Name: Vojtech's review of No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Item: No Country for Old Men
Rating: 5
Author: Vojtech

Cormac McCarthy

Stumbling upon a bloody massacre, a cache of heroin, and more than two million in cash during a hunting trip, Llewelyn Moss removes the money, a decision that draws him and his young wife into the middle of a violent confrontation.

No Country for Old Men

Flora Ossenfort

Do you understand? When I came into your life your life was over. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is the end. You can say that things could have turned out differently. That they could have been some other way. But what does that mean? They are not some other way. They are this way. 

Siamo al confine tra Texas e Messico, in un paese che ha abbandonato i vecchi valori per cadere in preda a una violenza cieca e incontrollata. Tale violenza si incarna in Anton Chigurh, un assassino psicopatico munito di un'arma micidiale e di una pericol

Non è un paese per vecchi

Alberto Mariani

Lui scosse la testa. Mi stai chiedendo di rendermi vulnerabile, e questo non lo posso fare. Ho solo un modo per sopravvivere. Non ammette eccezioni. Al limite un lancio di monetina. In questo caso abbastanza inutile. La gran parte della gente non crede che possa esistere una persona del genere. È evidente che per loro è un bel problema. Come si fa a sconfiggere qualcosa di cui si rifiuta di ammettere l'esistenza? Capisci? Quando sono entrato nella tua vita, la tua vita era finita. Ha avuto un inizio, uno svolgimento e una fine. Questa è la fine. Puoi dire che le cose sarebbero potute andare in un altro modo. Che avrebbero potuto essere diverse. Ma questo che significa? Non sono diverse. Stanno cosí. Lo capisci?

Forse. Ma guardala dalla mia prospettiva. Io sono arrivato a questo punto esattamente come ci è arrivata la moneta.

Lei rimase seduta a singhiozzare piano. Non rispose. Le cose che arrivano alla stessa destinazione hanno seguito la stessa strada. Non sempre è facile da vedere. Ma è cosí.

Tutto è sempre andato diversamente da come immaginavo, disse lei. Non avrei saputo prevedere neanche la minima parte della mia vita. Né questo, né tutto il resto.

Non mi avresti lasciata andare comunque. Non stava a me la scelta. Ogni momento della tua vita rappresenta una svolta e una scelta. A un certo punto hai compiuto una scelta. E tutto è andato di conseguenza. La contabilità è precisa. La forma è tracciata. Nessuna linea può essere cancellata. Non credevo assolutamente che potessi influenzare una moneta in tuo favore. Come avresti potuto? La strada di una persona nel mondo cambia raramente, e ancora piú raramente cambia all'improvviso. E la direzione della tua strada si vedeva fin dall'inizio.

Lui la guardò. Dopo un po' disse: Il problema non è sapere dove sei. Il problema è pensare che ci sei arrivato senza portarti dietro niente. Questa tua idea di ricominciare daccapo. Che poi ce l'abbiamo un po' tutti. Non si ricomincia mai daccapo. Ecco qual è il problema. Ogni passo che fai è per sempre. Non lo puoi annullare. Non puoi annullare niente. Capisci cosa intendo?

Lo so che non capisci, ma fammi provare a spiegartelo un'altra volta. Tu credi che quando ti svegli la mattina quello che è successo ieri non conta. Invece quello che è successo ieri è l'unica cosa che conta. Che altro c'è? La tua vita è fatta dei giorni che hai vissuto. Non c'è altro. Magari pensi di poter scappare via e cambiare nome o non so cosa. Di ricominciare daccapo. E poi una mattina ti svegli, guardi il soffitto e indovina chi è la persona sdraiata nel letto?

Secondo me, se tu fossi Satana e stessi pensando a come mettere in ginocchio la razza umana, è probabile che ti verrebbe in mente la droga.

Se le regole che hai seguito ti hanno portato fino a questo punto, a che servono quelle regole?

Quando me ne sono andata da scuola avevo ancora sedici anni e mi sono trovata un lavoro in un Wal-Mart. Non sapevo che altro fare. Ci servivano i soldi. Anche quel poco che mi davano. Comunque sia, la notte prima di andarci ho fatto un sogno. Oppure una cosa che sembrava un sogno. Perché mi sa che ero ancora mezza sveglia. Ma nel sogno, o quello che era, ho avuto un'illuminazione: se andavo a lavorare in quel posto lui mi avrebbe trovata. Al Wal-Mart. Non sapevo chi era questo lui o come si chiamava o come era fatto. Sapevo solo che vedendolo l'avrei riconosciuto. Mi sono messa a segnare i giorni sul calendario. Come in prigione. Cioè, io in prigione non ci sono mai stata, ma immagino che succeda cosí. E il novantanovesimo giorno lui è entrato e mi ha chiesto dove era il reparto degli articoli sportivi e ho capito che era lui. Gli ho detto dov'era, lui mi ha guardata e si è avviato. Ma poi è subito tornato indietro e ha letto la mia targhetta, mi ha chiamata per nome, mi ha guardata e ha detto: A che ora stacchi? É questo è quanto. Non ho mai avuto il minimo dubbio. Né allora, né adesso, né mai.

Cosa stavo dicendo l'altro giorno a proposito dei giornali? Ecco, la settimana scorsa hanno scoperto una coppia in California che affittava camere ai vecchietti, poi li ammazzava, li seppelliva in giardino e si intascava gli assegni della pensione. Prima di ammazzarli li torturavano, non so perché. Forse avevano il televisore rotto. Ed ecco cosa diceva di questo fatto il giornale. Testuali parole. Diceva: I vicini si sono messi in allarme quando hanno visto un uomo lasciare di corsa la casa con indosso solo un collare per cani. È impossibile inventarsi una notizia del genere. Vi sfido anche solo a provarci. Avete capito? Ecco che cosa ci è voluto. Tutte quelle urla e quelle buche scavate in giardino non avevano insospettito nessuno.

La gente si lamenta sempre delle cose brutte che gli capitano senza che se le sia meritate ma non parla mai delle cose belle. Di cosa ha fatto per meritarle. Io non ricordo di aver mai dato a nostro Signore motivi particolari per sorridermi. Però lui mi ha sorriso.

È una cosa strana, quando uno ci pensa. Le possibilità di abuso sono praticamente infinite. Nella costituzione dello stato del Texas non sono indicati i requisiti per fare lo sceriffo. Neanche uno. E non esiste una legislazione della contea. Immaginatevi un mestiere dove uno ha pressappoco la stessa autorità di Dio e non deve possedere requisiti particolari e ha il compito di far rispettare leggi inesistenti, e ditemi se non vi sembra strano. Perché secondo me lo è. Funziona? Sí. Il novanta per cento delle volte. Ci vuole molto poco per governare la gente perbene. Molto poco. E la gente cattiva non si può governare affatto. O perlomeno a me non risulta che ci sia mai riuscito nessuno.

Qualunque cosa può essere uno strumento, disse Chigurh. Cose piccole. Cose che non noteresti neppure. Passano di mano in mano. La gente non ci fa caso. E poi un giorno si fanno i conti. E dopo niente è piú come prima. Be', uno dice. È solo una monetina. Per esempio. Non ha niente di speciale. Di cosa potrebbe essere uno strumento? Vedi qual è il problema. Che si separa l'atto dalla cosa. Come se le parti di un certo momento della storia fossero intercambiabili con quelle di un altro momento. Come potrebbe essere? Be', è solo una monetina. Sí. É vero. Siamo sicuri?

Bart Veldhuijsen 

Een van de dingen die je bij het ouder worden beseft is dat niet iedereen samen oud met jou gaat worden.

Vojtech

Adapted by the Coen Brothers into an Academy Award winning film, No Country For Old Men is a dark and suspenseful novel from Cormac McCarthy, author of The Road. Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, stumbles upon a transaction gone horribly wrong. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice – leave the scene as he found it, or cut the money and run. Choosing the latter, he knows, will change everything. And so begins a terrifying chain of events, in which each participant seems determined to answer the question that one asks another: how does a man decide in what order to abandon his life?

Elena Voytilla

** spoiler alert **
           I actually ended up abandoning this particular book not because I didn't love it but because I needed to return it to the owner. If i get the opportunity to pick up this book again I would but for right now it is on the back burner. I love the movie and was curious to see how the books compares. The books are always better in my opinion.

i’ve loved the movie adaptation for so long and finally reading the book was so satisfying! bell’s monologues turned out to be my favorite bits, mccarthy writes them so beautifully and they add so much depth that you don’t always get in the movie!!! loved it 

Tobias V. Langhoff

After reading the Border trilogy by McCarthy, it was actually kind of refreshing to read a book with a fairly traditional plot structure. Like McCarthy’s other books, it’s violent and unrelenting, although it’s more pulpy than his other work, and more straight-forward. It has, after all, been adapted for film, although it’s not alone in that regard; I had not watched the movie before reading the book, but have since done so, and it was very true to the book.

The book takes place in the 80’s, and its title refers to how the United States has become an unrecognizable country of blind violence after the Vietnam war and the disintegration of early-to-mid 20th century morals, told from the perspective of an aging Texan sheriff (who clearly has not read up on the tales of his countrymen in Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West) who tries to make sense of a trail of drug cartel-related murders in his town. Caught up in the mess is Llewelyn Moss, a good-natured everyman who happens upon and escapes with a satchel full of money after a failed drug trade. He is resourceful and intelligent, but makes a few questionable choices, and is pursued and outmatched by the second greatest psychopath killer McCarthy has written, Anton Chigurh, played masterfully by Javier Bardem in the film, and of course second only to The Judge of the aforementioned Blood Meridian; both men are evil incarnate, with interesting philosophical views on the world.

It was legitimately exciting and exhilarating to follow the game of cat and mouse unfold, Moss pursued by both Mexican cartel members and Chigurh, and the sheriff always one step behind. Stalking motel rooms, shootouts in the street, close escapes and near escapes, and always Chigurh’s slow, methodical and determined approach, not rushing, knowing he will get what he wants in the end.

Listening to the audiobook was my first encounter with the narration of Tom Stechschulte, and it was great. Stechschulte (who also narrated The Road, which I read but did not listen to) fits McCarthy perfectly, and his range and Southern drawl had subtle differences between the characters.

Jackie Lu

** spoiler alert **
           bits of the book can be a bit confusing to read but overall I love the action and I love the ending

Llewelyn Moss is hunting antelope near the Texas/Mexico border when he stumbles upon several dead men, a big stash of heroin, and more than two million dollars in cash. He takes off with the money -- and the hunter becomes the hunted. A drug cartel hires a former Special Forces agent to track down the loot, and a ruthless killer joins the chase as well. Also looking for Moss is the aging Sheriff Bell, a World War II veteran who may be Moss' only hope for survival.

Shannon Smith 

No Country For Old Men was an amazing read. McCarthy's sparse use of punctuation was off-putting to me upon flipping through his books originally. Now after having read this and The Road it is his minimalist style that has pulled me in and made me a diehard fan. I consider his work to be the modern equivalent of epic poetry. He said in his interview with Oprah that he does not plot out a story. Instead he dictates from his unconscious. This accounts for the many readers who feel unfulfilled with the lack of a typical bad guy brought to justice ending. It also explains why his writing seems to resinate in such a personal way with so many people. He is speaking to us through a collective psyche that stems to the dawn of human existence.

A fav movie of mine. Had to read the book eventually. It reads like a script and is as suspenseful and reflective as I thought it would be. 

I had seen the movie, yet the book was a real page-turner that I read in just a few days. McCarthy proves that he is a masterful writer, using simple, direct language to create a complex picture.

Lucas Dietrich

Michael Springer

There are some cliche things that reviewers like to say about exciting stuff: riveting. A tour-de-force. The next Twilight. I could say all of that about No Country For Old Men (barring the Twilight thing), but I won't. 

What I'll say instead is that I breezed through this 300-page novel in about a day and a half. As with all of Cormac McCarthy's books, the writing is very good and the characters are engaging. Even though I had already seen the movie, I really really wanted to know what was going to happen. 

If you haven't read anything by Cormac McCarthy, do so. "All the Pretty Horses" would be a good one to start with, although it is an uncharacteristic book for him. "No Country For Old Men" would also be a good starting place, even though it might be his only book set in the present day. 

A big theme that runs through his work is man's struggle against his own inherent evil. And, when I say "man," I do mean "man": McCarthy's works contain women, but male characters seem to be the primary driving force of evil. 

In No Country For Old Men, Llewelyn Moss is in the desert hunting antilope and stumbles across the scene of a drug deal gone awry. Bodies are everywhere. He finds a suitcase full of strapped hundreds that comes out to more than two million. He takes it. He runs.

An elderly sheriff follows his trail, hoping to convince him to turn the money in. 

A mercenary also follows his trail. This mercenary has no enemies because he doesn't leave anyone alive who might become one. 

This book has all the tension of a thriller, but it is more than just a fun ride. It is also pretty damned disturbing. This book is anything but optimistic. 

In this book, McCarthy's conservative politics are more obvious than the others I've read by him. Because of this, I cringed during a few overtly political passages. But, politics weren't prevalent enough in the book to make it unenjoyable. So, I highly recommend this riveting tour-de-force of a page-turner. Just don't read it when you're in the mood for something cheerful.

Verwarrend geschreven, maar het verhaal en einde is heel goed

Dave | Storyphoria

Was a big fan of the film already and finally had a chance to read the book. It's amazing how much the book is different in some parts and then almost word for word the same as the film in many others. Excellent read, and a rare case of neither the movie or the book being better than the other. I think they hold up together extremely well.

Ryan LaFerney

Commanding and accessible, No Country for Old Men is a bleak chronicle of murder, revenge and implacable fate. What Cormac McCarthy did for the Western, here he has done for the crime novel. Cormac has some nasty fun here and writes like a someone who is set afire with the ghost of Faulkner whispering in his ear.

No Country for Old Men is, in many ways, a straightforward crime drama. It follows a man who stumbles onto a drug deal gone bad and tries to get away with a case full of money as a hitman and a sheriff both pursue him...leading to disastrous consequences.

This book is built around the premise that any one of us can think we are making a good decision only to later find out the depths of how bad that decision actually was. Llewelyn Moss chose to take a suitcase full of money from a drug deal gone bad, thinking he would never get caught…and it all goes downhill from there. It's also a brutal meditation on the nature of fate. story is very cinematic, a slow and complex chase with three grades of characters: good (the sheriff), bad (Chirgurh and assorted drug traders), mixed (Moss, a loving husband and veteran who did take the money). And the Sheriff, it would seem, is in over his head - in new territory. 

 McCarthy writes a hard, cold, mean prose almost devoid of heroes, even the Sherriff can't save the day.

Riveting, commanding, and brutal, No Country for Old Men is a crime novel of Texas noir that you will not be able to put down until the very last line.

Harry

Jayme Bosio

I was impressed by how well the movie followed the book, and how well Tommy Lee Jones captured the character of Sheriff Bell. This is one of the first books I've read in a long time where I wanted to pull my car off the side of the road to finish reading it. It's a quick read, but it's not an easy one. It really makes you think about humanity and the road we're taking.

Ashlyn

Nik and I listened to the Audible version over the course of several road trips. Narration was great, style was perfect, and the story was extremely entertaining to me (especially because it was slow-moving).

Suspenseful, scary, and full of truth and wisdom about the world we live in. Definitely falta le to todays culture. The ending was lowkey confusing, but beside that 10/10

Hannah Montgomery

McCarthy likes his characters of unstoppable evil. The only smart way is to get out of the way. Which is hard if you are seasoned cop who spent his entirely life protecting people.

 and lot more "mainstream". The movie adaptation is great too. Even though I still have nightmares about Anton Chigurh's haircut.

McCarthy likes his characters of unstoppable evil. The only smart way is to get out of the way. Which is hard if you are seasoned cop who spent his entirely life protecting people.

It's different from The Road and Blood Meridian and lot more "mainstream". The movie adaptation is great too. Even though I still have nightmares about Anton Chigurh's haircut.

Fraser Simons

Amazing. The added context does make it better than the movie, which is also quite good. But this is a much more intimate experience and the tension feels much higher.The audible narrator was very good as well, one of the best I’ve heard.

Geoffrey Landward

Fantastic. Be warned that it is violent, but McCarthy does not write violence to simply be violent; this novel is a discerning investigation into evil, morality, and a diminishing world of right and wrong. Told from the perspective of an aging sheriff, McCarthy demonstrates a keen understanding of life and people through ruminations that begin each chapter. The prose is sparse but beautiful. More remarkable is McCarthy's use of dialect (texan to be specific). The language is like its own character - "I think that when the lies are all told and forgot the truth will be there yet. It don't move about from place to place and it don't change from time to time." This book is another reason why Cormac McCarthy is quickly climbing up the ladder of my favorite authors.

Madhuri Sridhara

3.5 rounded off

When I told my friend I was reading this book and for some reason she asked me if this "was the movie with the two queer old men". I simply told her this was about drugs.

Neither of us were entirely right as it turned out. It's as the title says.

I'd read the first few pages back in 2012 or 2013 but stopped because of the grammar and lack of quotation marks. This time that didn't bother me too much. Mostly because I was adamant on reading it. The violence of the book had stayed with me and I was strangely hooked. 

While this was a fast read, I couldn't always keep track of conversations and characters. The choppy dialogue and meandering plot is made up however by the Sheriff's powerful monologue. That and Chigurh will definitely stay with me.

Drew Santiago

Such a well written book you can picture every moment clearly! The movie is played scene for scene and does the book it’s justice! I’m glad I read this! 

Nick Ringwood

3.5

Started off really strong, and I liked the descriptions and dialogue a bit, as well as the self-reflection and unique take on the world,
But the constant repetitions of motel rooms and constant descriptions of little actions was neat at first, but started to wear on me by the end.

Jordan Card

The only reason i rated this somewhat lower is because its not the kind of writing im typically into, so i had to remind myself to pick it up. I mostly read this because there was a long time back before when i wasnt reading a lot and i want to fill in blanks of books i may have read during the time i wasnt reading. I was surprised how much i liked this, because i like I said before i dont typically go for a lot of physical descriptions in things i choose to read, but there was a lot to think about and i enjoyed a change. Sometimes a writer is simply good at writing and you want to read their book!

Edit: i had to upgrade my star rating because i just gave a court of mist and fury 3 stars

Shafel McDowall

Subtracted a star for the random racism sprinkled throughout the book. But holyshit was this book a ride.

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No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

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