After finally getting around to reading ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho and ‘Blood Meridian’ by Corman McCarthy, I can honestly relate that I’ve had two extreme experiences. The Alchemist is divine in tone, even considered a self-help book by some. And judging by the author’s introduction, it appears that the novel is perhaps even guided by a higher power. As a bookseller, I still get requests for this title at least once a week.
Blood Meridian, on the other hand, is taught as a subject in some Ivy League colleges. But I’ve yet to have a request for this title. You see, it’s a very dark novel. So dark that it seems to reach up from the pit of hell and drag you through the darkest places imaginable. I think if Satan himself had published Blood Meridian, he may have asked the author to tone down the violence and gore some. That said, much of the novel is based on true events.
It’s funny though, that there are some similarities between these rather disparate novels. Both are about long journeys. The Alchemist begins in Spain and travels across North Africa to the Great Pyramids. Blood Meridian covers the entirety of the Texas/Mexico border during the seemingly lawless era between the 1850’s to the 1870’s. The protagonist in The Alchemist is a humble shepherd who crosses the desert in quest of a buried treasure. He finds that the greatest treasure, however, may be something he hadn’t expected at all. In Blood Meridian, a young man known only as ’the kid’ (and later -- ’the man’) crosses the U.S./Mexico border earning money by scalping Native Americans at first, then robbing and killing most everyone they come upon. There are no happy endings here. Not even close.
It was interesting to have read the most optimistic, divinely inspired of novels, then follow it up with a novel about the darkest aspects of human nature. What’s more interesting is that you arrive at the same place. The termination of two amazing novels that I’m so fortunate to have read. Incredible journeys -- both light and dark.
Although our daughter Cordelia is still too young to talk, based upon her smile and the brightness of her eyes, one could surmise that she thought the art and illustrations in 'Ela Cat in the Jungle' was both mysterious and alluring. She thought the prose was charming and succinct. It was the perfect bedtime story and she was soon fast asleep, no doubt dreaming of her own adventures in the jungle. If she were able, I'm certain that Cordelia would recommend 'Ela Cat in the Jungle' for any child between the ages of three months to three years and beyond. What a sweet little book!
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| after a late April snow storm |
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| Please, have a seat... |
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| No, sit here. |
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