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The Sunset Limited
A startling encounter on a New York subway platform leads two strangers to a run-down tenement where a life or death decision must be made.
In that small apartment, Black and White, as the two men are known, begin a conversation that leads each back through his own history, mining the origins of two fundamentally opposing world views. White is a professor whose seemingly enviable existence of relative ease has left him nonetheless in despair. Black, an ex-con and ex-addict, is the more hopeful of the men though he is just as desperate to convince White of the power of faith as White is desperate to deny it.
Their aim is no less than this: to discover the meaning of life. Deft, spare, and full of artful tension, The Sunset Limited is a beautifully crafted, consistently thought-provoking, and deceptively intimate work by one of the most insightful writers of our time.
In that small apartment, Black and White, as the two men are known, begin a conversation that leads each back through his own history, mining the origins of two fundamentally opposing world views. White is a professor whose seemingly enviable existence of relative ease has left him nonetheless in despair. Black, an ex-con and ex-addict, is the more hopeful of the men though he is just as desperate to convince White of the power of faith as White is desperate to deny it.
Their aim is no less than this: to discover the meaning of life. Deft, spare, and full of artful tension, The Sunset Limited is a beautifully crafted, consistently thought-provoking, and deceptively intimate work by one of the most insightful writers of our time.
143 pages, Paperback
First published October 24, 2006
About the author
Cormac McCarthy
44 books25.4k followersCormac McCarthy was an American novelist and playwright. He wrote twelve novels in the Southern Gothic, western, and post-apocalyptic genres and also wrote plays and screenplays. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road, and his 2005 novel No Country for Old Men was adapted as a 2007 film of the same name, which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. His earlier Blood Meridian (1985) was among Time Magazine's poll of 100 best English-language books published between 1925 and 2005, and he placed joint runner-up for a similar title in a poll taken in 2006 by The New York Times of the best American fiction published in the last 25 years. Literary critic Harold Bloom named him one of the four major American novelists of his time, along with Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, and Philip Roth. He is frequently compared by modern reviewers to William Faulkner. In 2009, Cormac McCarthy won the PEN/Saul Bellow Award, a lifetime achievement award given by the PEN American Center.
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January 25, 2021
داخل حجرة متواضعة
لا يكسو عريها سوى منضدة صغيرة تتوسطها
يجلس رجلان
أحدهما أسود البشرة
والآخر أبيض
الأول مؤمن
والثاني ملحد
الأول وجد راحته في حلاوة الإيمان
والثاني يراها مجرد مخدر اختاره الأول كي يعينه على قسوة الحياة
في هذه البقعة الصغيرة من الأرض
تدور مباراة فكرية رائعة
سجال ونقاش ومبارزة
كرة من الأفكار تروح وتجيء بين يدي الاثنين
تاركة عقلك متوهجا
الأبيض كان يحاول الانتحار بأن حاول إلقاء نفسه
تحت عجلات قطار خط "سان سيت ليميتيد"
ومن هنا يأتي الاسم
والذي له أبعاد أخرى كذلك
والأسود هو من ينقذه
هكذا يتعارفا
:::::::::
الأسود مؤمن تماما بأن الله هو من أرسله لإنقاذ الابيض
ويحاول اقناعه بالعدول عن رأيه
و باللجوء إلى الله
والأبيض يسخر من أفكاره
ويحاول اقناعه بأنه يعيش في وهم كبير
في الجزء الأول من المسرحية
كان الأسود هو الأكثر تحدثا وحماسا
فقد وجد في الإيمان وبالتحديد في تعاليم الانجيل
الحل لأي مشكلة
وعلاج لأوجاع الحيارى والمعذبين
وفي الجزء الثاني يبدو الأبيض أكثر استعدادا للجدال والنقاش والنقد
ويقول للأسود
يوجد مليون طريقة لدمار العالم
وأنت ترى أن هناك حلا واحدا..؟
:::::::::::
إذا المؤلف يبقى على الحياد
ولا يقلل من شأن فكرة في مقابل الأخرى
وهنا يكمن جمال المسرحية
يتطرق الحديث إلى الفلسفة والسياسة
يقذف الأبيض بكل قبح الحياة وعبثها في وجه الأسود
فيحاول الأسود بشتى الطرق اقناعه بالحكمة وراء كل هذه الأشياء
كل الثوابت الفكرية للاثنين تتهدم ثم يعاد بناؤها
لا أحد فينا يعلم عن الرجلين
سوي أن الاسود عوقب قبلا بالسجن
لأنه قتل أحد الأشخاص
وبعدها تاب إلى الله ووجد في الدين خلاصه
أما الأبيض فهو يعمل استاذ في الجامعة
ووصل به سأمه وملله من هذه الحياة
إلى اختيار الموت سبيلا للراحة
:::::::::
لو ظنتت أن الكتاب سينتهي بسذاجة بنصرة أحد الرأ��ين على الآخر ففكر ثانية
الكتاب ينتهي بافتراق الاثنين دون أن يقتنع أحدهما بأفكار الآخر
فقط كل واحد هز المياه الراكدة عند الآخر
كيلا يظل كل منهما متشبثا بثوابته كطفل
يتركك كورماك مع كثير من الأسئلة
كي تعمل عقلك وتفكر
وفي النهاية تختار الحل الذي يقنعك
أو ربما تظل واقفا عند مرحلة السؤال
وهي مرحلة عظيمة في حد ذاتها
ومنها ستنطلق إلى أكثر الآفاق رحابة
وستجد غايتك
ستجدها
----
هامش#
المسرحية قدمها تومي لي جونز
في فيلم من اخراجه وبطولته مع صامويل جاكسون
والفيلم لا يقل في متعته عن المسرحية بحال
بل يزيد عليه أداءا رائعا للممثلين
لا يكسو عريها سوى منضدة صغيرة تتوسطها
يجلس رجلان
أحدهما أسود البشرة
والآخر أبيض
الأول مؤمن
والثاني ملحد
الأول وجد راحته في حلاوة الإيمان
والثاني يراها مجرد مخدر اختاره الأول كي يعينه على قسوة الحياة
في هذه البقعة الصغيرة من الأرض
تدور مباراة فكرية رائعة
سجال ونقاش ومبارزة
كرة من الأفكار تروح وتجيء بين يدي الاثنين
تاركة عقلك متوهجا
الأبيض كان يحاول الانتحار بأن حاول إلقاء نفسه
تحت عجلات قطار خط "سان سيت ليميتيد"
ومن هنا يأتي الاسم
والذي له أبعاد أخرى كذلك
والأسود هو من ينقذه
هكذا يتعارفا
:::::::::
الأسود مؤمن تماما بأن الله هو من أرسله لإنقاذ الابيض
ويحاول اقناعه بالعدول عن رأيه
و باللجوء إلى الله
والأبيض يسخر من أفكاره
ويحاول اقناعه بأنه يعيش في وهم كبير
في الجزء الأول من المسرحية
كان الأسود هو الأكثر تحدثا وحماسا
فقد وجد في الإيمان وبالتحديد في تعاليم الانجيل
الحل لأي مشكلة
وعلاج لأوجاع الحيارى والمعذبين
وفي الجزء الثاني يبدو الأبيض أكثر استعدادا للجدال والنقاش والنقد
ويقول للأسود
يوجد مليون طريقة لدمار العالم
وأنت ترى أن هناك حلا واحدا..؟
:::::::::::
إذا المؤلف يبقى على الحياد
ولا يقلل من شأن فكرة في مقابل الأخرى
وهنا يكمن جمال المسرحية
يتطرق الحديث إلى الفلسفة والسياسة
يقذف الأبيض بكل قبح الحياة وعبثها في وجه الأسود
فيحاول الأسود بشتى الطرق اقناعه بالحكمة وراء كل هذه الأشياء
كل الثوابت الفكرية للاثنين تتهدم ثم يعاد بناؤها
لا أحد فينا يعلم عن الرجلين
سوي أن الاسود عوقب قبلا بالسجن
لأنه قتل أحد الأشخاص
وبعدها تاب إلى الله ووجد في الدين خلاصه
أما الأبيض فهو يعمل استاذ في الجامعة
ووصل به سأمه وملله من هذه الحياة
إلى اختيار الموت سبيلا للراحة
:::::::::
لو ظنتت أن الكتاب سينتهي بسذاجة بنصرة أحد الرأ��ين على الآخر ففكر ثانية
الكتاب ينتهي بافتراق الاثنين دون أن يقتنع أحدهما بأفكار الآخر
فقط كل واحد هز المياه الراكدة عند الآخر
كيلا يظل كل منهما متشبثا بثوابته كطفل
يتركك كورماك مع كثير من الأسئلة
كي تعمل عقلك وتفكر
وفي النهاية تختار الحل الذي يقنعك
أو ربما تظل واقفا عند مرحلة السؤال
وهي مرحلة عظيمة في حد ذاتها
ومنها ستنطلق إلى أكثر الآفاق رحابة
وستجد غايتك
ستجدها
----
هامش#
المسرحية قدمها تومي لي جونز
في فيلم من اخراجه وبطولته مع صامويل جاكسون
والفيلم لا يقل في متعته عن المسرحية بحال
بل يزيد عليه أداءا رائعا للممثلين
February 11, 2023
IL BIANCO MUOVE, SCACCO MORTO IN DUE MOSSE
Il Bianco e il Nero.
Due soli personaggi, solo due in scena tutto il tempo. Non hanno nomi, tranne BIANCO e NERO.
Uno dà del 'tu' all'altro, lo chiama 'professore' o 'zuccherino' – l'altro rimane agganciato a un più formale 'lei'.
Ma è quello dei due che vince la partita, secondo me, professore delle tenebre, della morte travestita da giorno.
Samuel L. Jackson e Tommy Lee Jones nel tv movie del 2011 diretto dallo stesso Tommy Lee Jones.
Unità di tempo e di luogo.
Indicazioni scenografiche ridotte all'osso.
Solo dialogo, uno parla e l'altro risponde, più o meno.
Ha tutta l'apparenza di una pièce teatrale che aspetta solo di essere messa in scena.
Ma non mi risulta che sia stata ancora adattata.
Se si potesse bandire la paura della morte dal cuore degli uomini, non vivrebbero un giorno di più. Chi sarebbe disposto a sopportare questo incubo, se non per paura dell'incubo che lo seguirà?
Vita e morte, dio e gesù, bibbia, suicidio e dolore... è come muoversi sulla lama di un rasoio, basta un nulla per farsi male, per sbavare.
Il film TV è della HBO, garanzia di qualità.
Ma McCarthy affronta il tema con ritmo, maestria e addirittura brio: il vero vincitore della partita è proprio lui.
2 ottobre 2011
Aggiungo una stella perché questo testo ha dato origine a un adattamento per lo schermo (televisivo! ma si tratta della HBO, la televisione che ha rivoluzionato la televisione) magnifico, magistrale nella sua semplicità e potenza: Samuel Jackson e Tommy Lee Jones, due titani, e il 'bianco' è anche regista. Chapeau e inchino.
Il Bianco e il Nero.
Due soli personaggi, solo due in scena tutto il tempo. Non hanno nomi, tranne BIANCO e NERO.
Uno dà del 'tu' all'altro, lo chiama 'professore' o 'zuccherino' – l'altro rimane agganciato a un più formale 'lei'.
Ma è quello dei due che vince la partita, secondo me, professore delle tenebre, della morte travestita da giorno.
Samuel L. Jackson e Tommy Lee Jones nel tv movie del 2011 diretto dallo stesso Tommy Lee Jones.
Unità di tempo e di luogo.
Indicazioni scenografiche ridotte all'osso.
Solo dialogo, uno parla e l'altro risponde, più o meno.
Ha tutta l'apparenza di una pièce teatrale che aspetta solo di essere messa in scena.
Ma non mi risulta che sia stata ancora adattata.
Se si potesse bandire la paura della morte dal cuore degli uomini, non vivrebbero un giorno di più. Chi sarebbe disposto a sopportare questo incubo, se non per paura dell'incubo che lo seguirà?
Vita e morte, dio e gesù, bibbia, suicidio e dolore... è come muoversi sulla lama di un rasoio, basta un nulla per farsi male, per sbavare.
Il film TV è della HBO, garanzia di qualità.
Ma McCarthy affronta il tema con ritmo, maestria e addirittura brio: il vero vincitore della partita è proprio lui.
2 ottobre 2011
Aggiungo una stella perché questo testo ha dato origine a un adattamento per lo schermo (televisivo! ma si tratta della HBO, la televisione che ha rivoluzionato la televisione) magnifico, magistrale nella sua semplicità e potenza: Samuel Jackson e Tommy Lee Jones, due titani, e il 'bianco' è anche regista. Chapeau e inchino.
June 14, 2020
“The things that I loved were very frail. Very fragile. I didn't know that. I thought they were indestructible. They weren't.”
I hate to admit this but, despite having watched several film adaptations of his works, I had never really read anything of Cormac McCarthy's before this. As it happens I had already watched the film adaptation of the story starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones, who also directed the film. I will use some of the imagery from the film to explain the themes of the story.
Tommy Lee Jones(left) and Samuel L. Jackson in the movie
The Sunset Limited is a play about a dialogue between two men sitting within the confinement of the walls of one room. The two characters are called Black(who is a kind religious black man) and White(who is a well-read white man). The opening scene has Black interrogating White about his attempted suicide. Their dialogue discusses religion, camaraderie, loss, spiritual awakening, penitentiary life and many other things. The underlying theme of this discussion is suffering and death.
White: Suffering and human destiny are the same thing. Each is a description of the other.
Throughout the dialogue each character takes witty jabs at the other, trying to get them to expose their personalities a little further. This is written down as putting someone in the trick bag. Black is adamantly trying to bring White back from his suicidal depression, trying to give him a spiritual awakening. White, on the other hand, feels human existence is meant to suffer and then end. His perspective is that what he is doing is only fair as it is part of the human condition. The dialogue swims in these philosophical and spiritual waters until the denouement.
Personalities
Film poster: The Sunset Limited
Let's take a look at the film poster above. Notice the imagery?
The yin-yang duality of the personalities of each character gives the story its enigma. The two personalities showcase the extreme dichotomies in differing human perceptions of reality. White emerges from the shadows of the darker side(yin) while Black emerges from the lighter side(yang). The story's themes show that Black had a darker past but is living the life of a pacifist now. Meanwhile, White had a more colorful life while now all the things he believed in seem empty, meaningless, driving him towards impending doom.
A dark, heavy, thought-provoking read. I also recommend the film if you're into minimalist, philosophical film-making.
February 28, 2019
BLACK. Who's that?
WHITE. Who's who?
BLACK. Him over there staring at us.
WHITE. Beat's me.
BLACK. He's coming over.
STEVEN. Nice evening ain't it.
WHITE. Can I help you?
STEVEN. I've just been reading about you guys.
BLACK. And.
STEVEN. Three stars is about right.
WHITE. Excuse me?
STEVEN. GR - goodreads, it's a social cataloging/reviewing site for book lovers.
BLACK. I see. Three don't sound too good a number to me. What's the problem? Friendo.
STEVEN. Look, it's like this, no disrespect to either one of you, but Cormac McCarthy ain't Samuel Beckett. When I think of McCarthy the first characters that pop into my head are Judge Holden from Blood Meridian, or the Father and Son team trying to survive the post-Apocalypse. Not you, and not you. Sunset Limited was good, but that's all it was. I certainly ain't giving it the red carpet treatment. Long way off there I'm afraid.
WHITE. OK, you've made your point, now, three's a crowd, know what I'm saying? we were right in the middle of searching for that higher meaning, you know, to life.
STEVEN. No problemo, good luck with that, but if you ask me you're wasting your time. Au revoir.
WHITE. Who's who?
BLACK. Him over there staring at us.
WHITE. Beat's me.
BLACK. He's coming over.
STEVEN. Nice evening ain't it.
WHITE. Can I help you?
STEVEN. I've just been reading about you guys.
BLACK. And.
STEVEN. Three stars is about right.
WHITE. Excuse me?
STEVEN. GR - goodreads, it's a social cataloging/reviewing site for book lovers.
BLACK. I see. Three don't sound too good a number to me. What's the problem? Friendo.
STEVEN. Look, it's like this, no disrespect to either one of you, but Cormac McCarthy ain't Samuel Beckett. When I think of McCarthy the first characters that pop into my head are Judge Holden from Blood Meridian, or the Father and Son team trying to survive the post-Apocalypse. Not you, and not you. Sunset Limited was good, but that's all it was. I certainly ain't giving it the red carpet treatment. Long way off there I'm afraid.
WHITE. OK, you've made your point, now, three's a crowd, know what I'm saying? we were right in the middle of searching for that higher meaning, you know, to life.
STEVEN. No problemo, good luck with that, but if you ask me you're wasting your time. Au revoir.
December 27, 2023
4.75 ⭐️ — An absolute powerhouse of Theological existential by-play, Sunset Limited reads like screenplay in your mind, which considering its originally how it was intended, isn’t a surprise and whilst carrying the McCarthy style, the tonality, pacing & narrative feel like a departure for the literary giant.
What I mean by being ‘a play in your mind’ though, is that the novel format is plagued by the screenplay and its 2006 release, as well as the play, movie etc etc yet somehow also manages to read like something totally different, which was quite stunning to me. Whilst Cormac has his flaws in the contemporary world, this effort seems to cut through the current climate and hit hard where it matters most, balancing the mind and heart while simultaneously making me feel as though I needed to take a break, many many times — yet I couldn’t!
Whilst the characters backgrounds are only briefly touched on, by the end one feels like they have not only known them in a character sense, but a personal one, which I found most touching and engaging, I was absolutely ensorcelled from start to finish. Make of that what you will, but CM for all his perceived faults, writes a damn good character-fuelled drama that makes you cogitate in a manner few others ever do.
What I mean by being ‘a play in your mind’ though, is that the novel format is plagued by the screenplay and its 2006 release, as well as the play, movie etc etc yet somehow also manages to read like something totally different, which was quite stunning to me. Whilst Cormac has his flaws in the contemporary world, this effort seems to cut through the current climate and hit hard where it matters most, balancing the mind and heart while simultaneously making me feel as though I needed to take a break, many many times — yet I couldn’t!
Whilst the characters backgrounds are only briefly touched on, by the end one feels like they have not only known them in a character sense, but a personal one, which I found most touching and engaging, I was absolutely ensorcelled from start to finish. Make of that what you will, but CM for all his perceived faults, writes a damn good character-fuelled drama that makes you cogitate in a manner few others ever do.
November 27, 2023
It was one of the first few days where I was allowed to see clients. The school had vetted the profiles and wanted to toss us relative “underhands”, if you can respectfully say that about anybody. But you know what I mean: maybe aiming to set you up with younger adults, a case of depression or anxiety that you can try some “theory” on, and come out of it after 12-16 sessions having learned something by the book. I was worried. Mainly, I was really worried about how I would come across, as I know to be the case with most budding practitioners. I was worried that I would be asked something and that I would not know the answer. I tried to inhale material and books and videos and roleplays. I sought reassurance from my mentors, asking what to do if X or Y or even Z happened. Above all, I was told that it wouldn’t be serious enough, clinical enough, to worry about the session getting out of hand.
Three sessions in, a client asked me why he should go on living. He stared into my soul and asked me. It wasn’t rhetorical either. He waited. Well. None of the perfectly portrayed T (standing for “therapist”) and P (standing for “patient”) dialogues in the therapy books had prepared me for this moment. I mumbled and ran the classic safety plans and enumeration of the reasons the other person had to go on living. Family, friends, pets? Things to look forward to tomorrow? He could come up with the list easy. After we finished, he repeated the original question, in as calm a manner as you could imagine. My answer will remain between the two of us, but suffice to say that my acquaintance with one Virginia Woolf and one Cormac McCarthy came in very handy.
Now, all these years later, I face the same issue presented to me in a McCarthy book. That’s not something I expected. The arc of the journey, though, I did. It’s what happens when you come face to face with the faith that you need to put into the most complex entities on Earth: human beings.
Three sessions in, a client asked me why he should go on living. He stared into my soul and asked me. It wasn’t rhetorical either. He waited. Well. None of the perfectly portrayed T (standing for “therapist”) and P (standing for “patient”) dialogues in the therapy books had prepared me for this moment. I mumbled and ran the classic safety plans and enumeration of the reasons the other person had to go on living. Family, friends, pets? Things to look forward to tomorrow? He could come up with the list easy. After we finished, he repeated the original question, in as calm a manner as you could imagine. My answer will remain between the two of us, but suffice to say that my acquaintance with one Virginia Woolf and one Cormac McCarthy came in very handy.
Now, all these years later, I face the same issue presented to me in a McCarthy book. That’s not something I expected. The arc of the journey, though, I did. It’s what happens when you come face to face with the faith that you need to put into the most complex entities on Earth: human beings.
September 20, 2008
The Sunset Limited is a very powerful piece of literature.
It is a dialogue that is essentially about suicide and religion. There are two characters.
One man, a black man ("black"), had a terrible life and was in jail for years and did horrible things, such as murder and other crimes he never specifies, but now lives with virtually nothing, trying to do God's will and trying to help his brother man. He "rescued" a white Professor of English ("white"), who had tried to throw himself before a train called The Sunset Limited.
I am both of these guys.
Fortunately, even though I can remember other times, I am much more "black" than "white" these days.
Each man eloquently puts forth his position. It is at times funny, at times breathtaking, and at times it strikes to your bone with truth.
At one point, in a devastating condemnation of the brutality unerlying all existence and its utter meaninglessness, white says, "Whatever the darker story is, that's the one that's usually true." This one sentence could be used as a fairly accurate description of McCarthy's writing. The play keeps you engaged, hoping for the white man to walk away from his resolve to kill himself, but knowing that a turn-around conversion to the kind of salvation black keeps confidently returning to would be very difficult to believe in. Black gives up his power, letting God fill him and speak for him, waiting for his mouth to be filled with divinely inspired words to save white. White has too much power over himself and is completely impermeable to any kind of spiritual thinking. His rigorous intellectualism takes him to a dead end where the only answer is death, a death that he sees as positive and yearns for. While much of the play has a certain warmth due to black's character and his sense of humor, by the time The Sunset Limited nears its end, white's vitriolic sentences about the "human condition" and his yearning for death stun the reader into a gaping-jaw shock by the power of their perversity and their revelation of [Cormac McCarthy]'s only-occasionally-unfettered full powers of language as the ultimate art.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes their coffee strong and their whiskey straight. This is a book about big issues, life and death. It never reverts to allegorization and it doesn't apologize for its characters' ways of speaking or their belief in the message of what they are saying.
It is a dialogue that is essentially about suicide and religion. There are two characters.
One man, a black man ("black"), had a terrible life and was in jail for years and did horrible things, such as murder and other crimes he never specifies, but now lives with virtually nothing, trying to do God's will and trying to help his brother man. He "rescued" a white Professor of English ("white"), who had tried to throw himself before a train called The Sunset Limited.
I am both of these guys.
Fortunately, even though I can remember other times, I am much more "black" than "white" these days.
Each man eloquently puts forth his position. It is at times funny, at times breathtaking, and at times it strikes to your bone with truth.
At one point, in a devastating condemnation of the brutality unerlying all existence and its utter meaninglessness, white says, "Whatever the darker story is, that's the one that's usually true." This one sentence could be used as a fairly accurate description of McCarthy's writing. The play keeps you engaged, hoping for the white man to walk away from his resolve to kill himself, but knowing that a turn-around conversion to the kind of salvation black keeps confidently returning to would be very difficult to believe in. Black gives up his power, letting God fill him and speak for him, waiting for his mouth to be filled with divinely inspired words to save white. White has too much power over himself and is completely impermeable to any kind of spiritual thinking. His rigorous intellectualism takes him to a dead end where the only answer is death, a death that he sees as positive and yearns for. While much of the play has a certain warmth due to black's character and his sense of humor, by the time The Sunset Limited nears its end, white's vitriolic sentences about the "human condition" and his yearning for death stun the reader into a gaping-jaw shock by the power of their perversity and their revelation of [Cormac McCarthy]'s only-occasionally-unfettered full powers of language as the ultimate art.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes their coffee strong and their whiskey straight. This is a book about big issues, life and death. It never reverts to allegorization and it doesn't apologize for its characters' ways of speaking or their belief in the message of what they are saying.
August 5, 2016
It's better to burn out 'cause rust never sleepsSo here's my first effort to shake off all of that oxidic accumulation garnered across months of melancholic mesmerization over a dropped wiener. It'll evince little in the way of insight or thoughtfulness, but may feature a ten dollar word paraded here and there and which will hopefully go some way, as has been managed before, to aptly demonstrate that Sastrean horseshit can be moderated by ornate modulations lifted from my reviewing betters.
McCarthy has seemingly set out to shed textual poundage with every newer release from his maturing corpus—and The Sunset Limited is sparser and leaner than anything else I've read of his. Bleaker, too, which is no mean feat to achieve. It lacks the arid violence and sanguinary supernatural swathes with which Blood Meridian was concocted, and even the umbral brooding and sin-soaked peregrinations of fugal works like Outer Dark; but, the countervailing affirmative stretches provided by the spiritual energies splayed about this prose-play notwithstanding, I don't believe he's ever bleached the scenery of conscious existence of any and all hued traces more spartanly and effectively than he has within this dialectic workout.
With that said, I have to admit to being a bit curious as to what, exactly, McCarthy intended to realize with TSL—for dark humor and witty wordplay, it cannot hold a candle to Waiting for Godot, or No Exit for that matter, which are the two dramatic pieces which evoke immediate comparison; whereas its nihilistic fibre, though threaded black as coal, yet pales when set against the abyssal toxins produced by such enthused—and personally favourite—agents of nullity as Céline or Bernhard or (particularly) Ligotti. I understand that it is Black who is being tested here, not the professorial, intellectual White whose train-tied self-termination was prevented by the rigors of the former's religious humanism (White Devil is rather slyly implied herein) and serves as the focal point for Black's rudimentary-but-impassioned efforts at breaching with his message of sustained existence via pungent faith and a heartfelt concern for the other. Yet it never tangibly feels like his beliefs are being shaken or probed to a perilous degree—that this will prove a dark night indeed for his soul—whereas White's cold and negatory pursuit, with no past emotions or history or expressiveness, beyond vague intimations, to enliven its dispassionate destructiveness, aligns the reader more towards apathetic acceptance in lieu of disturbed contemplation.
So it is that while there are some devastatingly beautiful phrases, some potently effective interlocutions between two who respectively can and won't ontologically make do, especially as we approach the terminus, it is, in the end, rather thin gruel McCarthy has served; one little helped by the stereotypes exhibited by these monochromatic allotropes (notwithstanding that their names explicitly delineate that this will be a sharply and starkly halved production) and the fact that the abstracted, everyman quality that permeates the entirety renders the exchange ultimately too sophomoric and threadbare to achieve any marked degree of resonance once the final page has been reached. Perhaps all this is naught but a reflection of my jaded self, all tight-lipped and cold-footed, pruned unto existential desiccation such that I cannot discern the meat laden upon this parleying duo's bones—but be that as it may, it failed to stir me in a manner commensurate to what I surmise must have been the author's intention. The Sunset Limited is a good read, not a great one—and since it's McCarthy we're talking about here, that's to be regretted.
December 31, 2012
Mmm Hmmm. McCarthy gone done it. He gone eclipsed Beckett hisslef. Desolation, I like them sound of that trickbag. Yess.
[A full comparative review might happen, though I am not sure I am up to it - Was that the cry of an angel at the end? Was that a re-enactment of Eden, with an angel substituted for the devil? Will man fail in either case? I am not up to it, as I said. All aboard The Sunset Limited. Please.]
[A full comparative review might happen, though I am not sure I am up to it - Was that the cry of an angel at the end? Was that a re-enactment of Eden, with an angel substituted for the devil? Will man fail in either case? I am not up to it, as I said. All aboard The Sunset Limited. Please.]
July 23, 2007
This one-act play forces one to consider opposing perspectives on human existence. True to form, McCarthy doesn’t offer peaches and roses. He offers the sad reality of what life means to two very different men. Despite the dark tone, the play reads extremely well, the dialogue is direct and penetrating. McCarthy is one of the best writers of our time.
February 17, 2020
Divario di visioni
"Secondo me chi fa domande vuole la verità, mentre chi dubita vuole sentirsi dire che la verità non esiste."
Sunset Limited è devastante nella sua scrittura minimale; le contraddizioni e difficoltà della società occidentale emergono con un'inquietante naturalezza, trasportate dalla cadenzata prosa teatrale imposta dall'autore.
Da una parte un individuo reietto dalla società, detentore della fede come unico riscatto dopo aver toccato il fondo; dall'altra, invece, un uomo con una cultura così grande da non poterlo salvare dal suo conflitto interiore.
Sin dove la conoscenza, oppure la religione, possono salvarci da una vita così vuota di stimoli concreti?
Come giustificare l'esistenza di Dio, se ogni giorno quello che riceviamo è un assordante silenzio?
Il nostro dolore è sempre più forte di quello altrui; come si può costruire un mondo migliore, se la nostra estemporanea soluzione è scegliere il Sunset Limited, piuttosto che comprendere l'altro?
L'autore decide di non dare risposte alle domande, preferendo invece una prospettiva più distaccata e oggettiva del confronto tra i due personaggi in scena.
Il risultato finale è un breve romanzo dalla prosa asciutta, abbondantemente bilanciata da contenuti di enorme portata.
"Secondo me chi fa domande vuole la verità, mentre chi dubita vuole sentirsi dire che la verità non esiste."
Sunset Limited è devastante nella sua scrittura minimale; le contraddizioni e difficoltà della società occidentale emergono con un'inquietante naturalezza, trasportate dalla cadenzata prosa teatrale imposta dall'autore.
Da una parte un individuo reietto dalla società, detentore della fede come unico riscatto dopo aver toccato il fondo; dall'altra, invece, un uomo con una cultura così grande da non poterlo salvare dal suo conflitto interiore.
Sin dove la conoscenza, oppure la religione, possono salvarci da una vita così vuota di stimoli concreti?
Come giustificare l'esistenza di Dio, se ogni giorno quello che riceviamo è un assordante silenzio?
Il nostro dolore è sempre più forte di quello altrui; come si può costruire un mondo migliore, se la nostra estemporanea soluzione è scegliere il Sunset Limited, piuttosto che comprendere l'altro?
L'autore decide di non dare risposte alle domande, preferendo invece una prospettiva più distaccata e oggettiva del confronto tra i due personaggi in scena.
Il risultato finale è un breve romanzo dalla prosa asciutta, abbondantemente bilanciata da contenuti di enorme portata.
May 18, 2016
Thought provoking piece. I saw this on HBO with Samuel L Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones and thought it was excellent. The book didn't disappoint.
February 4, 2021
Il mondo non può mai essere migliore di quello che gli permettiamo noi di essere
Un uomo bianco e uno nero in un appartamento popolare di Brooklyn(?) discutono da due punti opposti. Sono la ragione e la fede, sono un aspirante suicida e l’uomo che l’ha salvato. Sono un professore e un uomo di umili origini che ad un certo punto della sua vita ha ritenuto gli fosse stata assegnata una missione da Dio. Il racconto è scritto sotto forma di dialogo, le voci BIANCO/NERO si alternano. Quella del nero inizialmente sembra quasi una forma di violenza psicologica nei confronti del bianco, è solo con il dipanarsi della discussione che si capiscono meglio i motivi della sua condotta. Il problema insormontabile per me è stato la forma dell’opera, lo sperpero di domande scontate e risposte inutili, la tensione mimata per rendere credibile il confronto. Il discorso diretto in un libro, preso in piccole dosi, è anche piacevole; un libro intero concepito così o è una commedia o è una tragedia ed in entrambi i casi o sei Shakespeare o forse è meglio tu scelga una forma diversa. Se poi il traduttore ci mette del suo e per restituire lo slang del Bed-Stuy(?) abolisce il congiuntivo e si immola all’imperfetto, alla noia si somma l’irritazione. Se qualcuno si chiedesse che cosa c’entri
Mi chiedevo soltanto se ci avevi mai pensato. Se questo può magari c'entrare qualcosa con il fatto che ti sei ridotto così.
Non c'entra ma non può c'entrare, al limite può entrarci. Direi che non è una traduzione centrata. Avrei dato una stella se le pagine finali non mi avessero colpito con forza inaudita. Vale sempre portare a termine i libri, sono come la vita: non sai mai che sorprese hanno in serbo per te (in questo caso si trattava di un libro molto breve e lo sforzo è stato minimo)
Un uomo bianco e uno nero in un appartamento popolare di Brooklyn(?) discutono da due punti opposti. Sono la ragione e la fede, sono un aspirante suicida e l’uomo che l’ha salvato. Sono un professore e un uomo di umili origini che ad un certo punto della sua vita ha ritenuto gli fosse stata assegnata una missione da Dio. Il racconto è scritto sotto forma di dialogo, le voci BIANCO/NERO si alternano. Quella del nero inizialmente sembra quasi una forma di violenza psicologica nei confronti del bianco, è solo con il dipanarsi della discussione che si capiscono meglio i motivi della sua condotta. Il problema insormontabile per me è stato la forma dell’opera, lo sperpero di domande scontate e risposte inutili, la tensione mimata per rendere credibile il confronto. Il discorso diretto in un libro, preso in piccole dosi, è anche piacevole; un libro intero concepito così o è una commedia o è una tragedia ed in entrambi i casi o sei Shakespeare o forse è meglio tu scelga una forma diversa. Se poi il traduttore ci mette del suo e per restituire lo slang del Bed-Stuy(?) abolisce il congiuntivo e si immola all’imperfetto, alla noia si somma l’irritazione. Se qualcuno si chiedesse che cosa c’entri
Mi chiedevo soltanto se ci avevi mai pensato. Se questo può magari c'entrare qualcosa con il fatto che ti sei ridotto così.
Non c'entra ma non può c'entrare, al limite può entrarci. Direi che non è una traduzione centrata. Avrei dato una stella se le pagine finali non mi avessero colpito con forza inaudita. Vale sempre portare a termine i libri, sono come la vita: non sai mai che sorprese hanno in serbo per te (in questo caso si trattava di un libro molto breve e lo sforzo è stato minimo)
May 27, 2011
this was a good book and (I'm sad to say) I had to sympathize a lot with what White had to say, because I often feel the same way. But there were some great things to learn from either character.
BUT, what I particularly DO NOT LIKE is that even though both characters are only supposed to be known as BLACK and WHITE, the author says "the black" whenever Black does something. As in "the black stood up", but just because Black starts calling White "professor" suddenly all his stage directions say "the professor did this and that". Was that really fair now? I mean really, was it necessary?
And also, why is it that whenever a white person has to learn something from a black person, that black person can never be a normal, well-spoken middle or upper class person? It's always some (perceivably) ignorant black guy who's ben in jail and has "learned a thing or two" from it, or some black girl, equally as (perceivably) ignorant in speech etc, that has gotten pregnant or something. Ummmmm why? Those are not the only examples of blacks in the world? And NOT in New York. Christ.....
BUT, what I particularly DO NOT LIKE is that even though both characters are only supposed to be known as BLACK and WHITE, the author says "the black" whenever Black does something. As in "the black stood up", but just because Black starts calling White "professor" suddenly all his stage directions say "the professor did this and that". Was that really fair now? I mean really, was it necessary?
And also, why is it that whenever a white person has to learn something from a black person, that black person can never be a normal, well-spoken middle or upper class person? It's always some (perceivably) ignorant black guy who's ben in jail and has "learned a thing or two" from it, or some black girl, equally as (perceivably) ignorant in speech etc, that has gotten pregnant or something. Ummmmm why? Those are not the only examples of blacks in the world? And NOT in New York. Christ.....
October 15, 2018
Ho sempre pensato a McCarthy come ‘quello de La Strada’. Nessuno mi aveva parlato di Sunset Limited..
“Non sono uno che dubita. Però sono uno che fa domande.”
���E che differenza c’è?”
“Bè, secondo me chi fa domande vuole la verità. Mentre chi dubita vuole sentirsi dire che la verità non esiste.”
“Non sono uno che dubita. Però sono uno che fa domande.”
���E che differenza c’è?”
“Bè, secondo me chi fa domande vuole la verità. Mentre chi dubita vuole sentirsi dire che la verità non esiste.”
December 4, 2016
Pared down and packed with substance - dark dark humour to boot - Can written dialogues get any better? - Ahh, this merciless vortex of hope and nihilism - these chaotic voices in my head - moved? or depressed? - or just fast becoming a McCarthy fan?
September 25, 2020
The Sunset Limited yra keleivinis traukinys kursuojantis tarp New Orleans ir Los Angeles. Autorius jį pavertė metro New York’e.
Vienas iš dviejų veikėjų (white) būtent pulti po juo ir pasirinko savo nusižudymui. Kitam veikėjui (black) ši idėja pasirodė netokia jau ir puiki…
Tai - dviejų vyrų, su visiškai skirtingais įsitikinimais, egzistencialistinis pokalbis – “kova".
Jau buvau benusivilianti pasakojimu, bet pabaiga privertė pakeisti nuomonę apie šią knygą iš esmės.
Knygos paantraštė skelbia: a novel in dramatic form, bet man tai ji tikrų tikriausia drama (pjesė). Čia info, jei kam nepatinka tokia forma.
‘Black I guess you don’t want to be happy.
White Happy?
Black Yeah. What’s wrong with happy?
White God help us. ‘
…
Beje, yra ir filmas tuo paciu pavadinimu.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1510938/
Vienas iš dviejų veikėjų (white) būtent pulti po juo ir pasirinko savo nusižudymui. Kitam veikėjui (black) ši idėja pasirodė netokia jau ir puiki…
Tai - dviejų vyrų, su visiškai skirtingais įsitikinimais, egzistencialistinis pokalbis – “kova".
Jau buvau benusivilianti pasakojimu, bet pabaiga privertė pakeisti nuomonę apie šią knygą iš esmės.
Knygos paantraštė skelbia: a novel in dramatic form, bet man tai ji tikrų tikriausia drama (pjesė). Čia info, jei kam nepatinka tokia forma.
‘Black I guess you don’t want to be happy.
White Happy?
Black Yeah. What’s wrong with happy?
White God help us. ‘
…
Beje, yra ir filmas tuo paciu pavadinimu.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1510938/
March 15, 2015
Aspettiamo tutti Godot, chiunque o qualsiasi cosa sia. Ma, si sa, Godot ha il brutto vezzo di non arrivare mai. E, nel frattempo, noi ci perdiamo. Inevitabilmente. Tutti. In un modo o nell’altro.
Questo contraddittorio, propostoci da McCarthy, è davvero strepitoso. E’ l’unica prova narrativa di questo autore che mi abbia pienamente convinta, finora. Ripropone i temi da sempre a lui cari, ma qui lo fa, finalmente, con indubbia efficacia.
Imperdibile il film che ne è stato tratto, dall’omonimo titolo, interpretato da Tommy Lee Jones e Samuel L. Jackson e diretto dallo stesso Tommy Lee Jones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpb42...
Ve li consiglio entrambi.
Questo contraddittorio, propostoci da McCarthy, è davvero strepitoso. E’ l’unica prova narrativa di questo autore che mi abbia pienamente convinta, finora. Ripropone i temi da sempre a lui cari, ma qui lo fa, finalmente, con indubbia efficacia.
Imperdibile il film che ne è stato tratto, dall’omonimo titolo, interpretato da Tommy Lee Jones e Samuel L. Jackson e diretto dallo stesso Tommy Lee Jones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpb42...
Ve li consiglio entrambi.
October 26, 2020
Sunset Limited è un libro tanto rapido quanto profondo per le tematiche esistenziali che affronta in modo angosciante: è una pugnalata precisa al cuore con cui, attraverso un incontro-scontro tra due persone antitetiche, si dimostra l’assenza di Dio e, forse, anche la sua inesistenza.
McCharty ci dipinge una scacchiera dove il nero, raccontando “storie di galera”, cerca di far trionfare il suo Dio, mentre il bianco – un professore disilluso e nichilista – risponde colpo su colpo per far trionfare i suoi ideali. O meglio, la mancanza degli stessi in un mondo che non merita di esser vissuto.
E in questo abisso di disperazione noi leggiamo di una partita dove, uno dopo l’altro, cadono prima i pedoni, poi cavalli e alfieri, restando solo le torri a proteggere il Re mentre la Regina, disperata, si muove schizofrenica sulla scacchiera senza sapere cosa fare. Finché arriva il Sunset Limited a dar scacco matto a tutti.
McCharty ci dipinge una scacchiera dove il nero, raccontando “storie di galera”, cerca di far trionfare il suo Dio, mentre il bianco – un professore disilluso e nichilista – risponde colpo su colpo per far trionfare i suoi ideali. O meglio, la mancanza degli stessi in un mondo che non merita di esser vissuto.
E in questo abisso di disperazione noi leggiamo di una partita dove, uno dopo l’altro, cadono prima i pedoni, poi cavalli e alfieri, restando solo le torri a proteggere il Re mentre la Regina, disperata, si muove schizofrenica sulla scacchiera senza sapere cosa fare. Finché arriva il Sunset Limited a dar scacco matto a tutti.
May 19, 2016
Have you ever been stoned? I don’t mean giggly, ‘who-has-the-munchies?’ high— I’m talking immaculately stoned. Where every single goddamn song is the best song ever written, life is the simplest navigable journey imaginable, and you have figured out that there are no secrets to the universe, only questions to which you have all the answers? (It’s all so simple! Ha!) Yes? Good. Then you’ve already lived this book. Let me explain, but with some personal exegesis.
I spent a lot of my years in various states of the above sitting on porches, balconies, and in backyards talking epistemology. In this ‘heightened’ state, a friend (any number of, really) and I would, with the viciousness of feral butterflies, tear the whole illusory world down to its constituent parts; we intrepid alone would scrape away the artifice of the straight world and kick against the pricks. A favorite topic was God and atheism and, like, ‘soul, man’ (Sam & Dave). You know, real deep kid shit. ‘Bout as deep as your ankles. Chances are, if you liked to hamper your frontal lobe like I did, you had similar moments of profundity—the metaphysical midpoint between mutual masturbation and Dark Side of the Moon.
Well, that’s what this book reads like. Two guys jawing up God and faith like a couple of stoned, rhetorical teenagers/twentysomethings. There are some platitudes offered that are woefully obvious sub-philo musings of the Osbornian ‘what if God was one of us?’ caliber. The educated, atheistic, and professorial ‘White’ (yep, he’s the white guy) squares off in an ontological around-the-table with, you guessed it, ex-con ghetto dweller and true believer ‘Black’ (who, no shit, is black). I’m sure there’s some heavy social commentary going on here, but, then again, I’m also sure that I can photosynthesize plants and flowers with my mind.
Some extra love given for White Wickedness and heresy. Points deducted for the soul food dinner. It’s not that The Sunset Limited is necessarily bad, it’s that, given the subject matter, it’s insubstantial at best (and offensive to drug-addled youngsters at worst). It is dramaturgical wool-gathering recognized by virtue of the author’s name alone. Still, there are worse ways to kill 45-minutes. Honest work comes immediately to mind.
To put it another way:
“Shall I despise you that your colorless tears
made rainbows in your lashes, and you forgot to weep?
Lord no that’s not from this book, but I found myself wondering the same regarding it.
I spent a lot of my years in various states of the above sitting on porches, balconies, and in backyards talking epistemology. In this ‘heightened’ state, a friend (any number of, really) and I would, with the viciousness of feral butterflies, tear the whole illusory world down to its constituent parts; we intrepid alone would scrape away the artifice of the straight world and kick against the pricks. A favorite topic was God and atheism and, like, ‘soul, man’ (Sam & Dave). You know, real deep kid shit. ‘Bout as deep as your ankles. Chances are, if you liked to hamper your frontal lobe like I did, you had similar moments of profundity—the metaphysical midpoint between mutual masturbation and Dark Side of the Moon.
Well, that’s what this book reads like. Two guys jawing up God and faith like a couple of stoned, rhetorical teenagers/twentysomethings. There are some platitudes offered that are woefully obvious sub-philo musings of the Osbornian ‘what if God was one of us?’ caliber. The educated, atheistic, and professorial ‘White’ (yep, he’s the white guy) squares off in an ontological around-the-table with, you guessed it, ex-con ghetto dweller and true believer ‘Black’ (who, no shit, is black). I’m sure there’s some heavy social commentary going on here, but, then again, I’m also sure that I can photosynthesize plants and flowers with my mind.
Some extra love given for White Wickedness and heresy. Points deducted for the soul food dinner. It’s not that The Sunset Limited is necessarily bad, it’s that, given the subject matter, it’s insubstantial at best (and offensive to drug-addled youngsters at worst). It is dramaturgical wool-gathering recognized by virtue of the author’s name alone. Still, there are worse ways to kill 45-minutes. Honest work comes immediately to mind.
To put it another way:
“Shall I despise you that your colorless tears
made rainbows in your lashes, and you forgot to weep?
Lord no that’s not from this book, but I found myself wondering the same regarding it.
February 7, 2015
-Propuesta reflexiva sobre fondo de intentos estériles.-
Género. Novela (en realidad es una obra de teatro, pero ya saben que en este blog tratamos de limitar las clasificaciones, dentro de un orden).
Lo que nos cuenta. Dos personas, identificadas como Blanco y Negro, están sentadas ante una mesa del apartamento del segundo, que parece preocupado por evitar que el primero se marche de allí. Y es que Blanco estuvo a punto de arrojarse a las vías del ferrocarril metropolitano, en concreto bajo las ruedas del Sunset Limited, aunque Negro lo evito y ahora trata, mediante la conversación, de sacar de la cabeza de Blanco las ideas autodestructivas que está dispuesto a llevar a cabo.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Novela (en realidad es una obra de teatro, pero ya saben que en este blog tratamos de limitar las clasificaciones, dentro de un orden).
Lo que nos cuenta. Dos personas, identificadas como Blanco y Negro, están sentadas ante una mesa del apartamento del segundo, que parece preocupado por evitar que el primero se marche de allí. Y es que Blanco estuvo a punto de arrojarse a las vías del ferrocarril metropolitano, en concreto bajo las ruedas del Sunset Limited, aunque Negro lo evito y ahora trata, mediante la conversación, de sacar de la cabeza de Blanco las ideas autodestructivas que está dispuesto a llevar a cabo.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
August 13, 2023
White, a professor who decided to be a “terminal commuter” on the Sunset Limited (he attempted to jump in front of the train), is saved by a man, Black. Black attempts to convince White using religion that life is worth living. The Sunset Limited has a few lines to set the scene, but for the most part is all dialog between Black and White, no Grey.
“The things I believed in dont exist any more. It's foolish to pretend they do. Western Civilization finally went up in smoke in the chimneys in Dachau but I was too infatuated to see it.”
“Sometimes people dont know what they get till they get it.”
“You break bread with a man you have moved on to another level of friendship. I heard somewheres that that’s true the world over.”
“I gather it to be your belief that culture tends to contribute to human misery. That the more one knows the more unhappy one is likely to be.”
“Sometimes faith might just be a case of not havin nothin else left.”
“I got what I needed instead of what I wanted and that's just about the best kind of luck you can have.”
“When you read the history of the world you are reading a saga of bloodshed and greed and folly the import of which is impossible to ignore. And yet we imagine that the future will somehow be different. I've no idea why we are even still here but in all probability we will not be here much longer.”
—Cormac McCarthy
“The things I believed in dont exist any more. It's foolish to pretend they do. Western Civilization finally went up in smoke in the chimneys in Dachau but I was too infatuated to see it.”
“Sometimes people dont know what they get till they get it.”
“You break bread with a man you have moved on to another level of friendship. I heard somewheres that that’s true the world over.”
“I gather it to be your belief that culture tends to contribute to human misery. That the more one knows the more unhappy one is likely to be.”
“Sometimes faith might just be a case of not havin nothin else left.”
“I got what I needed instead of what I wanted and that's just about the best kind of luck you can have.”
“When you read the history of the world you are reading a saga of bloodshed and greed and folly the import of which is impossible to ignore. And yet we imagine that the future will somehow be different. I've no idea why we are even still here but in all probability we will not be here much longer.”
—Cormac McCarthy
February 9, 2021
مناقشة من العيار التقيل بين مؤمن مسيحي و ملحد
شبيه بـ 12 Angry Men في اعتماده كليا على النقاش في غرفة مغلقة
شبيه بـ 12 Angry Men في اعتماده كليا على النقاش في غرفة مغلقة
April 10, 2012
Per me il mondo è fondamentalmente un campo di lavori forzati da cui ogni giorno si estraggono a sorte dei detenuti - completamente innocenti - perché vengano giustiziati. Non è così che la vedo. È così che è. Esistono pareri diversi? Certo? Resistono a un esame approfondito? No.
Il nichilismo non ha mai offerto risposte.
Le domande di questo libro sono due:
Perché il suicidio sarebbe meglio della vita?
Perché la vita sarebbe meglio del suicidio?
È sufficiente una persona che incarni la prima domanda e un'altra persona che incarni la seconda, ed ecco un dramma dialogato che non lascia scampo. Sembra di sentire i Pink Floyd che ci chiedono se sabbiamo vedere la differenza tra un campo verde e una fredda rotaia d'acciaio. Comunque, la risposta non è qui. Più che altro è nelle nostre opinioni.
Due uomini. Seduti uno di fronte all'altro. Uno bianco e l'altro nero. Uno ateo e l'altro credente. L'ateo ha provato ad ammazzarsi, il credente l'ha salvato. Vorrebbe che Dio gli dicesse cosa fare con quell'uomo.
BIANCO Le posso chiedere una cosa?
NERO Avanti.
BIANCO Perché voialtri non riuscite proprio ad accettare che certa gente non voglia neanche credere in Dio?
Ci sono delle pagine ricchissime di poesia e pessimismo, e anche se McCarthy è credente e lo fa capire in tutti i suoi libri, qui a me è sembrato che fosse la figura del Bianco ad averla vinta alla fine. La nettezza di questa prosa scarna e cupa disegna un mondo dove chi si fa domande diventa infelice. Perché il credente affida tutto nelle mani di Dio e attraverso lui si spiega le cose - così non impazzisce - e riesce ad essere felice. L'ateo invece si pone dei dubbi, delle domande, si affida alla cultura e capisce che la vita è orrenda.
Il nichilismo non ha mai offerto risposte.
Le domande di questo libro sono due:
Perché il suicidio sarebbe meglio della vita?
Perché la vita sarebbe meglio del suicidio?
È sufficiente una persona che incarni la prima domanda e un'altra persona che incarni la seconda, ed ecco un dramma dialogato che non lascia scampo. Sembra di sentire i Pink Floyd che ci chiedono se sabbiamo vedere la differenza tra un campo verde e una fredda rotaia d'acciaio. Comunque, la risposta non è qui. Più che altro è nelle nostre opinioni.
Due uomini. Seduti uno di fronte all'altro. Uno bianco e l'altro nero. Uno ateo e l'altro credente. L'ateo ha provato ad ammazzarsi, il credente l'ha salvato. Vorrebbe che Dio gli dicesse cosa fare con quell'uomo.
BIANCO Le posso chiedere una cosa?
NERO Avanti.
BIANCO Perché voialtri non riuscite proprio ad accettare che certa gente non voglia neanche credere in Dio?
Ci sono delle pagine ricchissime di poesia e pessimismo, e anche se McCarthy è credente e lo fa capire in tutti i suoi libri, qui a me è sembrato che fosse la figura del Bianco ad averla vinta alla fine. La nettezza di questa prosa scarna e cupa disegna un mondo dove chi si fa domande diventa infelice. Perché il credente affida tutto nelle mani di Dio e attraverso lui si spiega le cose - così non impazzisce - e riesce ad essere felice. L'ateo invece si pone dei dubbi, delle domande, si affida alla cultura e capisce che la vita è orrenda.
July 21, 2015
http://www.ilclubdeilibri.com/sunset-...
Il mio primo McCarthy in assoluto, un amore a prima vista.
Questo testo teatrale, questo dialogo serrato tra due personaggi, indicati solo con il nome di BIANCO e NERO, che ti spinge in una direzione per poi cambiarla e ribaltarla una volta arrivati alla fine.
L'argomento trattato, quello religioso, quello dell'esistenza o meno di Dio e Gesù, è difficile e complesso e l'autore lo sviscera attraverso uno scambio di battute al fulmicotone e senza via di scampo.
Bello e assolutamente da leggere e d rileggere soffermandosi, ogni volta, su un passaggio diverso.
Il mio primo McCarthy in assoluto, un amore a prima vista.
Questo testo teatrale, questo dialogo serrato tra due personaggi, indicati solo con il nome di BIANCO e NERO, che ti spinge in una direzione per poi cambiarla e ribaltarla una volta arrivati alla fine.
L'argomento trattato, quello religioso, quello dell'esistenza o meno di Dio e Gesù, è difficile e complesso e l'autore lo sviscera attraverso uno scambio di battute al fulmicotone e senza via di scampo.
Bello e assolutamente da leggere e d rileggere soffermandosi, ogni volta, su un passaggio diverso.
August 20, 2018
Review to come.
September 28, 2020
Mm hmm...
Trumpas skaitinys, sukeliantis nemažai minčių. Patiko nuotaika, juodas humoras, taikli argumentacija. Vieną žvaigždutę nuėmiau, nes nesijaučiu visko iki galo supratus.
Trumpas skaitinys, sukeliantis nemažai minčių. Patiko nuotaika, juodas humoras, taikli argumentacija. Vieną žvaigždutę nuėmiau, nes nesijaučiu visko iki galo supratus.
February 6, 2020
В живота нищо не е само черно или само бяло. Така ни учат.
"Сънсет Лимитид" ще ви накара да видите света в черно и бяло.
Всичко е черно или бяло. Всеки от нас опитва да потъне донякъде в нюансите на другите, но чистата егоистична истина е много по-проста.
Всеки има свой компас, който следва. Но не се движиш на североизток, когато следваш стрелката. Щом казва напред, вървиш напред. В това вярваш, това следваш.
Толкова е просто.
Маккарти е написал всичко в черно и бяло. Няма нюанси. Съществува само пряка реч. Два образа. Никакви име��а. Черният и Белият седят и говорят на масата в жилището на Черният, минути след като Белият е опитал да се самоубие на гарата, след като е опитал да хване Сънсет Лимитед. А Черния го е спасил.
Сега двамата седят един срещу друг и разговарят. Черния и Белия. Двама души с напълно противоположни възгледи за света, за живота, за човечеството, за смисъла. Философски разговор, изчистен от тежестта на фразите. Изчистен от излишния драматизъм. Борба между черно и бяло, но не в тривиалния смисъл, който влагаме в тези две категории. Не. Това е борба на противоположностите. Това са двата абсолютни полюса в пряка конфронтация, без агресивно поведение, без жажда за надмощие. Всеки вярва толкова дълбоко и крайно в своите възгледи, че осъзнава невъзможността да пробие защитата на противника. Всеки съди за другите по себе си. Но това не му пречи да даде всичко от себе си до последния дъх, за да опита.
Това е книга на крайностите.
Белият, който вярва, че единственият смисъл на живота е, да му бъде сложен край. И Черният, който открива смисъл във всеки жест и роля на хората около себе си.
Кормак излага на масата въпроси, по които всеки от нас има мнение - вярата и атеизма, надеждата за изкупление и смелостта сам да сложиш край на живота си. И го прави по толкова елегантен и интелигентен начин, че едновременно да затвърди до диамантено силата на собствените ви убеждения и в същото време да ви постави за кратко в обувките на другия, достатъчно, за да си видите силата на неговите убеждения.
Не познавам твочеството на Кормак Маккарти. Това е първата и среща с него. Среща, кяото ще ме кара още дълго и многократно да се връщам към тази така кратка и толкова напоителна творба.
Среща, която ме върна към едни любими мои стихове:
Ние спориме
двама със дама
на тема:
"Човекът във новото време".
Среща, която неъсмнено поражда много въпроси. Какво ще избере всеки от нас - черното или бялото. От нас зависи.
http://readersense.blogspot.com/2020/...
"Сънсет Лимитид" ще ви накара да видите света в черно и бяло.
Всичко е черно или бяло. Всеки от нас опитва да потъне донякъде в нюансите на другите, но чистата егоистична истина е много по-проста.
Всеки има свой компас, който следва. Но не се движиш на североизток, когато следваш стрелката. Щом казва напред, вървиш напред. В това вярваш, това следваш.
Толкова е просто.
Маккарти е написал всичко в черно и бяло. Няма нюанси. Съществува само пряка реч. Два образа. Никакви име��а. Черният и Белият седят и говорят на масата в жилището на Черният, минути след като Белият е опитал да се самоубие на гарата, след като е опитал да хване Сънсет Лимитед. А Черния го е спасил.
Сега двамата седят един срещу друг и разговарят. Черния и Белия. Двама души с напълно противоположни възгледи за света, за живота, за човечеството, за смисъла. Философски разговор, изчистен от тежестта на фразите. Изчистен от излишния драматизъм. Борба между черно и бяло, но не в тривиалния смисъл, който влагаме в тези две категории. Не. Това е борба на противоположностите. Това са двата абсолютни полюса в пряка конфронтация, без агресивно поведение, без жажда за надмощие. Всеки вярва толкова дълбоко и крайно в своите възгледи, че осъзнава невъзможността да пробие защитата на противника. Всеки съди за другите по себе си. Но това не му пречи да даде всичко от себе си до последния дъх, за да опита.
Това е книга на крайностите.
Белият, който вярва, че единственият смисъл на живота е, да му бъде сложен край. И Черният, който открива смисъл във всеки жест и роля на хората около себе си.
Кормак излага на масата въпроси, по които всеки от нас има мнение - вярата и атеизма, надеждата за изкупление и смелостта сам да сложиш край на живота си. И го прави по толкова елегантен и интелигентен начин, че едновременно да затвърди до диамантено силата на собствените ви убеждения и в същото време да ви постави за кратко в обувките на другия, достатъчно, за да си видите силата на неговите убеждения.
Не познавам твочеството на Кормак Маккарти. Това е първата и среща с него. Среща, кяото ще ме кара още дълго и многократно да се връщам към тази така кратка и толкова напоителна творба.
Среща, която ме върна към едни любими мои стихове:
Ние спориме
двама със дама
на тема:
"Човекът във новото време".
Среща, която неъсмнено поражда много въпроси. Какво ще избере всеки от нас - черното или бялото. От нас зависи.
http://readersense.blogspot.com/2020/...
January 2, 2021
Una stanza e due uomini.
Questo è bastato a Cormac McCarthy per dar vita al suo libro.
NERO e BIANCO (distinti in base al colore della pelle) intavolano una vera e propria partita a scacchi dove pedoni, alfieri e torri non sono altro che propensioni e credenze dei protagonisti legate alla religione, al modo di viverla e ai motivi per non seguirla.
NERO, da quando si è convertito, crede di essere costantemente in missione spirituale; è convinto che ogni persona raggiunta da Dio sia obbligata a trasmettere a sua volta il messaggio ricevuto e che attraverso l'episodio del Sunset Limited gli sia stato affidato un nuovo incarico: illuminare l'oscurità di BIANCO, a prescindere che quest'ultimo richieda o meno il suo intervento. Perché per NERO non esiste persona che non voglia essere salvata, non esiste persona che non cerchi Dio; tutti, consciamente o inconsciamente, hanno bisogno di credere. C'è chi, secondo lui, è così fortunato da rendersene conto e chi invece non riesce a farlo e deve essere aiutato.
BIANCO ha creduto in tantissime cose nella sua vita, ha sperato con così tanto ardore da prosciugarsi. Ha puntato sulla cultura pensando erroneamente che la conoscenza lo avrebbe portato a raggiungere pace e stabilità e ha scoperto invece che sapere è solo un modo più acuto di soffrire. E' un dolore più consapevole, quindi ancor più devastante.
Ad occhi spalancati assiste alla degradazione del mondo e non capisce come facciano gli altri a non vedere, perché è così, gli altri non vedono quello che vede lui, altrimenti l'intera umanità dovrebbe decidere di scomparire.
Non è una questione di fede, è consapevolezza. Cosa c'entra Dio in tutto questo? Dio, se avesse voluto manifestare la propria presenza, sarebbe dovuto intervenire prima, prima che gli uomini si corrompessero a tal livello, prima che ogni valore, ogni ideale, venisse annientato.
Non è possibile guardare in faccia il male, voltarsi, e continuare a vivere come se niente fosse.
BIANCO l'aveva visto, il buio, e non poteva più tornare nella luce.
Continua qui (occhio allo spoiler) http://startfromscratchblog.blogspot....
Questo è bastato a Cormac McCarthy per dar vita al suo libro.
NERO e BIANCO (distinti in base al colore della pelle) intavolano una vera e propria partita a scacchi dove pedoni, alfieri e torri non sono altro che propensioni e credenze dei protagonisti legate alla religione, al modo di viverla e ai motivi per non seguirla.
NERO, da quando si è convertito, crede di essere costantemente in missione spirituale; è convinto che ogni persona raggiunta da Dio sia obbligata a trasmettere a sua volta il messaggio ricevuto e che attraverso l'episodio del Sunset Limited gli sia stato affidato un nuovo incarico: illuminare l'oscurità di BIANCO, a prescindere che quest'ultimo richieda o meno il suo intervento. Perché per NERO non esiste persona che non voglia essere salvata, non esiste persona che non cerchi Dio; tutti, consciamente o inconsciamente, hanno bisogno di credere. C'è chi, secondo lui, è così fortunato da rendersene conto e chi invece non riesce a farlo e deve essere aiutato.
BIANCO ha creduto in tantissime cose nella sua vita, ha sperato con così tanto ardore da prosciugarsi. Ha puntato sulla cultura pensando erroneamente che la conoscenza lo avrebbe portato a raggiungere pace e stabilità e ha scoperto invece che sapere è solo un modo più acuto di soffrire. E' un dolore più consapevole, quindi ancor più devastante.
Ad occhi spalancati assiste alla degradazione del mondo e non capisce come facciano gli altri a non vedere, perché è così, gli altri non vedono quello che vede lui, altrimenti l'intera umanità dovrebbe decidere di scomparire.
Non è una questione di fede, è consapevolezza. Cosa c'entra Dio in tutto questo? Dio, se avesse voluto manifestare la propria presenza, sarebbe dovuto intervenire prima, prima che gli uomini si corrompessero a tal livello, prima che ogni valore, ogni ideale, venisse annientato.
BIANCO: E lei vuole aiutare chi è nei guai?
NERO: Si.
BIANCO: E perchè?
Il nero piega la testa da un lato e lo osserva.
NERO: Non sei ancora pronto.
BIANCO: Allora mi dia solo la risposta più breve.
NERO: E' questa la risposta più breve.
Non è possibile guardare in faccia il male, voltarsi, e continuare a vivere come se niente fosse.
BIANCO l'aveva visto, il buio, e non poteva più tornare nella luce.
Continua qui (occhio allo spoiler) http://startfromscratchblog.blogspot....
April 17, 2008
I guess it was bound to happen some time. Cormac McCarthy finally disappointed me.
The entire play/novel is a single conversation between two men, identified as Black and White, at a table in Black's apartment. It opens in medias res, after Black (who is black) just saved White (who is white) from leaping in the path of a train, The Sunset Limited, in an attempted suicide. The ex-con Black tries to convince White that suicide is not the solution, telling his own story of Christian redemption. White, whom Black calls "Professor," argues that life is nothing but pointless labor. Guess who wins the argument. Hint: this ain't a comedy.
I had a couple problems with it. For one thing, the racial dynamic came off as patronizing. Black had some blatant "magical Negro" characteristics. McCarthy is fantastic at dialog and bringing dialects to life from the page, but his ebonics here were over-the-top and not always convincing.
The main problem, though, is NOTHING HAPPENS. I get that he's limited by the stage and wants to do something different from his books, but this is all build-up and no action. Black recounts the jailhouse fight (CMcC loves those prison knife battles, doesn't he?) that lead to his hospital-bed epiphany, but otherwise this is just an intense dinner conversation. There are beautiful, bleakly funny and brutally nihilistic passages, of course. But it gets repetitive, even in a mere 60 pages. It's like one scene taken from a great play, then stretched far past its limit.
The entire play/novel is a single conversation between two men, identified as Black and White, at a table in Black's apartment. It opens in medias res, after Black (who is black) just saved White (who is white) from leaping in the path of a train, The Sunset Limited, in an attempted suicide. The ex-con Black tries to convince White that suicide is not the solution, telling his own story of Christian redemption. White, whom Black calls "Professor," argues that life is nothing but pointless labor. Guess who wins the argument. Hint: this ain't a comedy.
I had a couple problems with it. For one thing, the racial dynamic came off as patronizing. Black had some blatant "magical Negro" characteristics. McCarthy is fantastic at dialog and bringing dialects to life from the page, but his ebonics here were over-the-top and not always convincing.
The main problem, though, is NOTHING HAPPENS. I get that he's limited by the stage and wants to do something different from his books, but this is all build-up and no action. Black recounts the jailhouse fight (CMcC loves those prison knife battles, doesn't he?) that lead to his hospital-bed epiphany, but otherwise this is just an intense dinner conversation. There are beautiful, bleakly funny and brutally nihilistic passages, of course. But it gets repetitive, even in a mere 60 pages. It's like one scene taken from a great play, then stretched far past its limit.
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