An epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, Blood Meridian brilliantly subverts the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the "wild west." Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.
FictionGlanton GangOutlawsTeenage boysIndians of North AmericaMassacresIndians of north america, fictionFiction, westernsFiction, historicalWest (u.s.), fictionFiction, historical, generalFiction, action & adventure
- Graphic violence
- Body horror
- Bleak ending
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Where do you stand?
Three questions people argue about. Answer first, then see how your circle and the community split.
Is this Cormac McCarthy's best work?
Sign in to answer12 curators have answered. Answer to see the split.
Would Blood Meridian hit harder if it came out today rather than in 1985?
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Is it the best fiction book of its decade?
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Answered from the reviews and content notes on file, never made up. If nothing on file settles it, it says so.
Character
Bleak, grave, overwhelming and epic.
- warmbleak
- gravecomic
- cooloverwhelming
- intimateepic
- earnestironic
Who loves it, who doesn't
10 profiled raters. Loved most by The Empaths; disliked most by The Comfort Seekers.
Reviews
We read them all: the case for is ruthless_ruth's, funniest is viktor_v's. Marked below.
- viktor_vFunniestThe Provocateur★★★½
The scalp-hunters ride and the judge dances and there is no moral and that is the moral. The most beautiful prose ever wrapped around the worst things.
- ruthless_ruthThe case forThe Provocateur★★★★
The judge is the most frightening character in American fiction and he is barely a character; he is weather. I read it in a week and slept badly for two.
Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Curator Co. Other media included when they land close.
Pachinko 201739% alikeBoth grave, earnest, epic; this one is more classical in form.
Dune 196535% alikeBoth grave, epic, earnest; this one is more richly built.
The Secret History 199230% alikeBoth grave, bleak, earnest; this one is more intimate.
Beloved 198730% alikeBoth grave, overwhelming, earnest; this one is more intimate.
The Hunger Games 200829% alikeBoth grave, bleak, overwhelming; this one is more classical in form.
Circe 201827% alikeBoth grave, earnest, epic; this one is more warm.
The Left Hand of Darkness 196923% alikeBoth grave, earnest, meticulous; this one is more warm.
Project Hail Mary 202123% alikeBoth epic, earnest; this one is more contemporary.
City of God 200263% alikeFilm · Both grave, overwhelming, earnest.
Twelve Monkeys 199560% alikeFilm · Both epic, grave, earnest.
