Reading the World: Cormac McCarthy's Tennessee Period

Reading the World: Cormac McCarthy's Tennessee Period
ISBN-10
1570038244
ISBN-13
9781570038242
Series
Reading the World
Category
Literary Criticism
Pages
314
Language
English
Published
2009
Publisher
Univ of South Carolina Press
Author
Dianne C. Luce

Description

In Reading the World Dianne C. Luce explores the historical and philosophical contexts of Cormac McCarthy's early works crafted during his Tennessee period from 1959 to 1979 to demonstrate how McCarthy integrates literary realism with the imagery and myths of Platonic, gnostic, and existentialist philosophies to create his unique vision of the world. Luce begins with a substantial treatment of the east Tennessee context from which McCarthy's fiction emerges, sketching an Appalachian culture and environment in flux. Against this backdrop Luce examines, novel by novel, McCarthy's distinctive rendering of character through mixed narrative techniques of flashbacks, shifts in vantage point, and dream sequences. Luce shows how McCarthy's fragmented narration and lyrical style combine to create a rich portrayal of the philosophical and religious elements at play in human consciousness as it confronts a world rife with isolation and violence.

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