Child of God and Outer Dark, by Cormac McCarthy,14 November 2008
Despite the presenter's expressed fear that many people had fled the country to avoid the November book discussion, a select few of us proved that one does not have to like a book in order to actively participate in a lively and informative discussion about it. K said perhaps she should not have used the word "uplifting" to describe Cormac McCarthy's works. Other adjectives mentioned during the discussion were exhilarating, intriguing, depraved, existentialist, and a quote which was a play on the title of another McCarthy book, "No Country for the Fainthearted." Comparisons were made to the recent Courbet exhibit at the Fabre museum (cf. a painting in which a dog is pulling apart a rabbit). Much was said about the author's background, and its probable influence on his writing, e.g. his Catholic upbringing (biblical references) and his own marginal existence (a loner, like his main characters). It was noted that the two books, Child of God and Outer Dark, were written early in his career, and his later books (Border Trilogy, No Country for Old Men) are a bit less harsh.
Cormac McCarthy was born in Rhode Island in 1933. He was the third child of six in an Irish Catholic family, and the first son. He grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was a "handsome, innocent looking creature." He married a fellow student, who was a poet, and they named their son Cullen. (cf. Culla in Outer Dark) He won prizes and fellowships for his literary works, but the money burned a hole in his pocket. He travelled to Ireland on an ocean liner and subsequently changed his name (he had been baptised Charles) to Cormac, after an Irish king. Despite the awards and fellowships, he led a marginal existence, and at one point lived on a pig farm. He is currently married to his third wife. He is a very private person, a loner (like many of his characters). He has granted only one interview, and that to a NY Times Magazine journalist as a favour to his editor.
As to the discussion itself, K told us that her husband read the books and said, "This fellow doesn't see any hope at all." Mood was mentioned - the thought that man is put here in a hopeless world. That was contradicted by a member who did see a message in the stories. Hope? Lack of hope? Hope through struggle? Existentialism? These were just some of the topics raised during the discussion. Some of the replies: We're put here in spite of ourselves. Anyone, in the same situation, might turn out the same. We talked about McCarthy's use of language, and whether he actually invented some of the words he used. (This was a particular stage of his early writing.) Someone mentioned situations where language has failed. We noted that in-breeding is not common only to Appalachia, but there are also similar areas in the Alps and in New Zealand.
We questioned a writer's purpose, and agreed that it depends on the writer. Was Cormac McCarthy trying to shock? Was he just trying to make money? Some writers don't even know the dénouement when they start their story. McCarthy's Catholic upbringing and boarding school background were evident in his often biblical references (cf. the pig stampede). The Bible permeates his works; "outer dark" is a biblical quotation relating to Adam and Eve, and someone mentioned that even in the daylight, it always seems dark. Punishment seems forever present. And yet, is it not more hope than punishment that at the end of Child of God, Lester Ballard, in the opinion of one member, ends up where he should be (in a mental hospital), saying, "I"m supposed to be here."?
Cormac McCarthy's latest work is The Road.
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