No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men

In a world like ours today its hard to imagine that a book like this would get its due credit. In a world where Twilight passes for quality literature and half the other best sellers are the same basic story line with another "twist" to it. I know, why don't I write a book about a teenage girl who falls in love with a mysterious man then finds out he has super natural powers of a generally dark nature. Anything with that as a premise is guarantee to be followed by, New York Times Best Seller.

Once in a blue moon though an author will emerge from the shadows with something that would be numbered among the classics of tomorrow. This is one them.

Telling the simple story of man meets two million dollars in cash, the tale quickly accelerates as the protagonist is pursued by a heartless and creepy madman with an oxygen tank and a stun gun.

Through all this though, Cormac McCarthy brings up deep subject inlaid throughout the plot. Subjects of good and evil, old age and youth, life and death. He remains a realist throughout it all telling things as they are and not how most think they should be.

This book stands as the most outstanding piece of literature I have read and it provokes thoughts long after the last page has been read and the book closed.

So next time you find yourself wading through the dribble that is modern literature, look for this and take a break from the mundane repetition of the over-told love story. If a book doesn't make you think and question, its probably not worth reading.