Children of God
Hopefully, I'm not breaking any laws by quoting:
That reminds me of that Trantham boy had them oldtimey oxes over at the fair here a year or two back. They sulled up on him and wouldn't go till finally he took and built a fire underneath em. The old oxes looked down and seen it and took about five steps and quit again. Trantham boy looked and there set the fire directly in under his wagon. He hollered and crawled up under the wagon and commenced a beatin at the fire with his hat and about that time them old oxes took off again...
When I read this passage from Cormac McCarthy's Child of God I somehow was reminded of the election, and the somewhat halting, stupid pace of our society. Perhaps because it was not long after the election. I remember I read the passage while waiting for some movie to begin; which one I forget, (if I sat here and thought about it for 5 minutes or so I might remember...). Maybe it was that Sky Captain movie... Oh, at least 6, 7 or 8 weeks ago...
This was a book of many white spaces; blank pages between sub-books; blank half-pages between chapters; widths between the lines. And relatively short; just under 200 pages. I was making no progress until last weekend when I forced myself to sit down and read for an hour. Bang! 50 Pages. I had about 44 left going into yesterday, and bang! hammered those out. Now I get to move on, like those (for Kelly) fucking oxes...
Perhaps, I should add that this was not a book about some guy drivin' oxes. For a good part of it I didn't really have a clue. A little mesmerized by Cormac's language. And just now, looking for the above passage, noticing things I hadn't noticed the first time around, maybe I should read it again... but no, it was about Lester Ballard, hillbilly knucklehead, who stumbles upon necrophilia, which leads him down the bloody road of serial killer. That was pretty much it. Ends up in a looney bin.
That reminds me of that Trantham boy had them oldtimey oxes over at the fair here a year or two back. They sulled up on him and wouldn't go till finally he took and built a fire underneath em. The old oxes looked down and seen it and took about five steps and quit again. Trantham boy looked and there set the fire directly in under his wagon. He hollered and crawled up under the wagon and commenced a beatin at the fire with his hat and about that time them old oxes took off again...
When I read this passage from Cormac McCarthy's Child of God I somehow was reminded of the election, and the somewhat halting, stupid pace of our society. Perhaps because it was not long after the election. I remember I read the passage while waiting for some movie to begin; which one I forget, (if I sat here and thought about it for 5 minutes or so I might remember...). Maybe it was that Sky Captain movie... Oh, at least 6, 7 or 8 weeks ago...
This was a book of many white spaces; blank pages between sub-books; blank half-pages between chapters; widths between the lines. And relatively short; just under 200 pages. I was making no progress until last weekend when I forced myself to sit down and read for an hour. Bang! 50 Pages. I had about 44 left going into yesterday, and bang! hammered those out. Now I get to move on, like those (for Kelly) fucking oxes...
Perhaps, I should add that this was not a book about some guy drivin' oxes. For a good part of it I didn't really have a clue. A little mesmerized by Cormac's language. And just now, looking for the above passage, noticing things I hadn't noticed the first time around, maybe I should read it again... but no, it was about Lester Ballard, hillbilly knucklehead, who stumbles upon necrophilia, which leads him down the bloody road of serial killer. That was pretty much it. Ends up in a looney bin.
posted by quantom qurkington at 6:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home