Cormac McCarthy
Is not particularly amusing, but having read four of his books, I do think he's the greatest living author in the world. Why? Because ..

- He writes novels of great intellectual depth which can nevertheless be appreciated for the quality of their storytelling and characters alone. There's no need to go delving any deeper if you don't want to. But if you do, there's an astonishing amount under there.

- His prose is uniquely exquisite. At it's best, it's almost like poetry. Sometimes I get the sense that he's planned his books not at a plot or chapter level but right down to paragraph and sentence. I certainly don't believe anyone can write like that straight from the head: it must require an astonishing amount of concentration and re-working to get right.

- He never graduated, wrote most of his books on a 1963 typewriter and reportedly avoids other writers and prefers the company of scientists.
(MattDP (Squiggle), Fri 6 Jan 2012, 9:23, 5 replies)

I've only read Blood Meridian,
but I can't say it's inspired me to try out any of his other works.

Characters: cuntish
Storytelling: depressing
Intellectual depth: a refreshing twist on the cowboys/indians genre (recognising the prevalence of white men scalping the natives, rather than the other way around)
Exquisite prose: it was a chore to read, requiring an astonishing amount of concentration and re-reading

Still, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I read it on the recommendation of a friend, so his work is obviously not without appeal.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 9:30, closed)

I loved Blood Meridian, but fuck me, its dense.
There's a run-on sentence that lasts almost two pages at one point. The Road is excellent, but one of the most depressing things I've ever read. The rest of his stuff is really good, too, but I can completely understand why people have a hard time with it, and indeed, why they don't like it.
(Spleep Shit, or get off the internet., Fri 6 Jan 2012, 9:43, closed)

Watching Children of Men, was a similar (though less gruesome) experience.
If I wanted to be bludgeoned over the head with the bleak, depressing, futility of it all, I could probably just watch Eastenders^*, and condense my suffering into easily managed, 30-minute chunks.

^*Or the news, Celebrity Big Brother, ITV2, or whatever your chosen poison might be.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 9:50, closed)

Whenever I've tried to get mates
to try out Cormac McCarthy, I always suggest reading Blood Meridian first - if you enjoy that, you'll most likely enjoy the rest of his work. Suttree is similarly dense.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 11:06, closed)

I'm not sure that the denseness was what put me off (I don't mind walls of text),
so much that it seemed to be overwritten for what it was, and what it was was a fairly pulpy western that would be best enjoyed by teenage boys.

Each to their own, I guess.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 13:35, closed)