The average user rating for this Book is 7.8 out of 10 (based on 42 Votes).
Will B gave it a10: An incredible post-modern story with themes that touch each of us as we move through our society. Leaves one wondering, in today's world, if things like that don't happen in ones backyard when there is a bad dog on guard, who is on guard and how big is the backyard? Big Themes and Big Questions make this super-action packed thriller also an intelligent read.
milton o gave it a9: A fabulous pace, terrific regional dialogue and rarely an error. The wind up was a little dnearly flawless.issapointing but that's the perogotive of the novelist. Just well written stuff- a little leaner, meaner prose than his other novels but
Lee H gave it a0: Give this man a pulpit, so he can spout his tedious platitudes from there. In minute detail. He opened the refrigerator. He looked in. He took out the milk, drank some from the carton, sealed the carton, and put it back in the refrigerator. He closed the door.
James P gave it a5: My first exposure to this author, I liked his gift for description, good ear for dialog and he got his guns right. (It is amazing how often authors do not do good research on firearms and just bluff it, knowing most folks won't pick it up. (Like Elmore Leonard several times writing that a character flipped off the safety on a Smith and Wesson revolver, when such a device does not exist on those guns) That said. I really liked it about three quarters through. The dialog heavy narration didn't bother me at first. I write screenplays which are all dialog and not much narration, but in the last quarter of the book, the author lost me. The thing about dialog, is it needs to be to the point and not deteriorate in to rambling repitition. The author seems to think the audience is not smart enough to get where he's going. The failing is, we can all see it coming a mile off as the point of the dialog takes it's time meandering up to us, lumbers on by at a snails pace and then just won't leave. It's an embarassment. He kills off someone the reader is heavily invested in about 75% in to the book, like he couldn't figure out what to do. That is when the endless and seemingly pointless dialog begins and simply grinds the reader into submission and ultimately boredom. The killer goes on, and on, and on, and on before shooting his victim. The sheriff goes on and on endlessly examining his life that also bores the readers. Weird how the story turned bad in the third act and the author just flew it into the mountain. In the end the reader, at least my wife and myself were disappointed, annoyed and wanted it to end to put us out of our misery. This is an apparently good talent who lost his way. I hope not permanently. Read an Elmore Leonard at the same time and by contrast, Leonards talky stories take you somewhere, you don't mind the dialog because it helps not hinders the story, and he has a way of getting to the point great skill.
Mark L gave it a9: Ed Tom Bell is a well conceived and very well executed character, of a sort that one finds - in a man of a certain age - along the border. When that man disappears, we will be the poorer, but we will have McCarthy's story and the voice of Sherriff Bell as the chorus of this tragedy.
Alain M gave it a5: Deeply disappointing considering McCarthy's quality as a writer. His best days sadly appear to be behind him and seems to admit as much through the character of Bell. I'm a huge CM fan; Blood Meridian is one of the greatest novels of the past fifty years but No Country For Old Men doesn't come close to it or even the less impressive Cities of the Plain. This is no more than a workmanlike crime thriller that could have been written by any of the genre writers. Far too dialogue heavy when his skill lies in his descriptions. If that's all you want then fair enough but it isn't what I look for from Cormac McCarthy. First time readers shouldn't think this is what the great author is capable of.
larry p gave it a9: Outstanding. Could not stop reading. Clearly one of my favorites.
JON G gave it a10: I've read all of Mccarthy's books and i have to say this knocked me out. The man is a Stone Cold Writer. I finished it in two days and was so depressed that it was over that i wanted to start all over again.
Tyler B gave it a3: It could have been a great book. This one really lets you down towards the end.
Pat N gave it an8: I've read most of McCarthy's work. The novels of the Missiissippi are carried by prose both lush and decaying. The prose from his novels of the southwest is sparse and biblical. At his best, McCarthy establishes not just tone, but an environment that is both physical and sprititual. Suttree, the Orchard Keeper, and Blood Meridian all break new ground in literature on this measure. The border trilogy use the tropes, but never transcends and merges landscapes and morality in a way that punches me in the gut. No Country for Old Men is a cousin to the former works. I cannot say I like it as much as Blood Meridian. But, on it's own terms, the book challenged me on the most basic questions of humanity. It's worth the read.
Jeffrey C gave it a9: I found this novel more than engaging. It left me thinking about my own life, relationships and beliefs, about the origins of the concepts of good and evil, about my relationship with my late father, and about my own character today, measured against a notion of character represented in Sherriff Bell in this book. It got me thinking to about my politics - my stereotypes about people living in the American "heartland," and the bigger personal questions about how I will deal with the challenges in my life (I'm 62) in the years to come and what element of hopefulness I might bring to my future years. Add to all this McCarthy's wonderful sense of mid-Western speech, and his flawless natural dialogue, and I think that this is one of the finest books I've read. I should note that I got this as an audiobook and that except for his struggle with female voices, the narrator gave the dialogue the autheticity I believe the writer intended.
Victor De La O gave it a10: Most comments from the critics, either positive or negative, reflect - at best - ignorance about the border culture represented in the book, and - at worst - clearly dismiss it. Many of those critics, apparently believing that their witing abilities are equal to Mr. McCarthy's and so they are capable to bring judgement, concentrate on disqualifying his skills, not much attempting to discuss the despair of real people who find Sheriff Bell's concerns very much like their own. Yes, the story can immediately be put to exploit by Hollywood, obviously without including the "longwinded" words of Bell. But this, of course, is not the purpose of the book. We seem to be so conditioned by consumism that think that every product of any artist must have a commercial purpose. Seems like portraying someone whose view of life is based on basic concepts of dignity, courtesy, and respect is offensive to some memebers of the writing profession who pass their time posturing and promoting an intellect which has no more basis than the experience gained in a newspaper cubicle. Even if you will not attempt to write a novel, I suggest that one day you walk the streets of any Mexican border town and attempt to imagine to live the life of any person you chance to meet there. Go to Dell City, Texas, drink the salty water, try to make a living as a rancher, shake the hand of any person there and find in your soul a reason to dismiss her or him. Mr. McCarthy has dared to understand such lives. This, without adding the unquestionable superiority of his work, is of enough merit. Any book that puts a person to reflect a moment about the condition of his or her soul is worth to be read. Mr. MCarthy's books do that.
Dick V gave it a10: great harsh story
Joshua L gave it a9: Beautiful writing. Fascinating, struggling protagonist. Multi-deminsional, textured villan. McCarthy once again has left me thinking as I close this book.
Percy T gave it a9: Pure horror.
Charles M gave it a9: McCarthy's Sheriff knows the world is going to hell in a handbag; he has seen it in his lifetime and is witness to the worst of human nature as he tracks a killer.
Darryl D gave it a10: Easy read, stunning and engaging. It'll make you wince a bit.
steve s gave it a10: Lets just hope sheriff McCarthy hasn't put us on notice of his own retirement. True to the dream of his/our father at the end of this novel, the fires that McCarthy kindles are a welcome refuge in a time of postmodern darkness.
jon c gave it an8: this book rocked. fast, gory and fun. gothic, western minimilism with just enough of Mccarthy's cranky, country wisdom.
Craigan U. gave it a7: McCarthy's novel is full of paired down yet compelling characters and violent, Tarantinesque twists interrupted by italicized meanderings from a sheriff whose holster-wearin' wholesome wisdom is at first charming but unfortunately dwindles to page-filler at the book's end.
Craig M gave it a10: Far from a "feel good" text, McCarthy's novel asks profound questions about where were are, how we got here, and where we are going as a society. It's a bullet-quick read. How much of the author is in the Sheriff, and how much of a disillusioned lawman is there in a skeptical author?
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