FILM THE ROAD AND BOOK BLOOD MERIDIAN BY CORMAC MCCARTHY

Posted on December 13, 2009 by

Blood Meridian Passage.aiYesterday, after having read THE ROAD twice, I saw the film adaptation. As I have said about the book, I was captured and entranced by the characters, who became a part of my life during the read, to the point of distracting me during working hours, especially when I knew they were in trouble. It was no longer a book for me but rather a communication I knew was important, about two fellow travelers struggling to stay alive. I went to the film without any expectations that it should live up to the film or be true to it, as this would set the stage for failure. The book and the film had to stand on their own without help or hinderance from the other. Despite the dark and brooding images lasting throughout and the visualization of the worst of mankind including cannibalism, I felt the film was well done and the intimacy between a man and his son in the most difficult of times conveyed well and without embellishments or Hollywood type injections. The acting is superb and the dialogue well written. The film made me think, despite the fact that I knew the plot well. So I recommend that people see this film, which may not sell as well as Avatar but will stand the test of time and I predict will have legs for years to come, as did the film ON THE BEACH, based on the apocalyptic book by NEVILLE SHUTE. Now, I am on to reading another of Cormac McCarthy’s books, BLOOD MERIDIAN about life in the early 1800’s in Texas and New Mexico. Cormac researched this heavily before writing and has depicted man’s heart of darkness and brutality with skill and poetry. Be prepared for the worst but know that it all happened. A worthwhile gift for the holidays, either in paperback or on tape. My favorite character, without giving away the plot, is THE JUDGE. An ecclectic and intellectual fellow widely read and traveled, a former lawyer, he is also much much more and I have met people like him and these people are to be feared.

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