Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy has achieved deserved status as a living titan of literary fiction for his philosophical, violent, often deeply moving novels.
“Of course the most famous award he received early on is the MacArthur Fellowship, which essentially allowed him to continue in the process of writing Blood Meridian. It was not until 2006 that he won a Pulitzer for The Road. But you’re right that 1992 was the big turning point in his career, since that’s when he published All the Pretty Horses and that was the first bestseller. He published five novels before that, but each one sold fewer than 5,000 copies. So he was kind of scraping by.” Stacey Peebles the Cormac McCarthy expert introduces us to the author’s works.
After a publishing hiatus of 16 years, Cormac McCarthy has a duo of psychological thriller books out in 2022 called The Passenger & Stella Maris.
Books by Cormac McCarthy
The Passenger
by Cormac McCarthy
Sixteen years after his devastating, Pulitzer Prize-winning post-apocalyptic novel The Road was released, Cormac McCarthy—one of the greatest living American authors—is to publish two further books: two linked novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris.
The two books tell the story of Bobby and Alicia Western, a brother and sister pair tormented by their family history—their physicist father helped invent the atom bomb. In The Passenger, salvage diver Bobby stumbles upon a murder mystery while exploring a submerged plane wreck.
Stella Maris
by Cormac McCarthy
Stella Maris is the second of the linked novels from Pulitzer prize-winning Cormac McCarthy—one of the greatest living American authors.
The two books tell the story of Bobby and Alicia Western, a brother and sister pair tormented by their family history—their physicist father helped invent the atom bomb. In Stella Maris—a novel that unfolds entirely through a transcript of dialogue—maths prodigy Alicia is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Jenny Jackson, McCarthy’s editor, described it to The New York Times as “a novel of ideas”. (“What do you do after you’ve written ‘The Road’?” Jackson added. “The answer is, two books that take on God and existence.”)
The Passenger & Stella Maris
by Cormac McCarthy
Sixteen years after his devastating, Pulitzer Prize-winning post-apocalyptic novel The Road was released, Cormac McCarthy—one of the greatest living American authors—has published two new linked novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris. The two books (shown here as a boxset) tell the story of Bobby and Alicia Western, a brother and sister pair tormented by their family history—their physicist father helped invent the atom bomb. In The Passenger, salvage diver Bobby stumbles upon a murder mystery while exploring a submerged plane wreck. In Stella Maris—a novel that unfolds entirely through a transcript of dialogue—maths prodigy Alicia is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Jenny Jackson, McCarthy's editor, described it to The New York Times as "a novel of ideas". (“What do you do after you’ve written ‘The Road’?” Jackson added. “The answer is, two books that take on God and existence.”)
“It’s an elegant little novel about decidedly inelegant subject matter. I’ve taught it a number of times and I just love how it opens up for the reader. It’s certainly not pyrotechnic or linguistically excessive in the way that both Blood Meridian and Suttree are, but there’s so much going on with it. The reader really has to negotiate her own reaction to the character as the character changes over the course of the book.” Read more...
The Best Cormac McCarthy Books
Stacey Peebles, Literary Scholar
“It is such a powerful story … against an utterly bleak scenario you have the father and the son, and the novel builds up this incredibly emotive relationship….the love the father has for the son and the son’s innate humanity are the two glimmers of hope which endure through the book. It is one of those devastating books which by the time you finish it leaves you numb and changed.” Read more...
James Miller, Literary Scholar
“It is his opus, his great work. Blood Meridian is really the masterpiece, it’s just such a rich mixture of history and metaphysics.” Read more...
The Best Cormac McCarthy Books
Stacey Peebles, Literary Scholar
“Readers really respond to it. It is a nice balance of accessible and challenging. The plot is pretty accessible—again, it doesn’t have either the density or the hyperviolence of Blood Meridian—but the language is gorgeous. It’s got sentences, starting from the first page, that will just stop you cold.” Read more...
The Best Cormac McCarthy Books
Stacey Peebles, Literary Scholar
Interviews where books by Cormac McCarthy were recommended
The Best Cormac McCarthy Books, recommended by Stacey Peebles
From All The Pretty Horses to Blood Meridian to The Road, Cormac McCarthy has achieved deserved status as a living titan of literary fiction for his philosophical, violent, often deeply moving novels. Cormac McCarthy expert Stacey Peebles introduces us to the author’s oeuvre—and tells us that despite its apocalyptic bleakness, The Road is actually McCarthy’s “happiest book.”
The best books on Coming of Age, recommended by Meg Rosoff
The award-winning novelist talks about coming-of-age tales, highlights the wonder of the moment when adolescents find the world suddenly leaping into focus
Esi Edugyan on Books That Influenced Her
Canadian author Esi Edugyan, whose novel Washington Black is shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, picks five books that have inspired her novels, and shares wisdom on what it means to read fiction today
The best books on Wild Places, recommended by Robert Macfarlane
Robert Macfarlane, author of an acclaimed trilogy of books about landscape and human thought tells us about the intrepid, sometimes misanthropic writers who inspired his own investigation of wilderness. He chooses some of his favourite books of nature-writing.
Aleksandar Hemon on Man’s Inhumanity to Man
When reading books, we often empathize with a main character and find redemption in our emotional response to their fate. But it’s more important to think, says Bosnian novelist Aleksandar Hemon. Here, he picks the best books on ‘man’s inhumanity to man.’
The Best Apocalyptic Fiction, recommended by Elliot Ackerman
“Imagination is a national security imperative,” according to acclaimed novelist, journalist and decorated US Marine Elliot Ackerman. He’s written a novel with retired Admiral Jim Stavridis, about what would happen if the US went to war with China. Here, he talks us through his favourite books of apocalyptic fiction—and the truths they reveal about war, humanity, and literature.
The best books on Wilderness, recommended by Mark Boyle
Author and environmentalist Mark Boyle lived for three years without money; now he lives entirely off-grid and eschews all forms of modern technology, in search of a wilder way of living—and of being more in tune with the natural world. Here he discusses his literary inspirations: the best books on wilderness.
The best books on Zombies, recommended by Greg Garrett
Zombies have returned with a vengeance in recent years, the secret to their undying popularity lying in their ability to embody many different kinds of menace, from social unrest to pandemics, financial insecurity to international terrorism. Greg Garrett, author of Living with the Living Dead, recommends five books to help you prepare for the zombie apocalypse
George Monbiot — with An Essential Reading List
Writer and investigative journalist George Monbiot recommends books that have shaped him, and that are crucial reading for those wishing to navigate the current economic and environmental crises.
The Best Apocalyptic Novels, recommended by James Miller
British novelist James Miller recommends his choice of the best apocalyptic novels
Notable New Novels of Fall 2022, recommended by Cal Flyn
Fall is a busy time in publishing, as the biggest names in fiction prepare to release new books in the months leading up to Christmas. Here, Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn rounds up some of the most notable novels of Fall 2022—including two new books from the great American novelist Cormac McCarthy and a sumptuous work of historical fiction from Maggie O’Farrell.
