second time around

blood meridian
-cormac mccarthy

more disturbing than anything else of his i've read. a brilliant story of savagery, debauchery, war, and life in the truly wild west. some of the strongest characters are never properly introduced. the narrative thrust of the book seems less connected than usual to the actual message. mccarthy tends to use tales told in the course of the action to dig at the meaning of everything, and here those moments arose in my own mind even when they weren't in the text. we learn less about some of the main characters than we do about peripheral figures in 'the crossing.' still, lacking history, these men are so strong as presences in the tale that i found myself as never before wondering what else mccarthy is telling me.