I just started reading Blood Meridan for the first time and I was kinda shocked to see the casual use of one of the worst slurs in the English language. I’m just wondering if this is a Huckleberry Finn thing and “justified” in some way? Or more like a Pulp Fiction situation where Tarantino seemed to throw it in there just because he could? Because honestly, I know this is close to being a modern-day classic but there are a lot of amazing books out there I’ve not yet read and I don’t know if it’s worth it to pollute my brain like that or just move on to something else.
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are you being fr right now
“Pollute your brain?” If you can’t handle morally bad characters and situations just read something else. I can’t believe this needs to be said, but Blood Meridian is not a morality tale
Thank god some sense. Honestly, I often wonder do people expect dark subjects to be all sunshine’s and rainbows. 🙄
This post feels like OP subtly bragging about how they’re a good person because they don’t like the N word. As a black person, I find this whole conversation unbearably obnoxious
Or people being shocked that bad/evil characters do and say bad/evil things. Or that stories set in the past don’t conform to modern morals.
This perspective is so interesting and very reflective of people looking at racism as a thing of the past.
I can promise that you know multiple people who are still very comfortable using that word. Maybe not around you, because you’re one of those “woke people”, but they definitely use it.
Racism is alive and well, and the n word is the least of it. To completely dismiss anything that uses the word and to act as if it isn’t still in many people’s vocabulary is not as progressive as you might think.
I mean, people used that word a lot back then, even if they weren’t particularly bad people by the standards of the time period. It’s bound to show up. If you want to read realistic historical fiction then you’re going to have to accept that slurs got thrown around and will show up in the book.
I thought the book portrayed realistically how those sorts of people were at that time in history. Considering how gritty and raw the depictions of violence to everyone was, it would stick out more to me if the glanton gang and their ilk referred to black people in a historically inaccurate yet pc term.
I’m ok with the killing of babies but I I cannot tolerate the use of a derogatory term. I will not allow my brain to be polluted like that. That’s where I draw the line.
Wow. You’re reading Blood Meridian and the first bit that upset you was the bad language?
I actually laughed. Well done. Either you’re an excellent troll or you’re serious… in which case, l will laugh even harder.
Jesus this is painful. So pathetic
The only book that I’ve read that has included the n-word where it wasn’t used well was Freakonomics and that’s because it wasn’t from a fictional character, and also it was an audiobook so it came out of nowhere. Pretty much every other time it’s spoken by characters that are portrayed as horrible, racist people.
“Pollute my brain”
Based on this post, there ain’t much there to pollute, buddy
It’s just a word.
It’s a brutal book but worth pushing through. I have always loved the way he uses Spanish dialogue, FWIW!
I understand what you mean though with comparison to Tarantino in that many McCarthy books have been made into movies for the masses, the whole shock value factor…but like others have said I think it’s more about the time period in this situation. And the brutality of the characters
Blood Meridian is a book filled with evil characters. Evil characters should behave, talk and sound like evil people.
All the main characters are members of a murderous band of racist scalp hunters. They kill people and animals on whims. It’s set in the US/Mexico border area in the late 1840s to early 1850s. The use of the N word is accurate to the characters and the time period unfortunately.
I better not see your own post on r/bookscirclejerk later.