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)

Amazingly written, disappointing ending

This book was gripping from the first 10 minutes. The writing was phenomenal and it's the kind of book I don't want to put down. Unfortunately, the ending happens way too fast. Several pivotal things happened to main characters with no story about what led up to it and what went down... I was very disappointed with the ending.

McCarthy wrote a great story.

Mr. McCarthy wrote a great story and Mr. Stechschulte's narration brought it to life. Great performance by Tom Stechschulte. A must read!

The narration is really good

Very entertaining story really enjoyed the book, the narrator is quite good he gets to see in your mind what he is narrating.

Chilling

This book was captivating and I really enjoyed it. I got bored with the last 45 minutes of the book though, I kept listening thinking something was going to happen, but it was all just he sheriff rambling about nothing.

Good book though, definately worth listening to.

Cormac McCarthy

Would you consider the audio edition of No Country for Old Men to be better than the print version?

yes

What did you like best about this story?

Masculine story line.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite is when Anton flipped the coin and said,

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I think a common theme in the author's literature is the violence committed against
humans by intelligent yet amoral individuals with plots set in the desert SW of the US.
I am not sure that it was the intention of the author to necessarily

5 Stars

Great book read by a great narrator. It was one of the best books in listened too.

Excellent!

I saw the movie, and I read the book. I enjoyed the narration of it as well. No Country can be dark and depressing in some places. It's a book that older readers will probably appreciate more so than younger readers. Although I'm the consummate optimist, I find the writing and the story to be very engaging. No Country for Old Men is definitely one of my favorite books and this is an excellent rendition of the book.

Masterpiece

This book is very entertaining. It was not a bit dull, and it certainly wasn't predictable (even though I have seen the film). This book asked a lot of deep questions and brought up important themes such as change in a person's life. I highly recommend it to anyone.

Wow, talk about "Show, don't tell"

This was both masterfully written and expertly narrated. The author obviously respects his readers and lets them reach their own conclusions about the feelings and motivations of the characters. At no point does he spell out the plot for us. The writing kept me thinking and visualizing, and I found the narration by the sheriff to be particularly enjoyable. I highly recommend this.

Masculine Literature

It may be elevating the idea that "chick-lit" is actually literature (and some really are very literary- and not just brain candy) But there is not a focus, at least to my knowledge, of pieces of literature that are very focused on masculinity.

Cormac McCarthy is very much a guy's novelist. His writing is innovative -- sparse where it needs to be and descriptive when it deserves to be. Like James Dickey's DELIVERENCE, his plots lend themselves to be complete metaphors rather than just stories, and most deal with elements of being a man. McCarthy often uses a single character to depict a universal idea with an "everyman" as his opponent. Readers can put themselves in the protagonist's shoes and ask themselves if they would react to the conflicts the same way.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is an excellent read -- a good introduction to McCarthy as a writer.