まずは何をおいても
コーマック・マッカーシー『越境』（ハヤカワepi文庫）の復刊。
マッカーシーは傑作以外書いたことがないし、これも例外ではない。
『すべての美しい馬』（ハヤカワepi文庫）が好きだった人は、
言わなくても飛びつくでしょう。

ストイックな文、アメリカ南部のきわめてローカルな話なのにみなぎる
普遍性。少年が、捕まえたオオカミを放してやろうと旅をするだけの、
ほとんど時代錯誤な直球勝負の小説だけれど、それが何と非凡な力強さ
を持っていることか。

できることなら、池澤夏樹も世界文学全集に入れたかっただろうと思う
んだ。かれが個人編集をしている河出書房新社の世界文学全集からは、
ジョン・アップダイク『クーデタ』、メアリー・マッカーシー
『アメリカの鳥』が続けて出たけれど、コーマック・マッカーシーが収録
できていれば、このアップダイクもメアリー・マッカーシーも、いや
ケルアックすらいらなかったはず。そう思うと、かれもいろいろ使える作品
の面で手足を縛られていて、悩んでいるんだろうなあ。同情します。

－（山形浩生「山形月報！」）

Our hero wanders about the southwestern American countryside and crosses into Mexico several times, sleeps on the plains, waters the horses, and looks at the stars. But the pages and pages of tranquility are broken, suddenly and without warning, by violence and horrific sights. Probably better than "All the Pretty Horses", but certainly not easy to read. ( )

Our hero wanders about the southwestern American countryside and crosses into Mexico several times, sleeps on the plains, waters the horses, and looks at the stars. But the pages and pages of tranquility are broken, suddenly and without warning, by violence and horrific sights. Probably better than "All the Pretty Horses", but certainly not easy to read. ( )

Our hero wanders about the southwestern American countryside and crosses into Mexico several times, sleeps on the plains, waters the horses, and looks at the stars. But the pages and pages of tranquility are broken, suddenly and without warning, by violence and horrific sights. Probably better than "All the Pretty Horses", but certainly not easy to read. ( )

Amazing. The comparisons to Faulkner and Hemingway are apt but there's the Latino flavor too. I'm not just referring to the setting in Mexico or the copious use of Spanish.

(And I could understand almost all the Spanish! This would be a good novel to recommend to second semester Spanish students--a good motivator to learn more.)

There's also the feeling of Latino literature. The way many LA writers tell a tale. The Mexican characters verge on the allegorical or the magical realist. I thought of how Fellini would film this--the caravan of actors, the opera singer bathing, the nameless girl barely escaping the gang of ladrones/rapists/murderers.

And the way the Mexican characters talk! Big themes, the meaning of life, God, civil war. Contrast this with the laconic (though colorfully idiomatic) language of the American characters. Or should I say the characters when in America?

Finally, very near the end, we get about a paragraph's work of self talk from Billy, told to an unsympathetic gringo who happens upon his campfire. What's that all about? How much has Billy learned? ( )