is exquisite and his style makes it even more so. I carried the emotions and revelations of this book around with me for days after I was done, and look forward to the next two volumes of the Trilogy.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A little lacking....

All the Pretty Horses use's a writing stye unique to only Cormac McCarthy, and it isn't that great. He doesn'y give the characters too much dialogue, possibly because he doesn't talk thatmuch himself, and he doesn't use punctuations. I dislike the way he doesn't use symbolism either, it doesn't give the book much depth and it can't hold my interest. The way Cormac McCarthy portrays these characters in general was to my overall disliking, his lack of description of physical appearence and even their emotions. All and all i would say i'd advise you not to read this.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Waste of time and money

The only reason why i'm reading this is becuase i have to for school. first of all this book is way to descriptive. normally i would have stopped after the first sentence but i have to read this. McCarthy doesnt use any qouteation marks becuase he thinks it takes away from the story. well it doesnt, it just makes the story confusing. there is no suspense, no real action, not otuching not anything that could possibly appeal to any reader. dont read this its a waste of mnoey.

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Modern Cowboys

Some Spanish, (very little), to add to the feel of this Tex-Mex, coming of age novel. Recommended to all.

start of a wonderful journey

This book is so well worth time/money, as are the two that follow. McCarthy puts the reader right inside the pages...terrific

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Yuck.

I remember being forced to read this in AP English as a junior in HS. I hated it. I hate his style of writing. The lack of punctuation is utterly maddening.

One of the rare cases where I liked the movie more than the book!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Mesmerizing and beautiful

Cormac McCarthy has a singular talent: he can write in a lean, minimalist prose that, at the same time, is devastating in its beauty and emotion. Reading this novel was like being under a hypnotic trance, where the characters inhabit a world that is real and merciless but also surreal and haunting. The dialogue blends seamlessly with the thoughts of the characters and with the painting of the landscape, so that they all portray a living, breathing entity. Some readers might be put off by the slow burning, almost cold approach to the writing; but the end result is an achievement, stunning in its poetic imagery.

Interesting Read

I found this book interesting but at points hard to follow. I appreciated that different writing style that was used in this book. It made some parts of the story very touching, but at other points I felt kind of lost.

Solid McCarthy

I'm a big fan of McCarthy, so I automatically came into reading this book optimistic. Having read his border trilogy out of order (2,3 and then this, 1, last) I can't say I liked it as much as the others in the series, but it provided an amazing foundation for the next two. McCarthy always has a way of making a deep, profound statement in very few words, often in the midst of a large paragraph. I love his style and this book is a fantastic example of it.

One of my all time favorite books ever, but Cormac McCarthy isn't for everyone.

McCarthy has a way of showing us the beauty of the human soul, even in the darkest of moments. If you are a fan of stories with happy endings, with all the loose ends wrapped up neatly, then McCarthy is probably not the best choice in reading material for you. Just watch No County for Old Men (one of at least three movies based on one of McCarthy's books) to see just how dark and disturbing his plots can be. If you can handle the darkness and the lack of a tidy ending so common in most popular fiction, then open the pages of this book and lose yourself in McCarthy's brilliant prose.

Returned the books

The books are great, but they were duplicate purchases that I had to return.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

AMAZING BOOK

One of the best I've read. Highly original with a great story and believable characters.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

American contemporary literature in top form

This book is outstanding. I don't think that anyone can go wrong reading this book. Spanish teachers should have their high school students read this one.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

"It's Aight"

McCarthy's unique and pleasing style of writing makes an otherwise anti-climactic tale an easy read. Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I found both the quantity and the quality of the dialogue to be appropriate for the characters and the era. I did not, however, connect with the characters or find myself emotionally committed to the plot. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable read, with its share of humor and tragedy, and I most appreciated the opportunity to test my spanish-reading skills.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Absolutely Wonderful

I started out reading this book with some hesitance. I had to pick a book to read for my english class, and out of the named this was the only one that had caught my eye. Ten pages into the book and I was drawn in, hugry for all the description that McCarthy has expertly woven into this wonderful book. It was difficult for me to put it down. Definitely a book worth reading!

A book that moves the goalposts to another arena

I have read practically all of the "American Classics" over the past 40 years, but this was my introduction to Cormac McCarthy, and it quickly put him at the forefront of my list of Masters of fiction.

McCarthy's austere style takes a little getting used to. The lack of dialogue tags or quotes is so different that it may nag for a page or two, but once accustomed to it, this reader came to appreciate the way that characters' thoughts and utterings became distinguishable by intuition.

There is no writer who bests McCarthy in the talent of physical description - the paintings of the Mexican countryside and its people are lyrical and vibrant.

What makes this work a tour de force is not dialogue or description, though. It is the manner in which McCarthy weaves deep philosophical underpinnings into a story about an uneducated teenager in a way that makes you see the spiritual root of knowledge.

This is a deeply moving novel that will make it difficult for readers to go back to their usual fare. I followed this with The Crossing (the second trilogy book) and took a break to read Pulitzer-winner Richard Russo's Empire Falls. It's just not fair to Russo to do that.

Do not read the end of this novel in a public place unless you are immune to embarrassment.