I had always assumed that it was totally fiction, a fantasy of violence, bloodshed and depravity that showed what lies deeply buried in our psyche, in our unconscious mind.
It never occurred to me that it might be true, heaven forbid, but it is. As I read through the book itself, I also read "Notes On 'Blood Meridian'."
My God. Glanton and his gang really did most of these horrible things. Endless depravity and cruelty for no reason. In one scene, to take a small example, a man is trying to sell two puppies, and the Judge buys them, then throws into a violent, swirling river.
As the puppies surface in a calm pool below a dam, another member of Glanton's gang pulls out his pistol and shoots them, for no other reason than sport.
Children get murdered, for no reason. The buffalo get slaughtered, by the millions, and the meat left to rot on the plains.
How inhuman it all is. Disgusting.
It's one thing to assume this is all fantasy, and another to realize that most of this stuff really happened.
There is a grim kind of gallows humor to much of it, but finally it sinks into a cauldron of bloodshed.
I don't think I'll ever be able to read it again.
And I take back my recommendation.
Don't read it, unless you have a very strong stomach.
Or read it as a fantasy. I wish it wasn't true.
-- Roger
Copyright © 2012, Roger R. Angle
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