Understanding Blood Meridian
Рет қаралды 13,711
Жыл бұрынWelcome to Book By Book, the user-guided literature series! Members guide book discussions by submitting works for review - one-hour videos are uploaded according to request load and popularity. All discussions are live and archived on the channel.
This live discussion centers on the enigmatic classic “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy, drawing from a watershed study by Dr. Michael Lynn Crews in which he identifies direct references to great works and authors in McCarthy’s private notes and correspondences, contained in the Wittliff Collection at Texas State University. Recently, a whole new generation of readers have expressed the need for deeper insight into McCarthy’s intentions within the novel. This discussion is designed to explore his influences through Dr Crews’s work in an effort to approach a serious evaluation of the book.
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MICHAEL CREWS: baylor-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/h...
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*** u/ShireBeware is currently on a journey to document their expedition of McCarthy’s trail through Chihuahua, Mexico. It is highly momentous to hold this discussion in light of such a project!
#blood #meridian #mccarthy #violence #understanding #lecture #discussion #analysis #insight #help #books #literature #classic #nietzsche #spengler #comprehension #study
@bakamangakka7139 10 ай бұрын
Not gonna lie, my favourite part of the book was when the Judge said, "I'll be the judge of that!" and then judged everyone
@euphegenia Ай бұрын
sweet stolen comment from Wendigoon's video
@barbarajohnson1442 9 ай бұрын
Wonderful!!!! Thank you for such an in depth review, the homage to Byron, Spengler, Nietzche and Schopenhauer-so helpful. These influences enrich. I loved knowing, before, how the painter, Inness, was influenced by Schopenhauer--transformed his work.
@justminty. Жыл бұрын
Just found your channel after reading Blood Meridian for the first time and I loved listening to your video! I hope you will continue with Blood Meridian. After finishing I immediately felt the urge to jump right back in from the beginning. The Judge is such an interesting and frightening character. Blood Meridian has inspired me to also read Moby Dick and The Brothers Karamazov. Thank you for your content and I hope to see more!
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
I'm so happy. This is all I want. As we see in the paper by Michael Crews, it's clear Blood Meridian is teeming with references. It's worth rethinking again and again. There'll be another video on Chapters 11 and 23 specifically, so please look out for it!
@NickMeisher Жыл бұрын
I read 1/2 of Moby Dick, and ran out of gas. I re-read (or re-listen) to Blood Meridian every 2 years. Along with 'Name of the Rose', one of my favorites.
@nbyrd2579 Жыл бұрын
Keep going man. I had a feeling your video was going to be solid when you pointed out that no Blood Meridian analysis video on KZfaq was hitting the spot for you. I feel that way for a lot of videos about books and movies.
@kaisermonki2708 Жыл бұрын
Hope your channel blows up in popularity! I love your presentation style, its like a literary fireside chat
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
I love the idea. Thanks for watching!
@timmorrill1379 4 ай бұрын
Just subscribed after watching your Passenger video.Very impressive.Look foward to watching more of your content.
@IrishTechnicalThinker Жыл бұрын
Really enjoyed this and I'm a big Stephen King fan but only recently got into McCarthy, fascinating writer. I personally believe that the judge actually did NOT kill the Kid but instead made love to him to finalise his dominance, then they both killed the little missing dancing bear girl together in a display of their love of violence. And it was not the judge who killed the kids throughout the book but in fact the Kid. Remember when the Kid was in prison and the judge came to visit him, he said he always loved him and tells him to come closer to him so he can touch the kid but the Kid refused. When the Kid finally arrives at the bar with the dancing bear, this is perhaps the judge confirming to himself that the Kid truly does love him by returning to him as a Man. The judge did not kill the Kid because the judge simply loves him but in a real sinister way. The dance is making love to the judge and killing, the proper ultimate game to the judge is dominance over others. Those who dance and those who don't.
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
So glad you took the time to watch. Might need a few days to live down this explanation of the ending.
@IrishTechnicalThinker Жыл бұрын
@@bookbybookdiscussions I enjoy listening to different perspectives, so your analysis was helpful but that book ending is very mysterious. I've been trying to figure it out for weeks.
@triplecloudy 10 ай бұрын
I've thought this for a long time as well. Only I don't think the judge had sex with the man; I think he embraced him and controlled him like a puppet while they raped/killed the bear girl together. Just like when we see the judge with the idiot and the young girl in their room at the ferry crossing. The judge was naked, but I believe he was getting off on manipulating the idiot to abuse the girl rather than doing it himself. He takes the blame for all of the child abductions throughout the book because he knows he's the only person who could get away with it. If the kid were found doing any of those acts, even the wretched members of the Glanton gang would have strung him up. The judge makes this very clear to the kid in their first meeting in the tent when he rallies a gang made up of society's worst to turn on a preacher with the mere mention that he had violated a young girl.
@dreyri2736 Жыл бұрын
Coming back to say this is propably the best vid on BM. Really made me see it in a different way.
@barbarajohnson1442 9 ай бұрын
And his review of The Passenger!! Truly a brilliant mind here
@juancarlosgallegos3902 Жыл бұрын
Finally! A video about Blood Meridian that is worth its length! (Ok the Yale lectures are decent, too.) Appreciate you.
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
Thank you !
@cryssiejohnson2984 Жыл бұрын
This was incredibly valuable and well explained, thank you! Can't wait to see more content from you. I'm sure you probably want to move away from McCarthy but I'd love to see a deep dive into Child of God, if that's something you would be interested in doing. I think it also has themes that you can see carried into Blood Meridian and I love the way it was written and the ways the prose changed through the course of the novel, but (understably lol) I've not found many sources discussing it. Just a thought, thank you again for bringing some fresh perspective to Blood Meridian!
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
I would love to do Child of God. Keep your eyes peeled!
@sofiasilvestrova9165 Жыл бұрын
such an insightful video! just finished my first reading of Blood Meridian a few days ago and i’ve been consuming everything i could find about it and already added about 10 books to my TBR list to follow it up for greater context. i can already sense how exciting it will be to re-read! really looking forward to other BM-related videos from you. can you share the name of/link the documentary you mentioned at the very beginning, the one about the history of westward expansion?
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
Thank you! There will be two more videos on Blood Meridian specifically but I will only do chapters or sections if people request it. Here is the first part of that documentary: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l8eHYNuqsb6odIU.html
@dianal.clausen8118 Жыл бұрын
I wish you would have included Melville as just get what all the fuss is about Moby Dick and I've read it twice trying to appreciate it. Thank you for all the work you did on this. I am a fan of McCarthy and truly appreciate Blood Meridian as well as Suttree. Wish I did same with Melville and Moby Dick. Look forward to more from you.
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
Thank you so much! I will do a Melville video.
@juancarlosgallegos3902 Жыл бұрын
It was really interesting, the quote you gave from The Gay Science about the role of inflicting pain as a way to have power over others. "we hurt those to whom we need to make our power perceptible pain is a much more sensitive means to that end than pleasure pain always ask for the cause while the pleasure is inclined to stop with itself and not look back" Your analysis afterwards confused me a bit though. The most obvious connection I see is to the judge, who overpowers and consumes all around him for his own sustenance.
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
So sorry if it got confusing! The second half was meant to explore the deeper background of the "will to power," which is a major component of the book. I'll be sure to more clearly introduce and lead into sections in future vids. Thanks so much for watching!
@Bilboswaggins2077 7 ай бұрын
38:48 book mark
@domsooch Жыл бұрын
I listened to Blood Meridian while riding on a 2-day 200-mile bike ride from Seattle to Portland. This had a very weird effects on me and I had to stop a few times to stop myself from throwing up. was it the heat? I don't know, but it was certainly a unique way to experience this unnecessarily grueling story.
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
That's an amazing story. I can't imagine a more oddly appropriate context for going through the book. Also must have been gnarly just cruising and hearing about the iconic gruesome bits. Thanks for watching!
@epb22 Жыл бұрын
I read Darwin's Dangerous Idea on a long bike ride. It's not fiction but what it calls the "Universal Acid of Darwinism" is a big part of how the judge explains the universe.
@ComeInAlone00000 Жыл бұрын
that 3 part documentary focusing on the historical aspects, I didn't see the link. would you mind linking it?
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l8eHYNuqsb6odIU.html here!
@shockwave2617 Жыл бұрын
What's the title of the documentary covering the historical context of Blood Meridian?
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l8eHYNuqsb6odIU.html enjoy!
@ShadowedAgony Жыл бұрын
This is so good. Thank you for this, so much of the content on here is disappointing.
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
Thanks so much!
@wiwysova Жыл бұрын
Bro weird I started watching this at 11pm my time this day
@edwardm.1067 Жыл бұрын
19:00
@TheRealDarrylStrawberry 3 ай бұрын
The F brand stands for Fraymaker
@rainastor4789 Жыл бұрын
Fascinated by this, but have not finished watching because have not read the book yet. Trying to work up the nerve! Are there spoilers in this video?
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching! I only go over the first chapter, so no major spoilers. After the end of the first chapter I mention where the video gets into later content, I mainly designed this for people currently reading the book.
@basementmadetapes Жыл бұрын
I watched that Harvard professor's discussion and was shocked by how poor their reading was. And I think Blood Meridian is in direct conversation with Moby Dick. There are so many allusions
@juancarlosgallegos3902 Жыл бұрын
The first of the two Yale lectures on Blood Meridian on KZfaq talks a lot about the allusions. Worth a watch if you're interested in that!
@asabovesobelow1362 Жыл бұрын
It's a bit of an inversion though with Moby Dick representing god and The Judge representing this supernatural force of lawful evil/war. Both bald and white and sinewed with great strength and malice.
@basementmadetapes Жыл бұрын
@@asabovesobelow1362 exactly. But in the Yale discussions the prof makes the claim that the captain Ahab's analog is the judge to which I fiercely disagree. I think that's a erred conclusion when in so many ways the whale and the judge are far more comparable
@asabovesobelow1362 Жыл бұрын
@@basementmadetapes Yeah the only thing the Judge and Ahab have in common is their pride, Ahab in that he was driven by his desire for revenge against what was in his eyes and unjust god who slighted him and Ahab wanted to go for an eye for an eye. Ahab insists that no man or God shall rule over him and that he will bow to no one and spit in the eye of the sun if it insults him. The Judge's pride was that he'd consider himself a king of kings and a ruler of the world and all lifeforms, if anything Glanton was more similar to Ahab as both were driven on their journey by a supernatural godly being. The Kid and Ishmael have similar arcs in that they are both the lone survivors at the end of their journey save for the great white beasts who mean different things in the two books.
@basementmadetapes Жыл бұрын
@@asabovesobelow1362 facts. I also see Glanton as far more comparable to Ahab. Both are v capable leaders, both have a mystery unto themselves. Almost like penultimate man. Glanton says he can man anything that eats, and proves it more or less, and Ahab masters a rogue crew selected specifically for the hunt. Both Glanton and Ahab have essentially sold their soul to the devil. But in Glanton's case, he takes the devil as counsel, and Ahab is driven to his own death obsessed w conquering the devil
@GoldBankker Жыл бұрын
It is human history. Every world power ever has insisted equally aweful things being done.
@kdot78 Жыл бұрын
This is good
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching!
@kdot78 Жыл бұрын
@@bookbybookdiscussions you make good content and I'll keep watching. 👍
@ShadowedAgony Жыл бұрын
Have you thought about discussing any other chapters?
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
I could do a 12 hour video on every single chapter, so it's really down to demand. I reckoned most people struggle to get into the book, so Chapter 1 would be the best. But I'd love to do the first village raid, the Yuma crossing, the katabasis. Just prod me!!
@ShadowedAgony Жыл бұрын
@@bookbybookdiscussions I can't speak for everyone else but i'd love a breakdown of all the events you listed and I'd definitely be interested in a 12 hour video lol. If i had a personal request I'd pick an entire video on McCarthy’s use of Witness as a theme. If I were to prod, suggest or simply pick a chapter it would either be chapter 11 or 23. The former being that I find the Harness maker story interesting and latter because the conversion between the man and The Judge is so dense.
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
@@ShadowedAgony Thanks you just mapped out the next series on this channel!
@ShadowedAgony Жыл бұрын
@@bookbybookdiscussions I’m honored, probably brings more honor to me than I can bear but I’m glad to have inspired/prodded :)
@kdot78 Жыл бұрын
@@ShadowedAgony that would be very nice.
@Goathill Жыл бұрын
Just a point the Rev. Green was not killed.
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
Yes I messed this point up, but fortunately in this context the people were intent on skinning him anyway
@Goathill Жыл бұрын
@@bookbybookdiscussions Agreed.
@nmghmarquis2583 Жыл бұрын
hmmm4_4 Goood show kinda nice
@herrklamm1454 Жыл бұрын
The camera’s to your right mate.
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
Thanks, I've been looking for it
@billjacksonville Жыл бұрын
Don’t be too critical, he is possibly blind and can’t see camera.
@ripevanwinkle494 9 ай бұрын
Its his good side.
@garylevine5698 7 ай бұрын
The tent scene shows the Judge is " the father of lies".
@wids Жыл бұрын
Hello
@bookbybookdiscussions Жыл бұрын
Hello Wids. Let me know if there are any particular books you'd like reviewed!
@alexrediger2099 10 ай бұрын
Great job. You're filling in missed analysis
@destroytheevidencebookclub 5 ай бұрын
kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nM-FgJWWmL_MYqc.html
@Rand0mHero713 Жыл бұрын
🤡
@dreyri2736 Жыл бұрын
It's ok. Nietzsche doesn't make sense anyway.
@DwreckJ Жыл бұрын
Oof
@juancarlosgallegos3902 Жыл бұрын
Hmmwell the quote given here makes a lot of sense, heh.
@Rand0mHero713 Жыл бұрын
You don't need to cry at every sentence. It's a book it's not that serious
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