|
| Suttree (Picador Books) | 
 enlarge | Author: Cormac Mccarthy
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £2.49
You Save: £5.50 (69%)
New (23) from £2.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 5732
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 480
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0330306421
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780330306423
ASIN: 0330306421
Publication Date: March 10, 1989
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews:
Magnum Opus For McCarthy November 22, 2008
Cormac McCarthy has carved a solitary path on the literary map with Suttree, in my opinion he is one of the worlds best novelists, he is certainly inimitable. His prose bristles with poetry and his dialogue is often hilarious. It is the imagery from the gang raped whore in an abandoned car to the murky flow of the river through an at times woeful Knoxville that realy stays with you, the prose stings and sears and underlying it all is a great mind thinking and contemplating the barren and the beautiful, the meaning and the essence of life and death.
Powerful and Captivating Story-Telling: McCarthy At His Best September 30, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
'Suttree' is the not the first book by Cormac McCarthy that I have read and it will not be the last.
As with his other earlier novels 'Suttree' is essentially a story about the hurdles that have to be negotiated by the portrayed characters as their lives progress; in this case the main character is Cornelius Suttree, a vagrant living alone in poverty on a houseboat on the Tennessee River who survives mainly on the income he derives from selling the fish he catches.
The writing of McCarthy rarely involves a significant plot and 'Suttree' is no exception; we do nothing more (and that is not meant to be a criticism) than follow the struggles and situations that befall this character and meet people that he crosses paths with (which include long-term 'friends', the occasional relative, people he trades or works with and those he attempts to have a deeper relationship with....). For me to reveal any more detail of the story would be unfair to a first-time reader.
Whilst this overall premise may seem unattractive as the basis of a novel, it is the poetic and emotional nature of McCarthys writing which compels you to follow the journey. Quite how one can read, for example, page after page of apparently benign conversation between characters without getting bored or feeling uninterested I cannot easily explain, but McCarthy manages to achieve it. For my part, the attraction is more often than not because I grow to feel an affection for the characters and an interest in their lives and fate.
A significant additional attraction are the frequent exchanges, comments and discussions between the characters which, for the most part, are of a nature that the reader will not have been exposed to before with other authors. At first the language might seem bizarre or coarse, but it is (in my opinion) often unique, hilarious and fascinating. McCarthy makes no effort to simplify what characters say; you get the text as they would say it, truncated, slang, foreign language - warts and all !
Regarding the style of writing: His trait of describing an environment with what appear to be bizarre comparison techniques entices you to try and visualise the scene and makes reading the text even more addictive. It is surprising how brief his descriptions of people and surroundings can be, yet he has the ability to convince the reader that they have achieved an accurate 'vision', because he employs an extremely wide vocabulary and those blunt comparative phrases. The trademark absence of punctuation and speech marks, and regular use of extremely long sentences, may well deter some from committing themselves to reading the novel - but that is their loss.
A noteworthy feature of this novel is the 3-page introduction, which is a stunning compilation of descriptive paragraphs with no explanation as to their significance with what is to follow....
'Suttree' is a rich and vivid tale, which is regularly traumatic but just as often entertaining and wryly funny. Like his other novels, it has the ability to invoke deep emotions and long-lasting memories which will make your skin tingle.
Best Book I've Probably Ever Read February 12, 2006
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I have loved all the Cormac McCarthy books I've read but this is my favourite. Like all his books this is a bleak, lonesome tale that inhabits you. Despite its elegaic sadness there is humour and a core human warmth. I read this book almost two years ago and I still miss the key characters. I urge you to read this book!
My favourite book. (And I've read some). February 18, 2004
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
People often ask what your favourite record is, or your top five movies, even your favourite food. I have always found it very difficult to answer these questions, and my answers will change from day to day depending on mood. Now Cormac McCarthy has brought a little certainty to my life. This is WITHOUT ANY SHADOW OF DOUBT my favourite book. It has everything from wry comedy to hideous tragedy, plot driven action to melancholy contemplation. Every adult male will recognise at least a part of himself in these destitute, stinky characters; and a very uncomfortable realization that can be. And to top it all off, the language employed by McCarthy is of the most beautiful expressive nature. I defy anyone to show me an author that can decribe a filthy riverbank, or a pickled vagrant with such obvious love of words. Go on, read it, and disagree if you dare. We are indeed 'whelmed in dark riot'.
One of his best books March 5, 2001
27 out of 29 found this review helpful
Suttree is the name of the character who the book is about, a man who lives on a houseboat in Knoxville and makes a threadbare living as a fisherman. In it's own way it's one of McCarthy's best. The book is very much in the author's distinctive style but there are many more descriptions of suburban settings than some of his books, and he really goes to town! No-one brings out the wild poetry of such places as wastelots, riversides, shanties and city catacombs like him. Suttree meets various characters who live very much 'on the fringe' like him. The dialogue is exceptional and there are some excrutiatingly funny moments. There are also some slower bits but this is fortunate since it helps you not to finish the book too quickly! The themes of the book are similar to 'Tortilla Flat' by Steinbeck, which is also delightful, but this work is much denser and deeper. I can sense that the author is personally very close to this work. If you like Cormac McCarthy, you should do yourself a favour and get hold of this one.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
