Cormac McCarthy’s “God-Mike”

Posted on May 29, 2008 by sheila

A wonderful post from Ted about The Crossing, and Cormac McCarthy’s sudden piercing bouts of omniscience – hard to pull off, nigh on impossible, actually. The great Russian writers do it all the time, but of course, they invented the “god-mike” in September, 1634, so that makes sense. George Eliot could do it, she’s the first English writer that comes to mind, but I can’t think of anyone else who so consistently pulls off the “god-mike” effect so effortlessly and powerfully. You must be a psychologist of the highest order to be able to pull back that far, and comment not just on the events of the story, but on all mankind. Blood Meridian was brutal that way. It was like staring into a bright light.

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5 Responses to Cormac McCarthy’s “God-Mike”

  1. Ted says:
    May 29, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    Thanks for that! These passages truly astound me for their inevitability in context – they could be just slightly different and would amount to parody.

  2. David says:
    May 29, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    I love Cormac McCarthy with every fiber of my being. The man treats his readers with an unflinching lack of sentimentality which is why I think he gets away with the “God-mike”. That and that his genius is beyond me to even comprehend. I just finished this trilogy the other day and, not to give anything away, but I was amazed at my surprise at his ability to devastate you.

    Had it not been for you, I may have been successfully able to block out the ending of Blood Meridian forever. At least until I reread it. I can never block out the ending this trilogy.

  3. Suzanne says:
    May 29, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    I would be very interested to read a post by you on your favorite Russian authors. I fell in love with Tolstoy when I read Anna Karenina.

    -suz

  4. red says:
    May 29, 2008 at 10:26 pm

    Suzanne – Crime and Punishment is one of my favorite books of all time. Here’s a post I wrote on it.

  5. red says:
    May 29, 2008 at 10:35 pm

    It’s not an eloquent post but it’s passionate!

    I love Anna Karenina too – and War & Peace is going to be my summer novel. Never read it – I need to gear up – but I’m really psyched for it.

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