Book Review: No Country For Old Men

10 Jul 2014

"If you knew there was somebody out there afoot that had two million dollars of your money, at what point would you quit lookin' for 'em? That's right. There ain't no such point."

-Cormac McCarthy

This sentence pretty much sums up the book for me. No Country for Old Men is the first novel by Cormac McCarthy that I read, and I quite enjoyed it. It is a tale of money, violence, power and honor.

• Author: Cormac McCarthy
• Published: 2005
• Age Group: Adults

The story is set in a desert town in Texas. It is about a man who stumbles on a fortune left behind by dying Mexican drug cartel. It is also about another man who wants this money back. The struggle to get away with the loot and the compelling urge to survive against a ruthless killer. For him, it is about justice. He doesn't care about the money but only that someone inconvenienced him. The Sheriff of this town, a happy, decorated war veteran cares about his people and is out to save the people in his county.

It's hard for me to put in words the feeling I got from this book. Llewelyn, the guy who stole the money is an ordinary character. He just happens to stumble on the money and then gets engulfed in a war against Chigurh. A psychopath. Chigurh, the main antagonist of the book, is a hitman. With no compassion, no remorse, he simply kills people who are accountable. Yet acts on a moral code, almost honor. Chigurh is, by far, one of the best written characters I've read in a long time. Sheriff Bell, who's musings serve majority of the narrative in this book, is now trying to clean up the mess left behind by Chigurh. While struggling with the enormity of the crimes, he's still trying to save Llewelyn.

McCarthy can be hard to read at times. The story takes too many unconnected jumps until finally coming together. Some people find it too violent. Perhaps it is. Which is why I enjoyed it so much. McCarthy has written a gem in Chigurh. The ultimate badass. I wish all villains be like this. Bell is a little boring but his sarcasm and the dry humor serves well towards the later half of the book. In conclusion, this might end up in the top ten books I've ever read.

Rating: 4.5/5