The Passenger

By: Cormac McCarthy

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews, Julia Whelan

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The first of a two-volume masterpiece, The Passenger series, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Road • The story of a salvage diver, haunted by loss, afraid of the watery deep, pursued for a conspiracy beyond his understanding, and longing for a death he cannot reconcile with God.

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

"Blends the rowdy humor of some of McCarthy’s early novels with the parched tone of his more apocalyptic later work." —The New York Times

Stella Maris, the second volume in The Passenger series, is available now.

1980, PASS CHRISTIAN, MISSISSIPPI: It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wet suit and plunges from the Coast Guard tender into darkness. His dive light illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight bag, the plane’s black box, and the tenth passenger. But how? A collateral witness to machinations that can only bring him harm, Western is shadowed in body and spirit—by men with badges; by the ghost of his father, inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima; and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul.

Traversing the American South, from the garrulous barrooms of New Orleans to an abandoned oil rig off the Florida coast, The Passenger is a breathtaking novel of morality and science, the legacy of sin, and the madness that is human consciousness.

McCarthy dealing w/ Mortality, Paranoia

Best Parts?
Hearing McCarthy describe Nagasaki, String Theory and his conspiracy-fueled discussion on JFK's assassination is but the beginning of the vast treasures this book imparts. Can't wait to read 2nd Volume for more. Possibly most stoic character McCarthy ever wrote but there's something beautiful & almost fatalistic to this gorgeously stark novel.

This is how a master writes

All concerned: This is a master. This is how a master writes. Pay attention. Haha

Patience helps

It took me some listening to grasp what really goes on. Interesting and unusual book. Now I will have to read/ listen all of his books.

First Cormac McCarthy book I did not finish.

As someone who thinks Cormac McCarthy is one of the best authors I have ever read, I was disappointed with this book. I am reluctant to criticize the author because he is one of my favorites, but this book seemed to me to be a series of beautifully written character studies that had little cohesion as a story. Variety is the spice, and I'm sure I am in a minority as one who did not care for this particular book.

Great narration

I love the narration and the writing, but I found the story very hard to follow. I think, for me may be reading it would be better…