Here are some questions about All the Pretty Horses which I think you all can discuss with each other:
1. What's up with the untranslated Spanish? What effect is McCarthy going for?
2. Ditto with the lack of quotation marks--besides generating reader confusion, what purpose is served by not being able to keep track of who's speaking?
3. Why do Rawlins and John get locked up? What is the sequence of events that lead up to their incarceration?
4. What BIG IDEAS is McCarthy working with in this novel? What truth about life or how the world works can you glean from the book? What do you predict for John's future?
(REMEMBER TO DO THE QUESTIONS FOR EACH BOOK AS YOU GO!!!)
His big ideas are the end of the cowboy generations, the change in society after the war and I think the frustration John went through as the cowboy age started to fade. The truth I find in this book is that there's always an end and a new beginning.
ReplyDeleteThe Spanish parts make me think this was the first warning of change in the book. When I think about the cowboy life I see horses, boots, cows, ect, but I don't see a Spanish waitress.
I think that the untranslated Spanish gets you more involved in the book. It allows you to really see and hear what John and Rawlin were experiencing throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I enjoyed the spanish
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kierra; yes it did get me more involved into understanding what was going on, but I hated it. Every time I saw the Spanish I skipped over that part of the dialogue. In the very beginning I tried to enjoy having the Spanish mixed in, but I never did. It was something new to experience, but having to look up what was being said every time some Spanish was used was very annoying.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the Spanish dialogue helps the reader get more involved with the books setting/scene. Also helps with a bit of learning a new language along the way. The lack of quotation marks gives the reader a chance to adjust to a new type of writing. Given that McCarthy is a different style author.John and Rawlings are locked away because of what a Belvin's did. Stealing a horse from a town and shooting a man, since the two were with him at the time they were hunted down as well.
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