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No Country for Old Men
by Cormac McCarthy

Published: 2005-07-19
Hardcover : 320 pages
3 members reading this now
6 clubs reading this now
6 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 1 of 1 members
Set in our own time along the bloody frontier between Texas and Mexico, this is Cormac McCarthy’s first novel since Cities of the Plain completed his acclaimed, best-selling Border Trilogy.

Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, instead finds men shot dead, a load of ...

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Introduction

Set in our own time along the bloody frontier between Texas and Mexico, this is Cormac McCarthy’s first novel since Cities of the Plain completed his acclaimed, best-selling Border Trilogy.

Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, instead finds men shot dead, a load of heroin, and more than $2 million in cash. Packing the money out, he knows, will change everything. But only after two more men are murdered does a victim’s burning car lead Sheriff Bell to the carnage out in the desert, and he soon realizes how desperately Moss and his young wife need protection. One party in the failed transaction hires an ex–Special Forces officer to defend his interests against a mesmerizing freelancer, while on either side are men accustomed to spectacular violence and mayhem. The pursuit stretches up and down and across the border, each participant seemingly determined to answer what one asks another: how does a man decide in what order to abandon his life?

A harrowing story of a war that society is waging on itself, and an enduring meditation on the ties of love and blood and duty that inform lives and shape destinies, No Country for Old Men is a novel of extraordinary resonance and power.

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

I

I sent one boy to the gaschamber at Huntsville. One and only one. My arrest and my testimony. I went up there and visited with him two or three times. Three times. The last time was the day of his execution. I didnt have to go but I did. I sure didnt want to. He’d killed a fourteen year old girl and I can tell you right now I never did have no great desire to visit with him let alone go to his execution but I done it. The papers said it was a crime of passion and he told me there wasnt no passion to it. He’d been datin this girl, young as she was. He was nineteen. And he told me that he had been plannin to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said that if they turned him out he’d do it again. Said he knew he was goin to hell. Told it to me out of his own mouth. I dont know what to make of that. I surely dont. I thought I’d never seen a person like that and it got me to wonderin if maybe he was some new kind. I watched them strap him into the seat and shut the door. He might of looked a bit nervous about it but that was about all. I really believe that he knew he was goin to be in hell in fifteen minutes. I believe that. And I’ve thought about that a lot. He was not hard to talk to. Called me Sheriff. But I didnt know what to say to him. What do you say to a man that by his own admission has no soul? Why would you say anything? I’ve thought about it a good deal. But he wasnt nothin compared to what was comin down the pike. ... view entire excerpt...

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Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
  "Great book!"by Kayla F. (see profile) 06/18/12

 
  "No Country for Old Men"by Dana P. (see profile) 06/23/09

The author added interesting twists and perspectives to create an out of the ordinary cop and robber story.

 
  "Violent, disturbing and captivating"by Andrea H. (see profile) 04/19/08

No Country for Old Men has a gripping story line from the very beginning which has you guessing the consequences of each action along the way. While the violence is disturbing, it reflects some of the... (read more)

 
  "Too gruesome."by Hope C. (see profile) 01/27/08

Only one member of our 10-member bookclub enjoyed reading this book. Most of us didn't like the subject matter, and most didn't like the style of writing.

 
  "Excellent book for discussion"by Lauren M. (see profile) 05/14/07

My book club thoroughly enjoyed this book. All of the characters are infuriating, thought provoking, and you can relate to all of them dispite their many, many flaws.

 
  "violent, difficult to follow, grim"by Susan B. (see profile) 02/09/07

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