Cormac McCarthy is undoubtedly one of the most influential American authors of our time. His books have become bestsellers, even if their creator has a hauntingly minimalist style and describes barren scenarios in a world without hope. His best-known books are probably The Road and No Country For Old Man, which is also due to the strong and award-winning film adaptations by John Hillcoat and the Coen brothers. But “Blood Meridian” (Die Abendröte im Westen) also caused a stir as a rugged Wild West story with its explicit depictions of violence.
The story of a fortune hunter who joins a brutal gang of bounty hunters was published in 1985. While writing, Cormac McCarthy spent a lot of time in the Sonoran desert to better understand the atmosphere of the American West. He is said to have lived alone during this time in a small trailer, with a bedroom piled with books to the ceiling. According to his own account, the intensive reading of all these role models led to his famous writing style and the desire to describe America as a mythological place that developed its identity from blood and fear.
But these descriptions of horror weren’t for everyone. There is an anecdote that describes this experience very well. During a reading of No Country For Old Men in New York in 2005, McCarthy read a passage describing an act of violence. An elderly lady in the audience fainted and fell off her chair. The author noticed the incident, stopped reading and helped the lady recover from the shock. After that, according to eyewitness accounts, he continued his reading as if nothing had happened.
McCarthy’s dry stories with their symbolic depth also became the inspiration for Nick Cave for many of his “Murder Ballads” and probably also because of the reference to their biblical force for their moral underpinning. The singer repeatedly swears how important the reading experience of “The Road” was to him (he counts the novel as one of his most important life books along with the Bible and “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov). Cave also co-wrote the music for the film adaptation with Bad Seed member Warren Ellis. The two previously provided a soundtrack for Australian director John Hillcoat’s predecessor, The Proposition.
What was decisive for the discussion about Cormac McCarthy may have always been that the writer hardly ever commented on his work and lived an extremely withdrawn life. Once asked why he reveals so little about his personal life, he replied: “I see no reason to speak about myself. What I have to say is in my books.” It was clear to McCarthy that his personal life was not a factor in liking his stories. He always made it clear that it was possible for everyone to understand his stories because they contained a truth that was completely free of abstraction and that everyone could grasp. And yet, or precisely because of this, a lot of what he (de)wrote is not easy to digest.