I haven't seen the movie, "No Country for Old Men," by Cormac McCarthy but I have a love/hate relationship with the McCarthy's writing. I love his dialogue, well drawn characterization, and themes. It's his stories I hate. I just can't relate; they're just not in my frame of reference.
For example, there are more guns and I don't mean hand guns in this story than in military arsenals. I haven't read many Cormac McCarthy books but the few I've read, remind me of Flannery O'Conner's characters. I guess psychopaths and sociopaths make for thrilling plots.
"No Country for Old Men" starts with Moss coming across a drug deal gone bad. He takes their money. Why not? Who's going to report it missing?
The drug overlords, that's who. Well, they don't report it, they track it down to hell and back.
Moss is hunted by a psychopath. The novel becomes a thrilling page turner here. But the story isn't about Moss. It's about Bell, the sheriff. Of course, he's after the bad guys. During the course of the chase, we learn about Bell and will empathize with him that this is no country for old men.
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