Dancing In Imelda's Shoes

Sailing to Dallas Don Melichar No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy Knopf http://www.aaknopf.com 318 pages; cloth, $24.95 It has been seven years since the publication of Cities ofthe Plain (1998), and anticipation of the release ofNo Countryfor Old Men was apparent for six months before its publication to anyone who has visited the McCarthy Society web site (www.cormacmccarthy .com). In May, the advanced reader copies (ARC) of the novel were released, and some were made available on eBay. As ofthis writing, four have been sold, each formore than one hundred dollars; six more are for sale. First editions ofMcCarthy's novels and especially signed copies continue to increase in price. Ten years ago, I was pleased to find a fine unsigned first edition of The OrchardKeeper (1965) at a book fair in Kansas City. It was the first book I was willing to pay over a thousand dollars for, but I didn't have to. Recently, I was offered three thousand for that copy. I have all ofMcCarthy's first trade editions , and it is that part of my collection that I am most proud to own, In the book collecting world, it is generally agreed that a book's value is determined by the number of available copies and literary merit. Few would disagree with the assertion that McCarthy is one of the important writers of the day, and it has been said that he is the best living American writer. I have echoed this claim, but then I always laugh and qualify; I have not read the works of every living writer in this country. In the McCarthy Society chat room, the discussion of No Country for Old Men runs from the historical accuracy of certain lines to the description of a hunting rifle to the whines of those who have not been able to get an ARC. The site reports that panels are already being formed to discuss this novel at academic conferences. And while there will be much debate about this novel and where it ranks when compared to McCarthy's previous works, it will stand on its own literary merits. No Countryfor Old Men is, on firstread, more plot-driven than other McCarthy novels; it seems deceptively easier. There is no code-switching to slow the reader down and there are fewer long philosophical monologues delivered by obscure characters. Like his other novels, this one is well written, and his continued control oflanguage still separates him from his contemporaries. None of his novels are delightful, but this one, like the others, grips the reader and demands a second read. Few would disagree with the assertion that McCarthy is one ofthe important writers ofthe day. The title ofthe novel, No Countryfor OldMen, is taken from the first line of the Yeats poem, "Sailing to Byzantium," and a reading of that poem is one way to get into this novel. As Raymond Cowell says of Yeats's poem, there is a "cruel paradox that both change and lack of change mark and torment mankind." Sheriff Bell in McCarthy's novel is perplexed at what he sees as generational change. As he and a deputy review the carnage of a drug deal gone south, the deputy wonders why the coyotes have not eaten the bodies. Bell's reply is that "supposedly , they [coyotes] won't eat a Mexican." While No Countryfor Old Men is set in 1980s Texas, this quote captures the racial tension that has always been a part of Texas. It also demonstrates McCarthy's knowledge of his adopted region and his ability to lift lines from other writers. In 1949, J. Frank Dobie, a Texas man of letters, in his fine book The Voice of the Coyote, reports the same sentiment in nearly the same words and goes on to trace the written record to at least 1830. Dobie reports the Texas anglo belief that dead Mexicans had eaten too much chile to be suitable food for coyotes. The deputy replies that not all ofthe dead are Mexican, and taken together these two lines capture the uncertainty that plagues Bell throughout the novel. Bell believes that there is a...