RIP, Cormac. Thanks for doing your thing so well, for so long.

Cormac McCarthy is just one of those people who is intimidatingly smart.

“War was always here, waiting for us.”

I could literally listen to this man talk all day. And not just because he's one of the greatest writers of all time, but also just because his voice is so damn soothing. XD

Reading Cormac McCarthy is a cathartic experience. An amazing cathartic experience.

Cormac McCarthy is a brilliant writer! The best of the best.

We lost a legend of literature. Rest In Pages

I'd love Cormac McCarthy to narrate audiobooks of his works, but Richard Poe is a damn good second choice!

Such a wise and worldly perspective, exactly what made his writing so unique. I love how whenever I read a McCarthy novel there’s a fusion of primal feeling with worldly understanding. Even the books I didn’t particularly care for were clearly written by a master storyteller

Great exposure for him, but Oprah is one of the last people I'd pick to interview this man.

His thoughts on the subconscious remind me of Carl Jung's writings on the collective unconscious. I truly get the same type of dark isolated feeling when I read the works of both men.

"its the brain thing" hahaha

I love that he made Nash the co-author

Rest In Peace.

During the interview Cormac refers to [August] Kekule's Dream. Fascinating!

RIP to the legend

I SO wish Dick Cavett had interviewed him instead..

Why writing can be hard is you can't keep up with the subconscious flow. Channeling it's speed into word is difficult. But as justice Holmes called it like pissing. You open a vein and it flows.

Excellent author!!

After reading a lot of books about the lives of authors and musicians, I think Cormac's fascination with the subconscious and his implicit trust in its guiding direction is spot on. Nearly every author of some renown has said they have absolutely no idea where their stories come from, absent any real life experience or research that might serve as the basis for their novel. But for completely fictional works it really does seem like these ideas just suddenly hit them and they're never at a complete loss for where to take them. From beginning to end their subconscious is producing the material and they feel like scribes writing down words and ideas that don't entirely feel like they're their own thoughts. It's as if they're a medium for something else. Musicians seem to be the same way. Keith Richards, in his autobiography "Life" said something about how when he's writing his guitar riffs, it's almost as if they're emerging from some subconscious ether, and he just has to be determined enough to keep chasing this thing that he knows already exists somewhere else, but he has to bring it into existence here. Michael Jackson had the same spooky experience writing his music. It just comes from someplace beyond their own ability to think or feel, as if they've been bestowed with a gift from the beyond.

Wow.. Unbelievable dream solving. With Russel Crowes character at that 😂. Real life is crazier then any fiction. Sad how many views Cormacs interviews have on KZfaq. He is a brilliant man. Brilliant and inspiring. 💡

One thing I've learned is you need to step out of the way. The creativity is living within you.

Bugger! I wanted to hear more of this interview.

Regardless of your thoughts on Oprah it's nice to put a face to the genius works he's accomplished over a lifetime.

Nash as co-author: that’s gratitude.

Mr.Cormac, it's nice to having you on my way...

brilliant..

We miss you so much, Mr McCarthy

Some people's comments on here are hilarious for the reasons that they are exaggerated. The man is merely making theoretical points about the subconscious. Some of which are subjective even. Lol

“It’s that brain thing again” -- 🧐

Watching this made me realize that Cormac Mcarthy is as articulate as he is brilliant. And that I miss Oprah, people don't realize what it means to be a great interviewer, she is so disarming, that she allows Cormac to go on about these elegant stories. She is us, a collective vessel for the audience.

Oprah has made a career out of sounding like the smartest person in the room. She's not used to talking to a guy like this.

Amazing how many of these ideas are in The Passenger/Stella Maris. Almost verbatim. Goes to show how long he’s been asking these questions, only to find more questions. Rest in peace, Cormac.

Subconscious is a "committee" and they have "meetings"? Is it just me, or was Pixar inspired to make "Inside Out" after watching this interview? Cormac McCarthy has something else to add to his resume.

"Whoa"- Oprah's response to Cormac McCarthy.

RIP Sir..

Oprah isn't as knowledgeable on writing, the subconscious, or the history of language as Cormac McCarthy, a Pulitzer Prize winning author who spends his free time among scientists and others at an interdisciplinary scientific research organization (Santa Fe Institute, mentioned by McCarthy in this interview)? Well, of course. There's nothing embarrassing about that. Her money and clout allowed this interview to happen. It is silly to criticize her. McCarthy wasn't remotely condescending.

What an interesting man he was. RIP Cormac.

My hero

Este homem, é um gênio...

I wonder if John Nash actually dreamed about talking to the mathematician as well :)

Things that seem difficult for mundane people just seem so easy for those with true capability. He talks about writing as if it were making a sandwich. Which, to him, it probably was.

"its that brain thing again" - god what an intellect she is

1:42 ... And that's how a destroyed mind sounds.

I’m listening

RIP giant.

I don’t see how the unconscious could be older than language, since language is, to my mind, essentially what defines us as Subjects. But of course, the two are _intimately_ related (parapraxis/slips, jokes, stutters, the signifying chain, etc).

I’m reading The Road right now, it’s an incredible book I can’t put it down. His writing style is absolutely reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway’s minimalist, direct writing style with short simple sentences and to the point story telling. I’ll most likely be reading everything he wrote.

Nash as co author, haha, I almost believed it until that point. good one

thats intense, man

Cormac would love the Lars von Trier Melancholia Press video!!!

Can we just edit Oprah out of this?

WOW

RIP

Oh, to talk with this man…

So....could my subconscious mind solve all my "problems"? I have pleaded with myself to fix these problems. I think my problem is that It is my conscious mind that is pleading with my conscious mind to "fix" my problems that my subconscious maybe doesn't even accept as problems? How do I communicate with my subconscious mind consciously?

He speaks like Daniel Day Lewis's Lincoln.

What math paper was that? Who was the author besides Nash?

An intellectual mismatch in this one..

I read The Road which I enjoyed. I haven't read any of his other books, but he has his own unique style of writing.

1:42 Oprah with the most delayed fake understanding ever.

The way he described the subconscious is my exact thought process when I’ve tripped on mushrooms lol

I would die if I could just have one hour with this man. I feel like we would be great friends. I need to talk about the conscious and subconscious literature its meanings its teachings and life.

genius genius genius

The subconscious like from Inside Out!

"Can I buy some pot from you?"

Bro! He’s smart AF

When she shuts up , then we learn.

"The same thing that tells you what to write, tells you when to stop writing it." Fuck me.

I’ve read The Crossing, All the Pretty Horses & No Country For Old Men. Any recommendations on the next book of his to crack?

Stephen King wrote in his book On Writing that he sometimes was not able to understand "whacks of" McCarthy's writing.

i don't know what it is like for other ppl but whatever your eyes register ears note down nose catches is stored and given back to you when you want it depending if you know how to retrive the files and if your intelligences level is on par with your subconscious what is given back to you will be of higher level then what you put in minus all the bugs . I understand why he would rather hang out with engineers and scientists for the simple reson their inputs are of much higher quality then the rest of humanity. and that is in no way a attempt to diss the contributions of others because no one can fuction on high level all the time without cracking couple of fart jokes to give space for everything to be filed and processed in it's rightful place balance is the key to everything .

1:42 Oprah bamboozled 😂

But she stood on the heads of those little peoples....😂

The subconscious endures. As well ask men what they think of stone.

The sunconscious thinks with symbols and communicates with them too.

such a waste of an exclusive opportunity to speak with such an amazing dude

4:50 Oprah pretending to act amazed

Oprah: “…Yeah…”

Oprah - 'John Nash' 😳

She has no idea even the language she’s lacking

Does anyone know the MIT mathematician McCarthy is referring to?

Cormorant McCarthy has a car under his chair.

Never thought a day would come when I would be defending Oprah, but I think most people in the comments are being too harsh. Not the smartest person in the room by any stretch of the imagination, but not as dumb as people seem to think she is. Her demeanour and comments show she is a thoughtful listener at least (as well as a fairly diligent reader of McCarthy), well ahead of most interviewers these days. Even the fact that she actually read his books before interviewing him puts her ahead of most.

1:42 Oprah's mind explodes

It's that brain thing again! Wtf lolololol....!!!

This is how your mind ends up if you live a free life of discovery. I hope someone recorded and stored every word that old man said. Continuing his research matters. The truth about is GOD real in a yes or no answer for all and for all time with undeniable evidence. He enjoyed making guys like me frustrated, I enjoy knowing he knows I was always right now. GOD is real. Faith requires zero evidence. Rest in Peace old man. The worlds gonna miss you and your stories .

Oprah was like: "Hell, we usually don't discuss these things with Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Angelina Jolie." Way above her level. Embarrassing to watch.

feel sorry for Cormac having to endure that interview

I've never wanted to watch or listen to this woman, but, obviously, many have; have I missed something critical ?

Oprah is right up there with Joe Rogan is wisdom: Wow

I can't believe people are shitting on Oprah for this in the commets. She is doing a perfectly fine job, she's giving him room to answer the question and develop his thoughts. This isn't supposed to be a discussion or debate, she's hear to ask him questions and let him answer.

Every time I disparage the intelligence of the interviewer ability to create a narrative. It’s removed

Think he plays Pokémon Go?

Cormac said he hated punctuation. Unnecessary

What did Henry Miller say in French? Jakkuu, I’m listening?? Can anyone translate?

She was way over her head talking to an author of his weight.

Carl Jung all over the place !!

He wrote a paper about how languages develop. If I link it here, youtube will delete my comment.

The USA belive that oprah is intelligent?? 😅 oh america ....