Suttree - Cormac McCarthy BOOK REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 24 гру 2015
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The great discovery of my reading life: Cormac McCarthy. And not just for the narrative but for his style. A man in love with the English Language. I always come away from reading him, refreshed, rejuvenated, and happy to be alive.
Cormac's prose is silky smooth. He writes about destitution beautifully.
I must admit that Cormac's style of writing has always impressed me. I have never read such darkness, grayness, brutality and cruel reality that he can present in his books. Poe, along with King and Lovecraft have that tone of brutal themes and viciousness in their books, I know that they belong in the horror genre, but Cormac goes an extra mile in order to portray what it feels like to be surrounded by dark and gives you what darkness does to men. His macabre is much more sinister and horrific. Since I am a fan of old style of reading, meaning that I rather prefer to have the book in my hands rather than to scroll and read it. I like your style of presenting his books, you understand his grittiness and violence in his books. One of the best authors ever. You, sir, know your job. Kudos.
Suttree is my favorite book, I'm glad you appreciated it as much as I did.
Orpheus Mine too!
likewise
Suttree is almost as magic as.. "You Cant Win...... by jack black.
Same!
Suttree is a masterpiece. I’ve read it many times - this excellent appreciation makes me want to do it all over again.
Just finished this book. Not sure what the hell it means, but the writing is beautiful. It’s like a really good but difficult movie that you know is gonna be in your head for days and weeks.
That opening line floored me.
And then the next paragraph. Then the next. Just incredible. Every side character is an individual. I just can't believe how good this book is.
I always loved the part with the friend who had been keeping his dad's body in the fridge so he could collect his checks, but he had to finally dump the evidence.
"Well, how long has be been in there?"
"Since last December."
I've been binge watching the videos on your channel, sir. Your passion is evident through your infectious enthusiasm for each book you review. I've had Suttree sitting on my shelf for a while and this review just inspired me to add it to my "Must read" list. You ever consider reviewing Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz?
Cool review, and merry Christmas. I'd love to hear a review of Eugene Onegin from you (but, do avoid Nabokov's translation). Anyway, going to keep exploring your channel.
Love your reviews! I'm stoked to have found you channel and we definitely have similar literary tastes.
Ahh! Suttree's one of my favorite books! I'm glad to see you talk about it. The soliloquy in the beginning is just beautiful. Thank you for this. Also, please do some Pynchon and DeLillo. :)
What the hell is he talking about in the first couple pages???
And his videos on BOTH of those are in my UA-cam recommendations RIGHT now.
Loved this book, hasn't left me since i read it, thought about it for months after reading it, nice review mate!
Nice to hear your reading - the intro to this book is beautiful. (the whole book is, really.) Love CM, but as a quiet, male Tennessean, Suttree has always been my favorite.
Thanks for another great review. Merry Christmas. Let me know more about your trip to Dublin.
Thanks for another authentic review. Someday it'd be interesting to hear your opinion on something you've written. How's your 2015 concluding? Do you follow much of the movies premiering (Star Wars, The Big Short, The Revenant, etc.)?
Do you have a link for the Oprah interview? I've looked everywhere for it online and have not been able to find it.
Too many books, not enough time! Great review, added to my 'to read'. Currently reading 'Stoner', should be renamed 'Stunning'. Thank you, and Happy New Year.
Nice review especially love your soundtrack choices amazing music spot on
I just finished the Border Trilogy and I just started reading Suttree which for me, as a non native English speaker, is even harder. The prose is so elaborated it brings the reading tempo down to a snail's pace. So I bought a Dutch translation version which I read at the same time.
'The ugly fact is books are made out of books', so I guess Cormac must have read thousands. I love this guy, I wish I met him sooner. Love the review although you should give a spoiler alert. Cheers.
I just finished reading Suttree last night. I told myself that I would never forget the title: "The Moonlight Melon Mounter." Great review, sir.
Nice review! This is one of my favorite books of all time. Also that’s awesome you recommend the first Nick cave album, it is fantastic and I feel like a lot of people sleep on it.
I started my McCarthy reading journey with Blood Meridian and was completely astonished and decided to read all of his novels. Suttree was 10th out of 12 and I just finished it and I am floored and speechless. Some of the most beautiful writing I’ve experienced. It’s tied with BM for me now and it’s so insane that 10 books into this reading journey I still get that same feeling I got at the beginning.
You're pretty lyrical yourself :) I just finished this and Suttree is my first Cormac McCarthy, but I think I have discovered a road I didn't know, but absolutely need to be on. I'm so excited.
Great!
Hi cliff, I was wondering if you've read The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre, and if the answer is yes, could you consider doing a review of it?
I've always listened to John Fahey and Nick Cave & Warren Ellis' soundtracks when I've read McCarthy! Great review - makes me want to read it again. Thanks.
I think miles Davis suits suttee as a soundtrack perfectly
But I’d also say Tom waits
I'm also curious as to how you feel about Pynchon. Thanks for the review! Great as always.
Where did you get the jacket?
This was actually my favorite Cormac McCarthy book. I really inhabited that one. Following Suttree around and seeing old Knoxville through his eyes - which doesn't come across as an appealing place as either. You mentioned the humor. The idea that Suttree could actually survive a near fatal disease in a Knoxville hospital for the poor is funny in itself. I love books that can make a city a live thing. The image I won't ever forget is the flaming train going around the mountainside driven by a madman who seems so sane at first. There is so much in this novel that I actually forgot the watermelon fucking part. A Box for Black Paul would also fit Suttree like skin in places. I know I'm in the minority but that's my desert island Mccarthy.
What mug are you using in this video?
is that a studio apartment
Will you please review Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter or Fatale by Jean Patrick Manchette?
What software so you use to make your videos? I
This is on my reread list for the year. When I read it for the first time, while going through the first pages, I thought to myself, "Why the hell do I even bother signing my name, much less attempting to do any type of writing?" McCarthy is just so damn good.
12:56 How did you jump back and forth that quick?
Absolutely wonderful book, great review man!
nice job. what about chuck e. kinder's honeymooners?
greetings from italy.
Great stuff as always. Since you mentioned Nick Cave, what about And the ass saw the angel review?
+DanteZzZ Gettin there, all in time.
no nick cave is his own problem
For all my life, I have enjoyed and admired the prose of "Under Milkwood" by Dylan Thomas - and although Suttree was set in a totally different place under different circumstances, there are parts of his prose - especially during his descriptions of places and sights (some of them unpleasant) that reminded me so strongly of Wales's best loved writer. He truly brings things to life in a totally convincing way.
You've made me wanna read this ASAP! 'Twill be my third C-Mac book in the last few months.
Great review. I've always wondered why McCarthy did an interview with Oprah. The interview itself is a hugely wasted opportunity to talk with a great mind - I felt Oprah conducted it terribly.
Speaking of Nick Cave, any chance of a review of Bunny Munroe or And the Ass Saw the Angel?
Yes, everyone loves to shit on Oprah...
Fantastic review, my good man!
Wonderful. Would love to read some of your work.
Better than Food, are you possibly an author? I’d love to read something you’ve written
Ha. Water melons. Gene, Gene, Gene. I've always thought McCarthy had a far more poetic mind than he did prosaic, although he could write some clean prose now and again (The Orchard Keeper). I read Suttree earlier this year and it took me a couple of weeks. Long read. Thick and chock full of...stuff. As a novice reader his prose entranced me but as I mature it's become messy and you wonder where'd the editor go? But not without absolutely beautiful passages: the very beginning, Cornelius's self-imposed exile in the woods, Gene's sojourn in the sewers, etc. Great review for a good book. Keep it up and oh, Merry Christmas!
can you do Dantes inferno,
Iliad, homer odyssey
Happy, happy xmas Cliff!
I cracked up at solo act of the two farmers discussing watermelons
Please review Henry Miller! You've mentioned in a previous video that you used to read his books when you were about 16 and I'm dying to hear your thoughts on his works.
I'll see what I can do, appreciate the reminder.
I just finished the book, and I had to get online to see what other people thought. I've read a number of his books including B.M. and Like all his books when you're done, you close it and just stare at the wall for like twenty minutes. Loved it, the characters are amazing and I found Suttree to be a kind man and never really judges anyone, but only to size them up. Except of course Harrogate, who is simply "Happy in his incompetence."
Living in van down by River !
chicago
6:50 real talk. Will have to read this book again. Haven't read it since 2012.
Thanks for the review, Arthur Shelby! Missing Cliff, though.
That beautiful passage of Harrogate mechanically fking the watermelon, the train, reminds of Ballard’s ‘Crash’
Why not try C.G Jungs: The red book / Liber novus? Should be an intressting review.
just ordered Suttree. Thanks, man
I'm actually English.. stiil Cormac McCarthy has become my favourite author and Suttree my favourite book! Have to be honest, I first started reading his work relatively recently after seeing "No Country for Old Men' directed by the Cohen Brothers and thinking 'I have to read the book'! In Thailand at the time (as I am now, after stints - teaching English - elsewhere in Asia) I found a copy in a bookstore near Khao San Road, 'backpacker' area of Bangkok. Enjoyed that book, as per other McCarthy works, though Suttree just still totally captivates me!! (Great review, by the way!) - a question I'd like to ask the writer, incidentally and out of interest, is whether his prosed intro to the book, area, scene, etc, is a conscious 'homage' to (or nod towards) 'Under Milkwood' by Dylan Thomas which has a very similarly styled 'no-one here save you' drifting narrative (re a dark night in Mumbles, near Swansea, Wales - originally voiced by Richard Burton). I've wondered on this as I was one of the 'voices' in a local reading (Chiang Mai, northern Thailand) and the style hit me with McCarthy's work even (much!) harder than Thomas' piece. Excellent stuff!!!
What do youthink about Pynchon?
+Luiz Barbieri Allllriiiiight I'll read some...
+Luiz Barbieri I second this question
+Luiz Barbieri Pynchon is good. His complexity, his "mathematics" style of writing is one of the factors that really makes him great. He makes equations with words and his style is unique as well.
Looking forward to read him. Have you read Gravity`s Rainbow? If you did, is it that hard?
No I haven't read that book yet. I am all over Faulkner, Hemingway and O' Brian currently, so I am planning on reading Pynchon soon, I hope. But his V. is hard.
I'm on my third reading. It was too much to take in on the first reading and the second was more enjoyable and understandable but now on the third ; ..I'm just blown away.
great stuff !
Could you do a review of Child of God, its McCarthys darkest novel
This excites me since I've only read Blood Meridian and that was, intense. But as insanely violent and cosmic it is, it never really felt "dark". I need to read Suttree and Child of God!
Personally, I didn't find Child of God that dark. I suppose that darkness is more contained, rather.
outer dark about the bootleggers was also damn dark park
@@pjr5913 bootleggers? You mean his first novel, The Orchard Keeper. Outter dark speaks about two siblings and an evil trinity that brings only death.
Wait, it gets darker!?!?
Coincidence I just bought this. Even more excited to read it now!
Poor girl probably killed herself after the first 30 pages...
@@Mike9201984 what is that even supposed to mean
Amela Kovacevic
I was speculating that the bleak and depressing subject matter had crushed the excitement you expressed in your original comment to the point where you had committed suicide. It’s good to know you’re still alive!
Tried to read it years ago. Reading it again. His use of language slays me.
Great review. I live in Knoxville.
Just found you. You are hilarious. Particularly your performance. Well, I will just have to subscribe and watch a little more. Which is no hardship I can see. Thank you very much 📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
Thank you for the kind words and for watching.
*Spoiler alert(a few maybe)
We must have been reading Suttree about the same time because I just finished about 4 days ago and came online looking for some other opinions of it and found your recent review. I loved most everything you had to say about it. I'm really glad you took some time to talk about the humor amidst the darkness of Suttree. There were several moments throughout the book that I would run across a funny scene or line, all the while a shitload of terribly morose things are happening around it. I especially recall a few bits from Suttree's hallucinatory near-death scene when I would laugh and then get pissed at McCarthy for making me laugh during such a dark and depressing scene. You're not allowed to make me laugh while I think one of my favorite literary characters is on the brink of death! Just kidding, McCarthy can do anything he wants. Regardless, I'm glad you seemed to have found as much humor in the bleakness as I did. Also, I agree with you that this is one of the most beautifully written books probably ever composed. On occasion the beauty of the prose was the only thing pulling me through and keeping me going with this one. It is hard sometimes when you really want to read a book, but every time you pick it up and read 10 pages you are in an advanced state of melancholy for the rest of the evening. But that's the way the Suttree-cookie crumbles sometimes, and it is, in the end, worth it. I can't wait until I'm able to re-read this book, it's that good. (It will probably be a few years due to my fragile emotional state after reading it the first time.) Anyway, I see you've also done a Blood Meridian review (I finished that one about a year ago now) and I'm off to hear you thoughts on that one as well. :)
Oh, and I have a book suggestion. Since finishing Suttree I've decided to read Conrad's "Nostromo" and so far I'm really enjoying it. Keep it in mind if you're a Conrad fan as well!
Cliff you'd be pretty good at reading audiobooks. You have an ear for the rhythm and neither overemphasise it nor diminish it!
That is 1 cool jacket bro.
Isnt it great?! Its almost a comedy...I laughed my ass off. The racism might be misunderstood, but I dont think it is racist. It captures a different time, and though the racist language is crude...thats just how people spoke back then and racism isnt the intent at all. Some people probably wont get that, and I can fully understand...but beyond that much, this book has depth that not many authors can reach. This book is so many things....a great story.
Gene Harrogate...the watermelon farmer wished he could have screwed just one or a few, but not the whole damn patch! When Gene was plotting his explosion and how he intended to pull it off, Suttree good naturedly said "That's the spirit." A mean and fightinest dog anyone had ever seen named John L Sullivan. Its a work of pure genious.
such a great book. narrative wise it really reminds me of the Post Office by Bukowski.
I’m working my way through it now and I just constantly feel reminded of Bukowski.
saw fahey once he was quite drunk too. only enhanced his charm like you.
review Robert Bolano
Which do you prefer? Suttree or Blood Meridian? Both are epics, but Suttree fans often like the expansiveness that resembled a Joyce or a Dickens novel, and a Shakespearean fecundity of characterization; Blood Meridian fans point to the sheer violence and the Americanism of it, particularly with echoes of Melville, Conrad, Dostoevsky, Milton, and Shakespeare.
They're so different in terms of atmosphere and style that I couldn't choose - it's like asking if I enjoy cold brew or espresso more. Completely depends on the day. Thank you very much for watching.
Anand Venigall I wouldn't dare to pick one over the other. Both are equally hopeless feeling at times. I personally think Suttree is easier to read but I read Blood Meridain first, so I may have been softened some. Suttree is funny as hell at times too.
wow clifton thANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WORK
i look forward to going back to this novel.
Don't know if you're a fan of Flannery O' Connor or not, but a review of Wise Blood would be fantastic!
Didn't care for it - Tried hard. Wanted to. Did not.
I get that. Any Faulkner reviews in the future?
+kylede87 yup
Beautiful review. I believe McCarthy spent his life as he pleased and lived by that. You must realize however people don’t work because they want to; because they made some Faustian pact with retailers. Some are sacrificial and very creative in avoiding wage-labor and maintaining autonomy in their lives. Others (disproportionately) are free spirits and romantics of the upper-middle classes, brimming with lectures and witticisms and their family’s money.
That opening blew me away when I read it...
leave me the corners. I loved that.
15:22
ha ha despite being my favourite by far writer never managed this.......I live in Harrogate North Yorkshire
Io saturnalia to you and your kind.
The atmosphere McCarthy creates reminds me of Tennessee Williams
One of the greatest novels ive ever read, finished it this morning. Must say, though death is prevalent (it all ends in death) any reading of it that takes death as the main fulcrum point is missing the mark. This is a novel of autonomy, liberation, and not simply choosing from all the different conceivable prisons of living. The ending sentence is a dare: "fly them." Fuck death, fuck base conformity, fuck mediocrity, "try to catch me, death."
your joke at the end of your beckett review led me here. i was happy to hear someone agree with my opinion that mccarthy is americas greatest writer (mind you, im canadian (and brown)). but, he mite be too bleak to win th nobel, and after dylan, another american wont win for a while, i gess. and then you said a few other things that i totally agreed with. i loved the snl reference, i laughed out loud at that. mind you, i pronounce it, "soot-tree."
Best Prose stylist alive
I do love the way Macarthy captures the natural rhythms of spoken American,(which has evolved into a separate, more dynamic version of English). Peter Carey has done something similar with Australian. Indeed his novel Illywhacker contains similar themes to Suttree, although set halfway across the world and thirty years earlier. They are both astonishing and unforgettable works of the imagination
6:24 --> 6:50....I could not agree more.
Merry Christmas, you ridiculously dressed man.
+Foojum Well a merry one to you as well.
If you're going to read Pynchon, Read "The Crying of Lot 49"
that book will FUCK YOU UP!
by the way, Suttree is my favorite McCarthy Novel!!
McCarthy is my favorite author, of all time
you should also try Don DeLillo
"Somebody has been fuckin my watermelons."
"Wut?" 😂
Glad to know that what I suspected is indeed true. I live in a state of Felon Muckers😂 Always loved watermelon as a kid, tend to avoid salt on them...now I know why
Suttree rocks
A fan’s notes by Exley
Hands down the funniest book I’ve ever read.
*sips drink lmao
I absolutely loved the writing but the fact that the book was so long and there wasn’t any plot in the slightest made it annoying to read. Maybe if I picked it up and read it on and off over the span of years like it was written it would’ve been more enjoyable.
This came up in my recommendations and I wouldn't have clicked, but you put the "Watermelons" in the thumbnail...
BLOOD MERIDIAN
Rip Cormac McCarthy
If you aren’t laughing til it hurts, you arent reading it properly.
Nikolai Lipnicky so true. the evangalist scene makes me cry laughing
you ruined the watrermelon surprise