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| No Country for Old Men | 
 enlarge | Author: Cormac Mccarthy
Publisher: Vintage Books / Random House
Category: Book
Buy New: $6.73
New (1) Used (5) from $6.54
Avg. Customer Rating:  433 reviews
Sales Rank: 2291576
Format: Import
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 340
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 033044011X
EAN: 9780330440110
ASIN: 033044011X
Publication Date: 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
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| Customer Reviews: Read 428 more reviews...
 Ends More With a Whimper Than a Bang December 18, 2008
"No Country for Old Men" has been my introduction to Cormac McCarthy. I confess to having seen the film of the same name which I found mesmerising. The killer, Chigurh, was absolutely relentless. He was the personification of evil and a man not to be crossed.
In comparison, the book is less rewarding than the film. The scene is well established with Moss, the antelope hunter, stumbling across a major drug gang killing field in the Texas desert. It is here that he finds a suitcase containing $2.4 million. He promptly leaves the scene only to make the mistake of returning later that night to bring water to the one survivor of the gun fight who was pleading for help earlier in the day. This was to prove to be a fatal error. It is at this point that the reader is introduced to Chigurh and it is at this point that Moss's life begins to unravel.
McCarthy's writing style is terse and very lean. Indeed, when using contractions, the apostrophe is usually left missing. In conversations, it is often difficult to distinguish between which party is speaking. These techniques may be of a certain style but, as far as I am concerned, they serve no purpose. The English language can be used bluntly without having to resort to party tricks.
Overall, I found "No Country for Old Men" to be less than satisfying. For a book which started out so promisingly, its latter stages and conclusion were a let down.
a complex novel that tries to do too much... December 4, 2008
If you've seen the film 'No Country for Old Men' then the book from which it was adapted will have little in the way of surprises, or actually the only surprise would be at how faithful the film adaptation was to the original story. But for those who haven't seen it, 'No Country for Old Men' is about a drug smuggling episode that went bad and its terrible aftermath of killings by a crazed monster looking for the man who stole the loot. It all takes in west Texas circa 1980. There is a sheriff who tries in vain to catch up to the bad guys and, well, shakes his head at how ugly the world has become.
I will say that there is one aspect of the book that is bit more pronounced than the movie. The author goes into the head of our frustrated and disgusted sheriff to a much greater extent, which actually doesn't add to the overall story or reading enjoyment. What basically reads as a terrific yet horrific action story is mixed with almost philosophical thoughts by the sheriff character. I'm not sure what the author was trying to achieve but I suspect he didn't succeed. All it did was tarnish an otherwise excellent read.
Bottom line: see the movie instead.
A Great Read Despite Its Problems November 17, 2008
I like the book about as much as the movie, and the book features more scenes and dialogue. I also like how the book ties up the confusing aspects of the movie. The ending of both is still a little odd, however (somebody I know said that Sherriff Bell has Alzheimer's and that his dreams are based on actual memories of his, and I think the last part is true, but the book doesn't indicate that he has Alzheimer's).
The book is fast-paced and intriguing. The way it was written is sometimes distracting, though. The poor grammar and punctuation sometimes takes the reader out of the story. Further, when two characters are conversing, it can be hard to follow who is saying what. At the same time, the book is more of a fast read because of what McCarthy has done. Still, he could have at least made the characters sound a little less like rednecks.
On the plus side, the scenes with Chigurh are fascinating. He's a bit wordy at times and not as menacing in the book as he is in the movie, but I applaud McCarthy for creating such a complex and disturbing character.
I agree with other reviewers that it's a shame how Moss is treated in the end, and it would be interesting to read the manuscript in full. I wonder if a 600-page version of the book will ever be released. I'm pretty sure that a decent number of people would buy it.
All in all, the book is a great read. It's very detailed, dramatic, and hard to put down. It's not perfect (I can understand why some people prefer the movie), but it's still worth picking up.
 One hell of a book November 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved the movie and finally took it upon myself to seek out the source material, which I have to say is a superb read. The book clocks in at just over 300 pages and it's a really quick read. Still, the book's length and ease to get through don't take away from its power. The book is written so well that as I was reading it, I could easily imagine the Coen Brothers having absolutely no problems with adapting the book for the screen. It literally reads like a detail for detail description of the movie, of course with extra little scenes and lines of dialogue. Every passage is vividly described and its very easy to translate McCarthy's words into corresponding images. His writing tends to be sparse but easy to follow. Truth be told, I've never read an author who not once uses quotation marks to denote dialogue. Still, the characters voices are each their own and their actions and outcomes make perfect sense. Even though the movie leaves very little out from the book, the book manages to make certain story details clearer than how they may have been presented in the film itself. The character of Sheriff Bell is probably one of the most honest voices I have ever heard (or in this case, read) in a novel. I know a lot of people don't fully get the title of this work but its with this character in particular that you understand not just the title but the general attitude and pessimism of people sick of an ever changing world where things seem to be getting a whole lot worse than a whole lot better. Great read and I guess as good a place as any to start with Cormac McCarthy's work.
No Man's Land November 1, 2008
It wasn't a country for old men or anybody else, for that matter, if you happened to be in the wrong place at the right time and saw too much - or dared to take that which seemed up for grabs in unique opportunity. Cormac McCarthy has done a superb job in taking us inside the bloody, ruthless and savage world of the drug dealers, tapping the black mindset that goes with protecting the flow of the territorial drug lord mega money. Revenue Unlimited, tax free, moving fluidly in the dark, belonging to or contributing to no society, McCarthy reinforces the realization that this is the biggest business of all; the CEO's of this particular world don't need corporate agreements or Philadelphia lawyers to protect their interests.
Therefore, the story is not just about a Texas lawman vs. the criminal element; it's a war zone declared; but shadowy and iconoclastic; untouchable because there are no boundaries, no rules to play by; and because the days are numbered anyway, hair trigger reflexes take the place of judgment. It's a worthless yet supreme powered underworld that is changing the shape and face of the rest of the country, which is now "no place for old men." The action chapters of the tale have a life of their own. One almost wants to dodge the flying glass, grimly visualizing the blood pooling under lifeless bodies - and is given sudden pause as one considers the headlines of today that offer a similar and foreboding future for the Border states.
Then, without warning, that part of the blood story subsides, and we are serenely brought down to the separated musings of Sheriff Bell; a calm normalcy returns like the incoming tide and the seagulls; the relief is intense and almost tangible. A sane, sensible, honest man hopelessly entangled as he doggedly performs his job while wading in a web of madness that is also highly evolved and cunning; offering soft observances of a world he no longer understands, and is afraid of - but not for himself. It's almost as though a soothing hand has been placed on the fevered forehead - such is the change of the mood and the mindset. There are several of these departure chapters interspersed - and each of them has the same "release" effect on the reader. They are something steady to hold on to; to grasp.
Cormack McCarthy is a storyteller of the Border for the "Now" - and of unusual methods - including the lack of punctuation, which is a style, not an omission.
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