"I Need Closure!!!"

Fin.


     We finished No Country For Old Men  in class today (I finished Wednesday), and now looking back on the novel as a whole, I though it was very good and I would definitely recommend it to everyone (who can read).


     But I was actually disappointed by the ending...It seemed like at the end, maybe McCarthy just wanted it to be done, I don't know. It just seemed like Sheriff Bell was saying, "well, everyone that COULD stop Chigurh is dead, and he COULD just be dead in the desert anyways...maybe I should just let it go and retire...okay, done." It was definitely a good book, but I guess I was just expecting a more exciting (or at least a more meaningful ending, that took into accounts from Chigurh and Moss' experiences) ending to such a suspenseful and thought-provoking novel. I guess I just have to do like Bell and "let it go" because that's just how it is. 


POB: 
I just would like to borrow a picture that sort of depicts my feelings about the end of the book:

Courtesy of Allie Brosh, writer of "Hyperbole and a half"
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/10/every-time-i-write-something-new-feel.html

     I was happy to reach the end of the book and excited to find out how the story ended. I wanted to know if Chigurh lived or died, whether he actually felt bad for Carla Jean, if Sheriff Bell would make a come back from always being a few steps behind the action and capture Chigurh, at least for a while before he escaped again or died, and things of that nature. But I was left with an open ending and even more questions about Bell's dreams. 


Instead of answering my questions, McCarthy just gave me even more. 


Now I just have to watch the movie.

No Boring Read for (Relatively) Old Students

Wow.
It's been a while since I've been able to bequeath my thoughts upon my fair audience (whomever that entails). 


To start off, I've been reading the famous book, "No Country for Old Men." Being almost done with it, I found this poster for the movie to be quite accurate and picked it as the picture of the blog (or the POB, if you will). [I just love this poster for its accuracy and for just how awesome it's been designed.]

     Yeah, there's a gun, and it's been fired (see bullet casings on the ground), and the guy in the picture is wearing the stereotypical Texas/Western clothes (see boots, jeans, and plaid shirt), but this poster is a lot more accurate than just in those superficial details. It argues that "clean getaways" just do not exist. And in this novel, that is one of the obvious truths! 


SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not read this book/seen the movie, I advise you to DO IT. It is an amazing read and you won't regret it! (Plus you can keep reading this post without being sad and/or confused).


     I had not yet thought about this theme of the story, so it was interesting for me to find it while looking for other POBs. This theme is a part of why this story is so gosh-darned interesting! You meet seemingly innocent people who get caught up (or are just in the wrong place at the wrong time) and they end up going through an ordeal along with the main characters (e.g. Carla Jean because of Moss). So far (I am currently about 30 pages from the end), this theme of "no clean getaways" has applied to every character we have met, save Sheriff Bell (who just hasn't really met any action because he has always been a few steps behind). Wells, Carla Jean, and Moss have been killed throughout the book, and even Chigurh, with his extreme skill and obvious experience, has almost gotten himself killed twice, and was last seen limping away from a  car accident with his bone sticking out of his arm and bleeding incessantly. 


Another theme and/or question that I ask myself is "Why would McCarthy write a novel that, on the surface, it seems that essentially nothing happened?" Man finds money; he takes it and tries to avoid/kill a psycho-killer who also wants the money. Man dies, but not from psycho-killer. Psycho-killer gets the money, but gives it back to its "rightful" owner before going to kill the man's wife. At this point in time, everyone except the sadistic psycho-killer and the seemingly useless sheriff has been killed.


Also, what role does the law enforcement play? What picture is McCarthy trying to paint about "justice"? They always seem to get there after the fact and have not been able to prevent anything bad from happening, let alone capture "the bad guys." Chigurh says that the coin in his pocket that decides whether someone lives or dies is "justice," while most people would think that "justice" and righteousness would have at least caught up with Chigurh by now, after all the horrific things he has done.