No Country for Old Men

By: Cormac McCarthy

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Cormac McCarthy, best-selling author of National Book Award winner All the Pretty Horses, delivers his first new novel in seven years. Written in muscular prose, No Country for Old Men is a powerful tale of the West that moves at a blistering pace.

Llewelyn Moss is hunting antelope near the Texas-Mexico border when he stumbles upon several dead men, a big stash of heroin, and more than two million dollars in cash. He takes off with the money, and the hunter becomes the haunted. A drug cartel hires a former Special Forces agent to track down the loot, and a ruthless killer joins the chase as well. Also looking for Moss is the aging Sheriff Bell, a World War II veteran who may be Moss' only hope for survival.

Raw and lean, No Country for Old Men is another masterpiece from one of America's acclaimed novelists.

©2005 Cormac McCarthy (P)2005 Recorded Books, LCC

Critic reviews

"No Country for Old Men gets off to a riveting start as a sort of new wave, hard-boiled Western....Harrowing, propulsive drama." (The New York Times)
"A mesmerizing modern-day western....While the action of the novel thrills, it's the sensitivity and wisdom of Sheriff Bell that makes the book a profound meditation on the battle between good and evil and the roles choice and chance play in the shaping of a life." (Publishers Weekly)
"Shades of Dostoyevsky, Hemingway, and Faulkner resonate in McCarthy's blend of lyrical narrative, staccato dialogue, and action-packed scenes splattered with bullets and blood. McCarthy fans will revel in the author's renderings of the raw landscapes of Mexico and the Southwest and the precarious souls scattered along the border that separates the two." (Booklist)

Call it.

Although the Coen brothers did an outstanding job of making this book into a movie, you just have to read the book to get a sense of the depth of the characters...even Anton Chigurh.

The movie just cannot capture the essence of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell who comes from a long line of lawmen. As the main protagonist the story really centers around how the sheriff relates the loss of innocence in his small Texas town. He relates how crime has become much more violent with the passage of time and the introduction of the drug trade.

Tom Stechschulte does one of the best jobs of narration that I have heard in an audio book. Perhaps even better than George Guidall and Frank Muller. His voice captures exactly what I imagined the characters would sound like from a South Texas town.

If you saw the movie...

I'm a big for of the movie No Country for Old Men and I was hoping there would be some additional back story if I went through the book. Well, I can say the reason the movie was so good is due to the movie following the book to a T. If you've seen the movie and want to read the same story again, it's a great read. If you're looking to expand the story after watching the movie, don't waste your time.

A strong story

No country for old men is a very good audio book with superb narration. Tom Stechschulte really does a great job of capturing the flavour of the setting and personalities involved in the story. The only reason I didn't rate this book a five is the tendancy McCarthy has for omitting essential pieces of information or deleting scenes you'd think would be vital (like the death of the main character no less). This quirk aside, he does a great job of transporting your mind to a unique part of the world and tells a good story.

Better than the Movie...and it Rocked!

What did you love best about No Country for Old Men?

The mental pictures the author created was impressive, even down to the smallest detail.
A very well written story!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked the villain Antawn Shaguhr. He was incredibly ruthless throughout the entire story.
His cold-blooded and calculating ways were very disturbing.

Which character – as performed by Tom Stechschulte – was your favorite?

Again, it was Antawn Shaguhr in the way his speaking manner was so deadpan, but at the same time you could feel the twisted hatred in his words.

If you could rename No Country for Old Men, what would you call it?

Evil is Only a Step Away

Any additional comments?

A fabulous story that I will never ever forget. The narrator Tom Stechschulte's performance was spectacular as well. He did an amazing job of depicting the wide array of characters throughout the story. I will listen to this one more than once.

Hope to read again

"It takes very little to govern good people. And bad people can't be governed at all. Or if they could, I never heard of it."

Excellent, Depressing Story

The narrator takes you straight to south Texas for a creepy and nihilistic murder spree. When a man happens upon a bag of money and runs with it, he's pursued by a sheriff trying to make moral sense of a changing world and a killer who sees himself as the hand of fate.

Sit back and open your soul.....

I rarely give out a five, but if I could I would give this book a fifteen.
I have never read a book like this in my life and when it ended I felt completely gobsmacked. I still do.
On a cursory reading it's a pretty good story about guns and intrigue, but the story starts in the midst of a graphic scene and you don't even know who these people are or why what's happening IS HAPPENING!
So it's entertaining, but let's slice deeper into this velvet cake of wisdom.....
I'm going to immediately re-read this book. I've NEVER done this before. There were so many profound themes and thoughts that it made me review MY LIFE then and there.
Not only my life, but the thoughts and actions of the collective society around me--What makes it work and what is tearing it apart? What is good or bad and does it really matter? Why does destruction in its multitude of forms always seems to overcome regenesis, love, peace and joy...or is this only perception.
It took me a few minutes to get use to the narrator, but now I think he's so good that I can't picture anyone else narrating these characters.
So run to get this book and read it ASAP. I'm so disappointed l didn't read it sooner and it just sat there with my other purchased, but unread books.
BRAVO Cormac!

Good Read!!

good all around story.. Narrator does a great job! If you don't really keep up you will get lost. waited and waited for a climax that NEVER CAME!!

Great Story Telling!

I loved this book. On the surface it is an exciting and violent story. It is also multi-layered and under the surface it becomes a very profound story on life and death, good and evil and fate. After I finished this book, I thought about it for days.

Great Book

First of all, I loved the narration by Tom Stechschulte. He did a great job. The story itself was interesting and dark. The characters were realistic, and I think the dialogue was really well done. This book surprised me in a lot of ways.