Book Review: No Country For Old Men
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A well-written, intensely-told commentary on opposing forces in nature and humanity. Good vs. Evil, Fate vs. Choice, Mind vs. Soul. McCarthy excels yet again at telling a story of extraordinary depth through the simple minds of complex people. It depicts the age old argument of how humans, in an attempt to make life more simple for themselves, have actually made it so complex that no one has a place in the world. In an attempt to find themselves, humans have become so lost in the quagmire of their own fate that they struggle to find any sense of normalcy in their lives. The depth of the characters and the emotions (or lack thereof) that they’re faced with is so well-portrayed that the book is impossible to put down.
Three main characters dominate the plot. Anton Chigurh, the emotionless, ruthless, murderer lacking any semblance of a conscience, whose only guide is a predestined fate. He is opposed directly by Sheriff Bell, a man of law, whose conscience makes it almost impossible to come to terms with his life thus far - its meaning; it’s ultimate purpose. A snowball of events is set off by the book’s catalyst, Llewellyn Moss. The introduction of “chaos” in the ever-sensitive stability that is humanity in this book. Moss becomes the snowball of what is ultimately the beginning of an avalanche of events forcing all the characters to evaluate their own personal and mutual existence; their so-called fate, whom although they almost never directly interact, lead lives that are so intertwined that they ultimately determine each others’ fates.
A deeply reflective book forcing the reader to form an opinion what purpose they serve in their own life. A must read