– The Crossing

I am a confirmed fan, so I knew what to expect - even so, this is an unbelievably sad story that offers few, if any, consolations. But it is written in McCarthy's peerless prose, and that in itself is enough to commend it. The story is actually quite slight, focusing on Billy Parham, a very young cowboy in the 1930's who embarks on a mad journey to repatriate a wolf in Mexico and ends up having his whole life turned upside down. All McCarthy's trademarks are here: beautiful, lyrical descriptions of the countryside and wider environment; a wonderful expression of the relationship between man and horse; an unblinking story of poverty, mistrust, hatred and death; and a compelling central character, flawed, headstrong, loyal and tragic. Do not read this if you like happy endings!

A story of loss, loss of a wolf, loss of parents loss of a brother. Interlaced with this is kindness to a stranger, bandits, and above all endurance.

Just a sublime novel by McCarthy, who seems incapable of writing a bad book. Dark and lyrical, it transports you to the south-western ranches of the US. Billy and Boyd are perfectly realised characters, and you are 100% invested in their journey. The writing style is sparse and elegant. Beautiful.

After reading All The Pretty Horses I was keen to read the next part in the border trilogy. I have to say that McCarthy certainly did not disappoint and I enjoyed reading The Crossing even more than it's predecessor.The story follows Billy Parham, a 17 year old boy living with on a cattle ranch near the Mexican border. Set in the late thirties we journey across the southern US and into Mexico in three perilous adventures. Cormac describes an epic landscape steeped in a terrible history. He manages to capture the wild and dangerous nature of Mexico at that time whilst portraying it's people as being largely generous and kind despite their obvious hardships.The novel deals with suffering, bereavement, the uncertain nature of life and loosing faith in God. Billy encounters people who not only tell him their often remarkable tales but offer unique philosophies. A Dark, remarkable, thought provoking read.

The Crossing feels much longer than 400 plus pages and would have been a better read at around half the length. When McCarthy is good, the writing is extraordinarily powerful, with his prose conveying the harshness and beauty of the US/Mexico landscape, along with the friendliness and hostility of the people who live there. He also writes with real power about the connection between man and animals, and indeed some of the most moving writing here is about wolves and horses.The Crossing meanders on way too long though, with long passages of religious pontifications adding little to the story, and there is no real sense of narrative urgency to the story of Billy Parham as he lives out a precarious and brutal life on the border. The book has an old, wild west feel about it, although it is set in the 1930s-40s. At times, it is like Jude The Obscure set in the USA, such is its unremitting bleakness and strange, haunting beauty. Overall, worth the effort, but hard going at times.

Having read a few McCarthys before, I enjoyed this one equally. His graphic descriptions of big countryside are second to none as are the rag tag of characters he assembles and interacts

He really is a great writer, I recommend reading his books.......... But more importantly Amazon should pay full UK taxes. It benefits from operating in the UK, yet puts virtually zero back-not good enough Amazon! Contribute to our society and welfare system! Apart from anything else it means that they compete unfairly with great British companies like John Lewis, who pay full UK taxes. Come on Amazon-cough up!

Lovely, touching, scary, - definitely not your Hollywood western. maybe an echo of 'Dances with Wolves.' Most enjoyable, though I had difficulty with the frequent intrusion of Spanish, which I did not understand except where, in parts, it resembled my schooldays' Latin. It did, however, add to the authenticity of the story.

Very entertaining. You become very sympathetic towards the main character.

The story take piace between USA and Mexico.. starts !ike a great adventure between a boy and a she wolf. Then his parents and his brother dies and the book tells about all theese journeys that the boy made each of them crossing the US and Mexican border

Neatly defined plots are the mainstay of fiction, not real life. Life, as we know it, doesn't follow the expected course; it can go round in circles, take unexpected turns and head off in a direction we hadn't foreseen. Cormac McCarthy's novel 'The Crossing' is more true to life than a slave of the fiction format. The writing is as coarse as the landscape it evokes. Characters enter and leave the narrative never to return as the boy hero Billy traverses the length and breadth of Mexico, first (mild spoilers ahead) with a wolf, then with his brother, and then a third time all by himself. The tale turns deeply philosophical at times, putting forth questions regarding the injustices of life and whether God permits them willingly. Yes, the story does drag a few times as the author gets a little too indulgent, but all in all, there is something valuable to be had from this book. If you know McCarthy's style and language and are not put off by it, 'The Crossing' is strongly recommended. But do remember, it is the second book in the 'Border Trilogy'. I suggest you read 'All The Pretty Horses' (first in the trilogy) first even though the story of 'The Crossing' has nothing to do with it. The heroes of the two books come together in the third book 'Cities Of The Plain'.

The gloom master is darker than normal in this second book of the Border Trilogy. Published in 1994, Cormac McCarthy once again takes the reader across the border into Mexico through the eyes of a young man. Has anybody ever seen Cormac smile? In a rare interview with 'The New York Times' , Cormac stated that he is not an aficionado of authors who don't "deal with issues of life and death." This novel deals with those issues. He is also the master of simple declarative sentences without quotation marks. He told Oprah Winfrey, on her show in 2007, that he believes there is no reason to "blot the page up with weird little marks." Yet, this rebel of proper grammar is consider one of the great writers of our times. Since I seem to be drawn to his novels, I can't argue that point, but many literary critics do. And what does William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, writers of 'The Elements of Style' , think about his prose? Not too much, I'm sure.The story starts innocently enough with sixteen year old Billy Parham trying to trap a wolf that traveled from Mexico on to Parham's ranch in New Mexico. The she-wolf has been destroying the livestock. Billy and his father are unsuccessful trapping the wolf until Billy gets the idea to bury the trap under a old campfire. Bingo! The wolf gets caught, but since Billy can't pull the trigger, he decides to take the wolf back to Mexico. Billy almost completes the mission up till the time a group of Mexicans take the wolf away from Billy. The Mexicans put the wolf in a pit at a town fair. While chained to a post, the wolf is forced to fight one dog after another. Billy tries fruitlessly to save the wolf that he has bonded with. With no options available to him, Billy shoots the wolf dead. After burying the wolf, Billy heads back to New Mexico. Cheery story so far, right? During his trek home, he runs into a man at a run-down church that tells Billy the first of three stories told by strangers in this novel. This part of the novel is unique, just as is the alternate Spanish and English lines throughout the tale. Although I don't know Spanish, it was written so brilliantly that I knew what they were saying.When Billy arrives at his parents ranch in New Mexico, he finds that his home is deserted. He rides into town to see the Sheriff. He is told that his parents were shot to death by two men and the six horses stolen. His brother, Boyd, got away and is staying a neighbor's house. Billy finds Boyd, steals money, a shotgun, ammo, and food from the family. The game plan is to head back to Mexico and find the horses. All this happens early in this 426 page novel, so I'm not giving away the story. The novel explodes once the boys cross into Mexico. They will encounter many difficulties, meet a mysterious young girl, meet a strange character named Quijada on two occasions. Oh, the troubles are many. You will read the second and third story told by strangers. The second story is about a rebel who gets his eyes sucked out after being captured by the federals, and the third story is about a gypsy and two airplanes. This novel is quite a trip.An example of Cormac's prose are the following lines pertaining to Billy Parham: "It had ceased raining in the night and he walked out on the road and called for the dog. He called and called. Standing in that inexplicable darkness. Where there was no sound anywhere save only the wind. After a while he sat in the road. He took off his hat and placed it on the tarmac before him and he bowed his head and held his face in his hands and wept. He sat there for a long time and after a while the east did gray and after a while the right and god made sun did rise, once again, for all and without distinction." Notice all the "ands"? This man of `no rules' prose can get his point across to the reader in his own remarkable way. I highly recommend this novel.

I always find McCarthy books very difficult to review for some reason, even though each one has been powerful in their own way and a thoughtful experience. I’ve enjoyed every Cormac McCarthy book I’ve read (The Crossing being my fourth read) and feel like there are some signature McCarthy staples that a reader experiences when venturing forth into one of his novels.The novel here is aptly named because in The Crossing we have a focus on various journeys of sorts, both literal and figurative, that are experienced namely by our protagonist, Billy Parham. Within the novel, there are a total of three literal crossings, one of which is Billy’s journey into Mexico after capturing a she-wolf that was terrorizing the father’s livestock. Along this path, Billy encounters allies, foes, dangers, and insights into the land.One of the most notable qualities of McCarthy (alongside the lack of quotations for dialogue) is his stream of conscious dreamlike prose that seems to go in line with the mythical effect of the plot. I felt like I could literally get lost in the prose (I mean, in an effective way). And this adds to the literary experience, as in The Crossing themes such as coming of age, loss of innocence, facing the harsh realities of life. There is a constant prevailing commentary on the human existence that is focus.This novel has less a linear styled plot but works instead more so as a series of connected episodes or parts that take us to one larger conclusion. Another notable aspect is McCarthy’s distinct ability to use the oral tradition of storytelling as part of both the literal and symbolic journey. In this way, we are given a story within a story, and I think this adds to the mythical, ponderous quality that The Crossing establishes.This was yet another powerful reading experience from McCarthy, and I look forward to finishing with the last in the Border trilogy, Cities of the Plain.