Cormac McCarthy's Meditation on Evil: Blood Meridian
by Caser
The bloodline of malice that runs from Grendel's Mother to Iago to Moby Dick reaches its apocalyptic incarnation in Judge Holden of Cormac McCarthy's 1985 novel, Blood Meridian. Set on the Mexico-U.S. border in the late 1800s, the Judge, the Kid, and the rest of Glanton's historically-based gang are hired scalp hunters tracking down Apaches and Comanches for anyone willing to foot the bill.
Saying this story isn't for the faint of heart is a devastating understatement; the incessant and brutal violence begins on page four and only increases in severity until the epilogue, where a mysterious figure rises from the desert floor, presumably to take on -- if not replace -- the ageless Judge. This is McCarthy's unparalleled master work of fiction, dense in symbolism and as mercurial in style as a Schoenberg twelve-tone piece. Both difficult and complex, Blood Meridian is probably not the best introduction to McCarthy's work, but for those who found Anton Chigurh compelling in No Country for Old Men, introduce yourself to the Judge.
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