Scott seems somewhat disdainful of the dream comparison, but it made me wonder if that's what I've missed in McCarthy's work. Ingmar Bergman said that his films were dreams. If McCarthy's novels are dream-fictions (like Strindberg's dream plays) then my plausibility objections become moot. On the other hand, comparing them to dreams may be a way of justifying the plausibility problems. Hmm. Anyway, Scott's piece is worth reading.
Now that IS interesting!
ReplyDeleteThis must be some sort of cosmic coincidence. We pummel THE ROAD with our points of view, and now someone else--quite separately--steps up and offers another intriguing perspective. Perhaps elberry, Art Durkee, and others who weighed in on THE ROAD will also find McCarthy's "dreamscape" worth reading about.
Postscript:
ReplyDeleteI'm taking the time to go over all parts of the lengthy article, and I may have more to contribute to our dialogue about THE ROAD when I have read and absorbed Esposito's long essay (especially his section on THE ROAD).
Bottom Line: Thanks for bringing it to my attention. This is great stuff!
Since invited, I'll comment, a little.
ReplyDeleteEsposito brings up McCarthy's Southern Gothic sensibilities, and his novels that focus on the rise and fall of the myth of the West. I think that Esposito points out some of the flaws that McCarthy carries in those genres/realms rather clearly. He also mentions how "No Country for Old Men" was "so bare bones that in many ways it is closer to a movie treatment than a novel," which is a comment that came up before about McCarthy's cinematic style. I agree with Esposito on most of these points; which is one reason I'm that enamored of McCarthy.
Again, the question of being derivative comes up.
Another writer who works a great deal with the myths of the West is Sam Shepherd: in plays, in film scripts, in short stories, in metafiction. In every case, in Shepard's work, I find it more true to life, more well-written than McCarthy. I can smell the Texas dust when I read Shepard.
I can feel the Wyoming cold and wind when I read Annie Proulx' series of Wyoming stories. And I've lived in Wyoming, so that's high praise.
I'll come back to this later, maybe, after I read Esposito's long article a second time. So far, I don't see much in there to disagree with, positive or negative. And I don't think Esposito would contradict my sense that other writers have done these topics better, in ways that are more involving, for this reader at least.
Correction: "Which is one reason I'm NOT that enamored of McCarthy."
ReplyDelete