The Orchard Keeper

By: Cormac McCarthy

Narrated by: Ed Sala

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

One of America’s most celebrated novelists, Cormac McCarthy announced his towering presence on the literary stage with his first novel, The Orchard Keeper. Within the pages of this classic work, John Wesley Rattner, his uncle Ather, and bootlegger Marion Sylder find their lives dangerously entwined in pre-World War II Tennessee. There, the men’s tragedies and struggles are mirrored by the looming specter of industrialization.

©1965 Cormac McCarthy (P)2013 Recorded Books

Least essential

Cormacs least essential book. I appreciated the depiction of Appalachia and the characters were very interesting. I think that makes the direction the story heads in that much more of a let down. This one is good as nice reminder of where the author came from and simultaneously a reminder of how much better he really became.

As a side note, I appreciated the narrators voice and characterizations but I felt that the story was read in much too run-on a fashion. I couldn’t even tell chapters apart or changes in location and perspective which added to my general confusion. This may be more an editing issue than a narration issue but nonetheless it was off putting.

Early cormac

Somewhat uneven early work but still McCarthy. Still perfecting his style but we’ll done. Enjoyed the narration as well

Worth listening twice

I have been trying to pin down what I like so much about McCarthy’s audiobooks. And I think it’s because I find it impossible to intuit the outcomes. There are things he writes that would have offended a much younger me, but I find I cannot take them personally as I listen to his work.I also feel that there were things I did not pick up on my first listen and so this definitely bears listening to again.

Beautiful

I'd say, this is perhaps his most unapologetically literary novel. It's non-linear, and gives just brief vignettes of different intertwining lives, and how their actions impact each other.

The ending really hit me hard. And not just because of what happens to the dog. The concluding passages ruminating on death and how the people of the past fade from memory. Whew. Was quite moving, especially given the timing of my reading it.

It's amazing to me how this novel has McCarthy with his voice fully realized, and lyrical as ever. Despite it being his first. It reads more like his later, better books, than his second novel, simply because he isn't layering in the brainy prose so audaciously. Perhaps the story itself could have had more of an arc, but I think he was going for something else, something that felt like life itself captured in words and distilled.

In that he succeeded. It's a beautiful book.

great book, poor engineering

The reader fails to capture the tone and the cadence of this great story. It was also poorly engineered with noticeable hum. Disappointing!

Good narration

I enjoyed the narrator’s voice. The story was a bit loose but Overall I enjoyed this book.

Less than usual

It may not be fair to judge a writer against himself when speaking in general terms but this story is less than your typical work. A great story with better than average depth, still, not as strong as his following work.

A tendency to drift

I'm not going to lie - I found this one tougher-going. I've given it 4 stars because I'm a tragic Cormac McCarthy fan, and despite losing the narrative thread several times, the striking prose and rich characterisations alone are worth the price of admission.

Classic McCarthy

Very funny at times. Especially the hillbilly dialog. Quite a bit of jumping around, so it takes some patience.

Narrator kin’a grows on ya

This was my second MxCormac McCathy book, “Blood Meridian” being my first. While this book is of singular difference to the above, it has a way of drawing you into before you know it. Now I have to start the next of his books.