What a trip. Read this entire series in a 10-day sprint. Sadly, Cities of the Plain wasn't on the same level as All The Pretty Horses and The Crossing for me. I felt like this book lacked the headlong intensity in the writing that those books had. There were times in the first two books when I wanted to quit reading (for the night) but the writing just wouldn't let me go.

Don't get me wrong, this book still had some beautiful writing and some great moments. I really liked the interactions and dialogue between Billy and John Grady. I liked any part involving John Grady and horses. The last scene between John Grady and Eduardo was fantastic. And of course, McCarthy would never ruin a book by having a "happy" ending. Speaking of which, I kind of wish this book had ended without the Epilogue tacked on. It didn't really add anything for me and I think emotionally, the story would've had more impact without it. I also felt like the romance fall-in-love-with-a-prostitute part of the story is a little bit too "tried and true" to have much impact. For me, the major themes of this series were loneliness, reflection, and perseverance even when it seems like everything is an exercise in futility.

However, this is still a great series and probably the best "western" books I've read. I'm actually getting a custom-made hardcover set made of these books, which I can't wait to see in person.

John Grady, you damn idiot.

Maybe my favorite of the three, but that may be cumulative effect. The only jarring thing was how much Billy had changed from the reticent, thoughtful teenager to the wisecracking (large sex worker preferring) man we meet here. In fact the opening scene set in a brothel with Billy sizing up sex workers is particularly nasty and shocking.
It seemed that Billy had kind of morphed into more of a Lacey Rawlins - John Grady's good friend from book one.
The end of the book was beautiful. Bleak but beautiful.

5 stars for the trilogy. I won't discuss the contents of the books, but I will mention an observation that I've made now that it's done. I've realized that the primary means by which I define good literature (and music for that matter.)is that in addition to beautiful prose and a compelling narrative, it produces in me ideas or questions that I actually wish I had written down. (Mind you, I seldom think my thoughts are worth documenting.) This series possessed these qualities in spades.

The title of the second book "The Crossing" is more than a little apropos. It also seems that the spare, harsh landscape of the American Southwest bordering Mexico is very fertile ground for metaphor. At the turn of the century we find young men crossing this border between the ideologies of two very different cultures. Crossing a significant turning point in history as one way of life was being completely transformed, or perhaps more accurately replaced, by another. Crossing from the naivete of children to perhaps equally naive but less innocent adults. Crossing the divide between this life and what, if anything, comes afterwords. All the while there are hints of meta-fictional questions and commentary about the nature of story telling and life as narrative.

I hesitate to mention it, because it's quite a different beast, but I might put these books on shelf with Moby Dick. Books that I could turn around read again immediately. Books that on the surface read as beautifully told tales of adventure, but can be taken to whatever depths you care to pursue. I guess that's another condition of good literature.

Not quite the towering achievement that the two previous novels in the trilogy are, but an excellent read nonetheless. Perhaps what holds this back a little is it's rather by-the-numbers plot-line which centres itself on the well-trodden ground of a decent man falling in love with a prostitute and then trying to free her of her villainous pimp. In this regard there's little to surprise the reader here, but McCarthy's writing of dialogue and character development is as strong as ever. Billy, John and Mac all leap off the page and for once McCarthy reins in the descriptive prose and instead allows the dialogue to do most of the talking for him. Arguably the female characters are rather off-the-peg, but that's generally one of McCarthy's (few) weaknesses as a writer. Otherwise this is a really engaging page turner which works extremely well as the final chapter in this trilogy devoted to the death of the West and its movement into the realm of pure myth. Bleak, beautiful and moving.

I cannot express my love for this man's work.

He has become one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint.

I wouldn't give this to someone new to McCarthy because his writing is just so hard to follow to the uninitiated. Once you get into it and you start flowing though, oh boy is it great. He knows how to write complicated and beautiful characters and compelling stories for sure. What always stands out to me in his work however is the philosophizing. There are a few moments in all of the books where the action slows and the dialogue takes over and that is where he shines.