Review: "Deadhouse Gates" By Steven Erikson

I nearly couldn't put this novel down once started!  From page one on, the pace is utterly relentless.  This is the second volume in Steven Erikson's brilliant and uber-epic fantasy series, "The Malazan Book of the Fallen."  This installment, Deadhouse Gates, is nothing short of a nail-biter from the get-go.  There are plots and sub-plots galore swirling around throughout this 800+ page novel, and each of them is an attention-grabber.

The main plot of the novel is the one just takes your breath away--rebellion has broken out on one of the continents that the Malazan Empire controls--and this is the story of Coltaine's 'Chain of Dogs' march of one of the Malazan armies over several hundred leagues (over several months) from one city to another.  What makes it incredibly remarkable is that it is not just 'a march' of the Malazan 7th Army.  It is both a strategic and tactical retreat of the army while several huge enemy armies continually attack and harass the Malazan forces the entire distance.  Not only does Coltaine (The 7th's commander, or 'Fist') need to try and preserve his army and tactically respond to the enemy, he also must simultaneously protect nearly 50,000 displaced civilians that he acquires along the way (i.e., evacuees and refugees).

Erikson's description of this epic and heartbreaking journey, and the battles fought along the way, rivals any that have been written about in numerous superb military histories.  Examples that come to my mind include Field Marshal Erich von Manstein's strategic retreat of several German armies across the frozen steppes of southern Russia in early 1942 (after the fall of Stalingrad); or Sherman's "March to the Sea" bisecting the Confederacy.  This is stuff for the ages, and what Erikson writes about in Deadhouse Gates, with Coltaine's march as the focus, is that intense and dramatic, and really is some of the very best in military fiction.  Somehow, I can honestly see students at military academies around the world reading Erikson too.  There are huge lessons here.

By way of disclosure, while I have only read two books in this series so far (with eight more to go!), I am absolutely blown away with the sheer quality of the writing, the plotting, the character development (bordering on Dickensian or Tolstoyan), the pacing, the pathos and drama, and just the sheer inventiveness and originality of the world that Erikson has created. Mr. Erikson doesn't pull his punches, this is truly some hard, bleak, and dark fiction; and at times viscerally tragic and profoundly sad.  At the same time though, Erikson soars to heights almost unknown in fantasy fiction with his moments of triumph, success, and the joy of experiencing those fleeting instants of pure and unbridled goodness and humanity.

I highly and unhesitatingly recommend this series; and, in my opinion, Deadhouse Gates is much more than a quantum step forward from the first novel in the series, Gardens of the Moon.  Read it--you'll become a believer too!

Review: "Gardens of the Moon" By Steven Erikson

By way of introduction to this book review, I have to tell you that I first tried to read this novel approximately ten years ago, shortly after it was first published in the U.S.  Gardens of the Moon is Canadian author, Steven Erikson's, first installment in his ten-volume series entitled, "The Malazan Book of the Fallen."  On my first go, I honestly tried to like the book and was stymied.  For whatever reason, I just never took to it and it languished on my shelf for a couple of years.  Eventually I picked it up again, and gave it another go.  Alas, this second attempt was futile as well, and I then packed it off with a box a books to to my favorite used bookstore.  At the time I was in the midst of Robert Jordan's massive "Wheel of Time" epic fantasy series, and I wasn't terribly distraught at letting another multi-volume high fantasy series slip through my fingers.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  Over the past few months I have encountered so much positive feedback about Erikson and his "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" series that I just knew that I'd have to try again.  Over the holidays I bought the first four 'fat-books' in the series, and made the mental commitment to finally read them and see, for myself, what all of the 'buzz' was about.  So, without any further ado, here is my review of the first volume in the series.

It has taken me a couple of days to formulate my thoughts and impressions about Gardens of the Moon and shape them into this review.  First, I must say to Mr. Erikson, "Bravo! and Brilliant!"  Secondly, I am still rendered nearly speechless after reading this first installment in his hugely fascinating and sophisticated epic fantasy series, "The Malazan Book of the Fallen."  This book hurls the reader into a red-hot frying pan face down!  As it is so darned intellectually creative, the novel requires a significant amount of work on the part of the reader, but it is ever so worthwhile.  While clearly dark, and at times bleak, the plot is stunningly complex but absolutely riveting; and the characters are just about the most original I've encountered in fiction, and feel so damned realistic.  From my perspective, there are also a host of connections to the great literature of the ages in this first book--from the classics of the ancient Greeks and Romans, Arthurian legend, the Norse mythology in the Poetic Edda and the Ragnarok, to the naturalism of Edith Wharton and Thomas Hardy--it is all here.

The plot of the novel, and the series for that matter, in a nutshell is this--the Malazan Empire, ruled by the megalomaniacal Empress Laseen, is a militaristic human society that has ambitions for conquering most, if not all, of its known world.  Erikson's background as an archaeologist and anthropologist shines through in his description of the various cultures and peoples that occupy the various continents and countries of this fascinating world that the Malazan Empire is trying to control, and one can't help but hearken back to the days of the Roman empire at its heyday.  Now throw in mages and their use of some complex and intriguing forms of sorcery, near-constant interactions with gods (good and evil) that take great delight in meddling and influencing the events and actions of the mortal protagonists on the planet, and finally Erikson's creation of several unique non-human races of sentient beings that have been on this world for hundreds of thousands of years!  Altogether this makes for a very potent and heady brew that needs to be imbibed slowly.  Read carefully and just take it all in word-by-word.  There is some seriously scary shit going on here that simply makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up!  I can only bow down and marvel at the imagination of Mr. Erikson. 

My final word--strap yourself in and brace yourself for the ride!  Erikson's "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" is an epic fantasy series that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go, not for one second.  Honestly, if you like creative and detailed high fantasy that is also amazingly fresh and original, you won't want to miss one word of this series.  For me, now it is on to the second volume, "Deadhouse Gates."

For your information, here is the complete list of the titles in Steven Erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and date of first publication:

Gardens of the Moon (1999)
Deadhouse Gates (2000)
Memories of Ice (2001)
House of Chains (2002)
Midnight Tides (2004)
The Bonehunters (2006)
Reaper's Gale (2007)
Toll the Hounds (2008)
Dust of Dreams (2009)
The Crippled God (forthcoming final volume in the series, January/February 2011)

Review: "The Castings Trilogy" By Pamela Freeman

Happy 2011 to all of you!  I've missed you all terribly and want to apologize for my forced absence.  I have been named acting director of my state agency upon the retirement of my boss, and I have just been way too busy of late.  I have decided though that I must get back in the saddle and keep doing what makes me happy, and posting here on ProSe and interacting with all of you is what makes me very, very happy.

I just finished a novel over the holidays that I am really quite excited to tell you about.  Some of you may know of the Australian author, Pamela Freeman, as it is my understanding that she is a fairly well known author of young-adult literature.  Well, I just finished her first set of novels (I think) written for adult audiences.  Frankly, I have to tell you that it is also completely age and subject appropriate for youth and teen readers as well.  Okay, on with my review.

Ms. Freeman recently wrote a sequence of three books entitled, "The Castings Trilogy," and it is nothing short of brilliant!  The three novels in the trilogy are titled, "Blood Ties," "Deep Water," and the third is "Full Circle."  The titles are quite apt considering the subject and pace of each novel.  I read a larger-sized omnibus edition published by Orbit (2010) at just under 1,400 pages in length.  I have to tell you that I couldn't put it down; it was just riveting!

Firstly, these novels flow quite effortlessly and seamlessly from the first volume to the third.  Ms. Freeman is an excellent writer with a very clean and crisp writing style that immediately pulls the reader deep into her tale.  Somehow, to me, this book seemed particularly poignant and meaningful during our current times, with all of the hatred, prejudice, and violence that we currently endure around the world.  While a superbly crafted work of fantasy fiction, with extraordinarily interesting characters, this is really a book about morality--what is right and what is wrong--and about what it means to be human, and what it means to be different, and how important it is to seek the means to bridge those differences.  There are so many wonderful lessons about how to live a good and decent life in the characters Freemen has created.

As the father of adult daughters, I can't begin to tell you how very much I admired her development and utilization of several very strong female characters through the story-line.  For example, her creation of the young Traveler woman 'Bramble' was sheer genius.  I fell in love with this young, very tough-minded woman.  Then she 'kicks it up a notch' with the characters of 'Martine' and 'Sorn.'  These are women who interact through the course of the plot with other characters in such a fashion that they truly do become wonderful role models for all of us--male or female--in our day-to-day lives.  They are full of strength, intelligence, courage, honor, integrity, and commitment.  In fairness, many of her male characters exhibit many of these exemplary traits too; particularly 'Ash,' 'Leof,' 'Baluch,' and 'Acton.'

Another aspect of the novels that impressed me was Freeman's real talent in her creative utilization of a literary device that has the tale told through the use of multiple points-of-view, some as a voice from the past, and some from the perspective of the present.  It is really a wonderful technique for providing back-story and key information in a very efficient fashion.

While I do not want to give away even a hint of the plot, suffice it to say that this is really the story of a struggle between two disparate groups of people in a world that is essentially dominated by one of the groups of peoples, at the expense of the other.  It proceeds at a relentless pace that almost leaves the reader breathless for want of figuring out what is to become of the world of the Domains and these fascinating characters we've come to know and empathize with.  I would very much recommend this book for a discussion in a book club as it brings up topics and issues that we all need to think about as citizens of our communities, countries, and the world as a whole.  I wholeheartedly thank Ms. Freeman for giving us this thought-provoking series of novels.  While highly entertaining, there's an important take-home message for each of us to ponder, discuss, and bring to bear in our own lives.  I look forward to reading anything else this talented woman writes.

Finally, I will definitely read this novel again; it is a keeper!  I happily assign 4.5/5.0 stars for this superbly crafted fantasy series, and very highly recommend it.

Literary Blog Hop: "What is your favorite poem and why?"

The folks over at The Blue Bookcase sponsor "The Literary Blog Hop," a weekly meme, that gives all of us who read and write about books an opportunity to find and make new friends, and exchange ideas.  This week's question was submitted by Gary at The Parrish Lantern.

What is your favorite poem and why?

I normally do not qualify answers to questions, but I'm making an exception here.  I consider myself quite the connoisseur and a serious student of poetry.  As many of you know, I post lots and lots of poetry here at ProSe.  I also have an extensive collection of poetry that I am continually delving into.

Okay, so why do I feel compelled to qualify my answer to Gary's question?  For me, it just isn't as simple as saying that this poem, or that poem, is my most favorite poem.  Depending upon my mood, time, or place, I can think of many, many poems that would, or could, be my favorite poem.  From the perspective of the most perfectly written poem that really packs a punch, I might be inclined to suggest that John Keats' La Belle Dame sans Merci. A Ballad rises to the top.  At another moment it might very well be Emily Dickinson's poem No. 712, Because I could not stop for Death--.

Be that as it may, at this moment in time my favorite poem is by Christina Georgina Rossetti, an English poet of the Victorian era.  She was the youngest sister of the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (at right is his pencil sketch of Christina).  Christina Rossetti was born in 1830, and died in 1895.  She was truly a prolific poet, writing something over 1,000 poems over the course of her life, and is perhaps best known for her epic poem, Goblin Market.

An Echo From Willowwood

"O ye, all ye that walk in Willowwood." D.G. Rosetti

Two gazed into a pool, he gazed and she,
Not hand in hand, yet heart in heart, I think,
Pale and reluctant on the water's brink
As on the brink of parting which must be.
Each eyed the other's aspect, she and he,
Each felt one hungering heart leap up and sink,
Each tasted bitterness which both must drink,
There on the brink of life's dividing sea.
Lilies upon the surface, deep below
Two wistful faces craving each for each,
Resolute and reluctant without speech: —
A sudden ripple made the faces flow
One moment joined, to vanish out of reach:
So those hearts joined, and ah! were parted so.

***

One of the things that I love so much about this poem is its relationship to the back-story.  This poem is an example of the poet utilizing his/her unique life experiences.  In An Echo from Willowwood, Christina is telling the story of the love between her brother, Dante, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and his wife, Lizzie Siddal.  At the same time, Christina has crafted her sonnet to play off of Dante's earlier 'Willowwood' sonnets that were written about his wife, who died in 1862 due to laudanum addiction. So the story goes, Lizzie had left sketches of herself and Dante looking into pools of water together; these sketches then inspired the poetry of both of the Rossetti siblings. Finally, you might also be interested to learn that Lizzie Siddal served as the model for Sir John Everett Millais's famous Pre-Raphaelite painting "Ophelia."  Somehow, I think that Christina has perfectly captured the tenderness and deep love that Dante and Lizzie shared, but I also think she very effectively touches upon the sadness to come.  To me, this is a meaningful, very beautiful and poignant poem.

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Book Blogging & "Busting the Newbie Blues"

I ran across an interesting posting over at Small Review's blog entitled, Busting the Newbie Blues.  She has developed a set of questionnaires associated with what we are all doing--i.e., book blogging.  I chose her questionnaire for "Established Bloggers" (I guess that's what I am).  Her questions kind of made me stop and think for a few minutes about why I am maintaining my blog and what purpose it serves.  Personally, I think a periodic assessment and reassessment of my blog is a pretty healthy thing to do.  I am thinking it may actually help me improve on what I am doing here.  So, without further ado, here are the questions and my responses.

1.  When did you start your blog?  I started seriously book blogging in August 2009.

2.  Why did you start your blog?  Honestly, I started this blog solely to create an on-line journal for my own creative writing as well as recording my thoughts about the books I was reading and some of my thoughts about my landscape photography hobby.  At the time, I truly never imagined that one other person could be the least bit interested in my scribblings or thoughts.

3.  What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?  Did you make any mistakes new bloggers can learn from?  I suppose the biggest challenge for me has been in maintaining my discipline, and coming up with new and creative postings associated with the literature that I am reading.  Also, another challenge is to ensure that I do take the time to periodically check in with some of the wonderful new friends and their blogs that I have found over the past year and a half.  It has truly been inspirational to encounter so many great book and literature blogs here.  Regarding any mistakes that I made early on--I think it comes back to the discipline thing.  You just have to take the time to sit down and do some writing.  It really does keep the creative juices flowing.  If I don't talk about the particular book that I am reading, I am famous for digging into my extensive poetry collection and finding a poem to share on ProSe.

4.  What did you find most discouraging about being a new blogger? How did you deal with this?  Trying to figure out how to do things (e.g., formatting, etc.), posting images, and just generally spiffing up my blog to make it look like something bordering on sophisticated (trust me, it ain't ever gonna be elegant ;-).  And practice makes perfect.  I just keep trying new things as I go along too.  Seeing what others have done has been extraordinarily helpful as well.

5.  What do you find most encouraging?  Without a doubt it has been the positive response I have received from all of those who've read and commented on my various postings.  I simply could not have imagined the response I've received to this blog of mine.  Simply amazing!

6.  What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog?  I love reading about all of the books that other folks are reading, and the reactions they've had via the excellent reviews that everyone is writing.  Reading these reviews has definitely made me a more discerning reader and a much better writer.  I most certainly do try to replicate the high quality of the writing and the book reviews that I've encountered in and among my own efforts here on ProSe.

7.  What do you dislike about blogs you’ve read? Do you try to avoid this?  I'm not particularly big on religiously participating in a bazillion memes.  I do like to participate in some memes periodically, because it really does make you get outside of your box or routine.  But I kind of do it as the spirit moves me.  I also am not a fan of adding buttons, badges, or other gizmos to my blog.  I figure that this blog is about the books I'm reading, the poetry I like, and some of my landscape photography.

8.  Do you have any advice for new bloggers?  Just make it a practice to visit your own blog a couple of times a week and write down your thoughts.  Even if no other person sees it, you'll have the overwhelming personal satisfaction of having accomplished something meaningful.  Your thoughts are very important--they are important to you!  Find and develop your own creative niche, and don't worry about whether anyone else will see it, read it, or comment on it.  My advice:  Write your blog just for you.  Nothing more, and nothing less.  If you've done your best and you're satisfied; well, there's not much more that you can do.  Now, have at it!

9.  How did you bring your blog to the attention of so many people?  I didn't do anything other than visit other peoples' blogs.  I didn't feel compelled to visit other folks' blogs in order to solicit reciprocity; I visited these blogs because I was genuinely interested in reading what they had to say.  I have thoroughly enjoyed finding a blog and a writer who has read a book that I've read (or want to read), and then reading their review and discovering what made that particular book or poem meaningful to them.  It is simple as that.

10.  Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience?  Most of all I'd like to make the point that blogging about books (or anything) should be part fun and part intellectually challenging.  I have found that blogging about the books and poetry that I am reading has made me a much better reader.  I am looking at things a little differently now.  In other words, I have become a more serious reader versus just a casual reader.  I now tend to make notes in the margins of the books I read, or on the fly-leafs that later help me frame my thoughts in developing a review or recommendation.  I also keep a reading journal where I record important quotes or observations associated with the literature that I am reading.  Book blogging has added ever so much to my overall reading and comprehension experience, and I am sure that it can for you as well.

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Reviews: "The Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills" -- Robert Jordan's 'Wheel of Time' Series of Novels

For twenty years I have been avidly following a terrific series of fantasy novels written by the American author, James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under the pen name of "Robert Jordan.  This truly amazing set of 'fat' books is generally known as The Wheel of Time series.  I read the first novel in 1990, when the first novel, The Eye of the World, was released and I have been solidly hooked ever since.  In November of this year, the thirteenth novel, and second to last, the Towers of Midnight was published (Tor Fantasy, NY).  While I have been so damned busy with work of late, I darn sure made time to read the latest installment in this fabulous story!

This series is set in a different world and in a time that is somewhat reminiscent of the 18th century.  At just over 11,000 pages (so far), this is not a series for the less-than-serious.  You gotta make a commitment with this massive set of of books, but in my opinion it is well worth the effort.  The characters are complex, complicated, interesting, and in some cases deeply flawed, i.e., just like each one of us.  This is your classic Manichaean struggle between 'Good' versus 'Evil', the 'Light' versus the 'Dark'.  While it is easy to say, "Well, this has been done before by Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings; and while that is, on the surface, a truism; Jordan has done something astounding here.  These books completely immerse the reader in a world and with characters that they can completely relate to.  If anything Jordan is the uber-Tolstoy in constructing the scope and sweep of this immensely epic story--this really is the ultimate War and Peace.  There are story arcs upon story arcs in this tale, all woven together in an exciting and hair-raising framework.  Much, much more than just magic-wielding characters, or armies struggling on battlefields, these novels are more a sophisticated blend of political intrigue, diplomacy, lessons in command and leadership, as well as an in-depth study of human psychology and interpersonal relationships.  I have read the series, from start to finish, several times now; and it still continues to be very, very difficult to put the book you are reading down for the night.  That is the magic of Jordan's writing, he just pulls you in deeper and deeper into his world and his characters.

While the primary thread  of the tale revolves around a young 'hero' by the name of 'Rand al'Thor', and his continuing struggle with the 'Great Lord of the Dark', one of the things I love the most about this series is the supporting cast and Jordan's creation of some of the most amazingly powerful female protagonists and antagonists.  Women are so important to this series in so many different ways.  As I said above, this is not your typical swords-and-sorcery or swashbuckling type of fantasy fiction.  No, not at all.  This is the thinking person's fantasy.  As a general rule of thumb, and with very few exceptions, it is the women that hold and exert the real power to influence the course of events in the plot.  This is especially true for the women that can wield what is know as the female half of the "One Power", or saidar.  Most of these women are Aes Sedai, their use of saidar, and their close-knit Ajah societies are to me some of the most fascinating characters in the novels.  And let me just finish up the description of the novel's characters by saying that the evil characters, men and women, are really, really bad and really, really scary; and the good ones, while good and decent, definitely have issues.  For me it it is so captivating and somehow just feels real.  I know people like the characters in these novels!

Sadly, 'Robert Jordan', James Oliver Rigney, Jr., died in 2007 of a very rare heart condition.  Fortunately, he did have the time to prepare a set of very detailed plotting outlines to finish the series.  He worked feverishly over his last few years to write portions of the conclusion of the series.  After his death, his wife and publisher selected the up-and-coming fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson, to finish the series.  Using Jordan's outlines and notes, Sanderson has done a sterling job of beginning to bring the story arcs together, and wrapping up the million-and-one loose ends and developing an incredible conclusion to the series.  Sanderson, working with Jordan's outlines and notes, has authored The Gathering Storm and the Towers of Midnight, and is working on the final novel in the series, A Memory of Light, due to be released in Spring 2012.  I have to say too that Sanderson's writing is very, very good.  He has done a superb job at preserving Jordan's voice and perspective as he completes this amazing story.  I am very pleased with the two novels that he has added to the series.

So, if you're looking for an epic fantasy that grabs you from the get-go and just doesn't let up, I highly recommend Robert Jordan's (and now being finished by Brandon Sanderson) series of novels--The Wheel of Time.  If you love the Arthurian legend, Tolkien's Middle Earth, Ursula K. LeGuin's Earth Sea, or George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, et al., you will dig Jordan.  Start with The Eye of the World and begin to become completely swept up and lost in "Randland".  If you doubt the veracity of my words here, I dare you to 'Google' "The Wheel of Time".  You'll be gobsmacked!  There is a universe of fans and on-line forums and communities, personal blogs, etc. associated with Jordan's massive creation.  These novels, the plot, and the characters are studied and analyzed as much or more than just about any other works of literature.  Have fun, and let me know if you start reading this series.  You'll be hooked, I guarantee it!

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Happy, Happy Holidays!

I want to take a minute and apologize for my lengthy absence from my blog! [Nearly two weeks!] Unfortunately, I have been crazy busy at work of late.  My boss recently retired, and I have been named acting director of my agency until a nationwide search has been conducted, and the position filled.  Ughhh!  It all has only reinforced my desire to retire in five or six years, i.e., as soon as I am able.  Anyway, with a new incoming governor in January, things are in an incredible state of flux.

So, I'd like to wish you all the very best in the holiday season, and I hope that you are able to create some wonderful and meaningful memories with family and friends.  Please stay safe, have fun, and take a moment to extend the hand of peace and love to those around you, whether you know them or not.

A Poem for the Day: "The Falling of the Leaves" by William Butler Yeats

Even here in southern California, fall has finally come.  The leaves are falling, the mornings are crisp, the days are short, the nights are long, and I am reminded of these two melancholy stanzas by the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats--

The Falling of the Leaves

Autumn is over the long leaves that love us,
And over the mice in the barley sheaves;
Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us,
And yellow the wet wild strawberry leaves.

The hour of the waning of love has beset us,
And weary and worn are our sad souls now;
Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us,
With a kiss and a tear upon thy drooping brow.

(1889)

***

[The photograph of the fall colors is courtesy of Matt Princing, and just seemed to fit Yeats' poetry perfectly.]

Literary Blog Hop: My Most Difficult Read -- "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy

The folks over at The Blue Bookcase sponsor "The Literary Blog Hop," a weekly meme, that gives all of us who read and write about books an opportunity to find and make new friends, and exchange ideas.  This week's question was submitted by Debbie Nance at Readerbuzz--

"What is the most difficult literary work you've ever read?  What made it so difficult?

At first blush I thought that this'd be a snap.  Then I re-read the question again.  "What is the most difficult literary work you've read?"  Ahh, well then, I guess I can't talk about the dozen, or more times, that I have tried to read Ulysses by James Joyce, and ended up hurling it across the room in frustration several days later.  Yes, gentle reader, I even broke the back of an edition of Ulysses in one of my momentary fits of rage and frustration.  I have since entered a 12-step program that has kept me Joyce-free for nearly fifteen years now, and I have never injured another book.

Okay, back to the question at hand.  My answer to the question must surely be Cormac McCarthy's horrific novel Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West published in 1985.  While not profoundly intellectually challenging like one of Joyce's novels, or something by Pynchon, McCarthy has basically put a small thermonuclear device between the covers of this novel, and then double-dares you to open it and read it.  This novel is probably the most relentlessly brutal and savage novel that you'll ever read.  I compare reading this novel to looking at and trying to decipher the meaning of a painting by the Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516).  Blood Meridian is ostensibly based upon a series of historical events that occurred along the U.S./Mexico border region from Texas to San Diego in the mid-19th century, involving a gang of outlaws (the Glanton Gang) led by the fictional 'Judge Holden'--a man so evil that he almost defies description.  And like Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, the novel is loaded with biblical references and imagery.  The ending is vintage McCarthy too, i.e., completely and totally unexpected.  Harold Bloom considers McCarthy's Blood Meridian to be one of the great American novels of the 20th century and called it "the ultimate western."  Bloom and several other critics have compared it to Melville's Moby-Dick in its literary quality and importance to the American canon.  Even though it is a tough read, every time I read Blood Meridian I am able to discover something new, kind of like peeling an onion, layer-by-layer and gain a better sense of the novel's message.  I have come to the conclusion that Cormac McCarthy is the modern-American equivalent of Thomas Hardy--bleak, dark, and that fate and chance play a major role in his plotting.

Is Blood Meridian McCarthy's best novel?  Well, the critics would sure have you think so.  For me though, I think that I like his much earlier novel Outer Dark (1968) even more; and then his "Borderlands Trilogy" that includes All The Pretty Horses (1992), The Crossing (1994), and Cities of the Plain (1998) are truly amazing novels that I re-read every few years.  And for those of you who have read McCarthy's No Country for Old Men (2005), or saw the recent film adaptation by Joel and Ethan Coen of the same title; well, you obviously have an understanding of McCarthy's penchant for unrelenting violence and a difficult ending.

Well, there it is--my most difficult novel to read--Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthy.

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Veteran's Day, PTSD, and Classic War Literature

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the great guns finally fell silent across Europe.  The First World War, the War to end all Wars, was over.  Unfortunately in just over 20 years the world was again at war; and again tens of millions of humans would be killed and millions more displaced.  Yesterday, the 92nd anniversary of the end of World War I, was Veteran's Day in the United States; and as a veteran myself, I first want to take this opportunity to thank all of my brothers and sisters who have served and are serving in this nation's armed forces.  Where ever you are now please take care of yourself, and look out for your comrades too.

Last night I watched James Gandolfini's HBO documentary, "Wartorn: 1861-2010" about the impacts of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) upon combat veterans, their families, and society as a whole.  While we still have a long, long way to go to fully understanding the psychological impacts and effects of intense combat upon the human mind, both in the short-term and over the long haul, I do believe that we are finally beginning to address this issue and the obligation that society has to treat and care for those afflicted with PTSD.  We simply must do the right and honorable thing for all of those who served our country with honor and dignity themselves.  I highly recommend taking the time to watch Gandolfini's documentary.  It was hard to watch, but an important step in the right direction toward helping these men and women cope with combat-related PTSD.

As most of us who read know, there are great classics of war literature that have been written over the ages.  One can go back nearly three-thousand years to Homer's The Iliad and find descriptions of the savagery and horrors of war, including descriptions of soldiers that were probably afflicted with PTSD.  In fact, Sophocles in his play, Ajax, tells the story of what happens to Great Ajax after he loses the competition with Odysseus for the right to claim the armor of the slain Achilles.  Ajax awakens from a dream, and while 'under the spell' of Athena, he slaughters a flock of sheep thinking that they are the Achaean leaders, including Agamemnon and Odysseus.  When he comes to his senses, he realizes what he has done and is so shamed that he commits suicide.  To me, this sounds like the actions of a combat veteran suffering from PTSD.

Other great examples of classic war literature that describe the horrific effects of combat upon the human mind include Stephen Crane's novel of the American Civil War, The Red Badge of Courage.  Erich Maria Remarque's novel of World War I from the German perspective, All Quiet on the Western Front.  World War I from the American perspective can be found in Dalton's Trumbo's horrifying novel, Johnny Got His Gun.  World War II combat literature includes James Jones' From Here to Eternity, and Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead.  More recently, the American novelist, Charles Frazier, looked back at the Civil War through the eyes of a young Confederate soldier leaving the war and his odyssey to return home in the beautiful novel, Cold Mountain.  This literature, while extraordinarily painful to read, has the power to inform us of the human costs associated with war, and the lesson to us all that war should never, ever be casually entered into.

As this country enters its tenth year of having its armed forces engaged in fighting wars abroad, I ask that you spend a few moments reflecting on the price being paid by our men and women--our soldiers, sailors, and airmen--and the impacts upon their families and our society.  Some of you may even have brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, or fathers and mothers who are abroad, in uniform, fighting in this global war against terrorism.  Thank them for their service for me, and tell them that I am ever so profoundly grateful for all that they do, and what they endure on a daily basis.

Finally, I included the image of the poppies in this posting as poppies have become the symbol representing veterans because of the poem In Flanders Fields, by the Canadian military physician, Colonel John McCrae. In the poem, McCrae wrote of the poppies that bloomed in some of the most bloodied battlefields of Flanders during World War I.  Here is Colonel McCrae's poem--

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

(December 8, 1915)

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