McCarthy's second novel and the second one in a row that I found underwhelming.

I understand the undercurrent of sin and judgement here. It's quite palpable in McCarthy's prose. But what I can't get past is how thin the story is. We're treated to scene after scene after scene of Culla arriving somewhere, looking for work, having a relatively lengthy and meaningless conversation with someone who eventually points him to the person who can give him work. That conversation is the same one over and over again...where you from? What are you running from? Are you married? It's the same conversation.

Culla's sister Rinthy isn't treated much better, going through her own mostly meaningless meetings with various people on her journey.

Honestly, if any of these meetings served to advance the plot rather than take up space, I would have appreciated them more. Yes, at least some of Culla's previous characters come back around, but still, this novel could have been half the length and still deliver the same message.

Is McCarthy a good writer? Absolutely. His word choice, his phrasing, his eye for detail is incredible. But I'd really like to read something that doesn't have a paper-thin plot that requires page after page of prettily-worded filler to bulk it out. ( )

Både bra och dålig. Lättläst och svårläst. Kommer nog behöva läsas igen för att förstå boken till fullo. ( )

I largely prefer [[Cormac McCarthy]]'s work set in the desert Southwest to that set in the South, but reading him is a delight, even in the darkest of stories. And [Outer Dark] is solidly dark - a man impregnates his sister and abandons the baby in the woods; the child is picked up by a local tradesman, who takes it and gives it over to someone else; the mother goes on a Odyssean quest to find her baby when she discovers her brothers deception; and her brother follows on his own quest to find her; all the while, a chorus of violent wraiths is stalking them. There is more than a minor reflection of McCarthy's later novel, [The Road], but it's only the seed and this book doesn't suffer by comparison.

4 bones!!!! ( )

McCarthy gives the reader a fascinating glimpse into the lives and minds of people who have lived in the back woods of Appalachia for generations - people whose lives seem aimless and with little or no opportunity to question the authority that governs them and which keeps them in their perpetual state of ignorance and poverty. McCarthy’s masterful prose is poignant, at times hilarious, at times breathtaking and heartfelt in its depiction of what some must endure. ( )

A dark and sad and violent book. I'm very impressed with the way McCarthy captures dialect, and his use of language and his style. Not a good book to read if you want cheering up, but a very well written book that makes me want to read more of his work. ( )