Dialogue Session: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Not the most sumptuous nor pleasant session I've ever had...
Cormac McCarthy was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1933. “For purposes of his writing career, McCarthy changed his first name from Charles to Cormac to avoid confusion, and comparison, with ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's dummy Charlie McCarthy.” I wouldn’t want to be confused with a dummy either.
I can’t name many other MacArthur Fellows but I think few of them get the award because they’re dummies. And it was “…a MacArthur Fellowship [that] enabled him to travel to the American Southwest, where he researched and wrote his fifth novel, Blood Meridian (1985). Although it initially garnered a lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it has since been regarded as his magnum opus, with some labeling it the Great American Novel.” - Wikipedia
Over the past few months, while my partner was in her last trimester of pregnancy, while we were in the hospital for our twins’ birth, and the first weeks of their life, I was reading McCarthy’s Blood Meridian in preparation for an Extragrad Dialogue Session with an ex-colleague of mine. He signed up for the waitlist, we picked a book on his to-be-read (TBR) list, scheduled a time (several times because the twins’ first weeks turned my partner and I’s lives upside down as you’d expect), and we talked through my first McCarthy book.
I don’t have any expertise in his work but I was able to hold space for a deeper reflection bringing my own “kick off questions” which I’ll include below in case you ever read the book and want to dive deeper. I include all the new kiddos details because the book is full of death, murder, and just violence in general. I have never read a book so filled with violence and to read such a book as your little kids are entering the world makes for a real juxtaposition. I think your average person would find themselves wondering “why bring new life into such a world in which this is ‘the Great American Novel.’”
That is sadly what made this book an interesting intellectual reflection. Not an easy nor fun reflection in my heart newly opened by becoming a new father. But the fact is, I at least, have never so clearly asked questions the book poses like, is violence and murder and, in particular, per the epigraph that McCarthy chooses to include, something like scalping, core to what it means to be human? To be American? I honor the fact that the genocide of native peoples all over the North American continent is the origin story of the US and many other nations of the Americas. So in a way McCarthy reminds us of this sickening history. A history I think we paper over in the back of our minds almost completely. How often do you or anyone around you consider these parts of North American history? Speaking for myself, I pretty much never do.
I endeavor to design these dialogue sessions to be learningful but also sumptuous. That’s hard on a Wednesday at 3pm eastern, 1pm mountain, over Zoom. Ideally, we have first edition copies of the books in front of us, sitting in a bar or restaurant that evokes the book’s setting, say, a western themed bar full of rustic wood in a comfortable booth and we take our 90 minutes to eat and maybe tipple if desired (without overdoing it like every character in the book does every other chapter). Alas, Zoom in a co-working space sufficed to get down to deeper insights we’d have missed as readers if we hadn’t scheduled time to talk it all out.
My client and fellow Blood Meridian explorer proved himself to be a great reader. He brought notes and questions of his own. And went deep not only into the text and the author’s purpose but into exploring the relevance of the points the book is making on his life and journey. Reflections that took some bravery I might say.
In the end, I’m left feeling uneasy and remembering Maya Angelou’s quote,
‘I am a human being, nothing human can be alien to me’
There is no doubt that humans have done and do every day horrific violence to the world, themselves, and others. McCarthy and Angelou point their fingers at me saying, that’s not behavior that is out there on the proverbial “news.” It is here and now within me and around me, in spite of being around such lovely little newborns. I don’t love facing this aspect of humanity and myself. But, I must.
Trailheads/Kickoff Questions (redacted to remove any spoilers)
Why is the judge hairless?
Why are these main characters nameless the both of them?
Why the title and the extra or part?
Is the point to argue pro violence Nietzsche/ubermensch style? Or just point out it is our natural state? Or necessary if we seek complete suzerainty?
What's the difference between a scalp and an ear? Is there something symbolic being pointed to here?
Is doing violence balanced by, or the opposite of, dance? What’s their relationship?
What is war? Is the principal outfit portrayed here at war? If so, with whom?
Do you detect any emotion? Any feeling anywhere? Why remove it completely for the story? What does it do for the story?
What is the judge's judgement of the kid?
If we take war as “God,” is the judge a Christ figure? He seems to have no beginning. (p 326)
“I truly enjoyed my Extragrad Dialogue Session around Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.
I am a lifelong book lover who typically reads between 20-30 books per year. Despite ample practice, I often feel that my reading is unfocused and shallow. I am well acquainted with the sensation of having consumed the words on one or more pages and failing to understand what I've read, let alone extracting deep meaning or insight.
The Extragrad process provided a structure that made my reading process more thoughtful and deliberate. Per the program’s guidance, I kept light notes on anything that struck me as interesting or warranting further exploration through dialogue. Identifying and recording these points of inquiry sparked a virtuous cycle of curiosity and helped deepen my relationship with the text.
The Dialogue Session itself was an excellent opportunity to reflect and synthesize. We explored the text in both macroscopic and microscopic detail, considering the author’s “project” (or purpose) in broad terms while also drilling down into character motivations, historical context, and stylistic choices. I particularly enjoyed the last part of the discussion, where we explored how the text’s lessons could be brought to bear on my own life and worldview. I left the conversation knowing more about the book and also about myself.
I highly recommend Extragrad to any bookworm looking to strengthen his/her relationship with literature.” - Will R
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