Cities of the Plain 
asked by casurf on November 15, 2006 9:23 AM
On a ranch in southeastern Texas, soon after World War II, a group of solitary, inarticulately lonely men gathers to work animals as the sun sets for good on the mythic American West. All of these men nurse losses both personal (siblings or wives) and collective (a shared lifestyle and philosophy). Among them is John Grady Cole, the adolescent hero of the first book in Cormac McCarthy's Border trilogy, All the Pretty Horses. John Grady remains the magnificent horseman he always was, and he still dreams too much. On the ranch, he meets Billy Parham, whose own tragic sojourn through Mexico in The Crossing, the second book of the set, continues to quietly suffocate him. The two form a friendship that will nurture both but save neither from the destiny that McCarthy's characters always sense lurching to meet them.
Soaked in storm-heavy atmosphere but brightened by the ranch-hands' easy camaraderie and gentle humor, Cities of the Plain surprises with its sweetness. The awkward doomed-romance plot at the center of this tight, concise novel fails to convince, but, remarkably, does little to undercut the book's impact. What lingers here, and what matters, are the brooding, eerie portraits of the plains and the riders, glimpsed mostly alone but occasionally leaning together, who slip across them, over the horizon into memory. --Glen Hirshberg
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About 20 years ago, I bemoaned the lack of heroes in our society. The "anti-heroes", the good-bad guys had taken over and there were only the ones you love to hate in the spotlight. Cormack McCarthy wrote the first volume of his trilogy around the same time and I found some of the heroes I'd been looking for. McCarthy hasn't created his cowboy heroes, he communicated or maybe "channeled" them. It really seems to me that like some of the ancient storytellers, he serves as a medium for the ancient voices. That is not meant to minimize Mr. McCarthy's talent. No-one has been more successful as he in capturing the language and personalities of real cowboys.
"Cowboy" is more than a little ambiguous in our language. Some use the word to describe those who would take advantage of opportunities to scratch advantage from others without regard to conventional ethics or morality but for me and others, it suggests the rugged individualist who follows his own path, his own code, in the pursuit of his goals.
Maybe there's no place for cowboys in our current society and maybe that's too bad
"Cowboy" is more than a little ambiguous in our language. Some use the word to describe those who would take advantage of opportunities to scratch advantage from others without regard to conventional ethics or morality but for me and others, it suggests the rugged individualist who follows his own path, his own code, in the pursuit of his goals.
Maybe there's no place for cowboys in our current society and maybe that's too bad
reviewed by madfool on November 29, 2006 3:06 PM
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Incredible. One of the best novels I have ever had the pleasure to read. McCarthy is a master story teller. I have never read a book by him I did not fall in love with.
Bruce Dodson
Bruce Dodson
reviewed by librarian on November 29, 2006 4:25 PM
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In recent years, a lot of people have noticed that book clubs demand a lot of books. No surprise, but the next conclusion is that the taste of book club audiences influence what gets published. I think this is why we have books like "the Devil wore Prada" that are soon followed by "Prep." This is why people who read "Evensong" soon pick up "Brick Lane" and "The Liars Club." My wife belongs to a book club. They have read all of these books.
If men participated in books clubs to the same extent that women do (and I wish that they did), then Cormac McCarthy novels would spawn their own genre.
Cities of the Plain is not about balancing your career with your relationships. It is not about good shoes or good sex. It is about important things like falling in love with the impossibly wrong girl. It is about vast open spaces that leave room for men to make decisions. (Maybe that is what it takes.) Also, it is about horses and guns and blood and honor.
This is oversimplification. There is a specific plot: John Grady Cole works with his friend Billy Parham on a ranch near the border with Mexico. John Grady falls in love with a prostitute at a brothel on the other side. He wants to marry her. Their union is ill-fated.
John Grady feels that he loves her. To him, his love is worthless if it not worth dying for. That is the question he faces.
I encourage people to read this book. It is the last in a trilogy. It was my favorite of all three.
If men participated in books clubs to the same extent that women do (and I wish that they did), then Cormac McCarthy novels would spawn their own genre.
Cities of the Plain is not about balancing your career with your relationships. It is not about good shoes or good sex. It is about important things like falling in love with the impossibly wrong girl. It is about vast open spaces that leave room for men to make decisions. (Maybe that is what it takes.) Also, it is about horses and guns and blood and honor.
This is oversimplification. There is a specific plot: John Grady Cole works with his friend Billy Parham on a ranch near the border with Mexico. John Grady falls in love with a prostitute at a brothel on the other side. He wants to marry her. Their union is ill-fated.
John Grady feels that he loves her. To him, his love is worthless if it not worth dying for. That is the question he faces.
I encourage people to read this book. It is the last in a trilogy. It was my favorite of all three.
reviewed by artdealer on November 29, 2006 5:18 PM