This is perhaps the finest novel that I have ever had the privilege to read. It’s a spellbinding work that is almost certainly influenced by an interesting primary source account of the Glanton Gang (scalphunting crusaders in the SW circa 1849) titled My Confession by Samuel Chamberlain. I don’t have this book, the only available copies are used and north of $200, but it’s apparently a captivating historical account that also contains some genteel and capable watercolors of the environment in which these stories take place. This primary source account by Chamberlain also contains the inspiration for one of literature’s most malevolent figures, the Judge.
Blood Meridian is atmospheric, dark, ultra-violent, and depraved. And yet it is profoundly beautiful. This book, invariably, will prove too difficult a read for the majority here (low IQs, not well read, etc.), but for the few who can manage it’s a rewarding experience.
The great literary critic and Yale professor, Harold Bloom, believes Blood Meridian is a late twentieth century masterpiece (I agree):