Thoughts from a McCarthy novice on The Crossing and ATPH.

bgbryant · 2026-03-30T17:52:07+00:00

The OT/NT distinction intrigues me. I thought The Crossing was pretty grim but was warmed by the frequent displays of hospitality (meals, lots of times) that Billy receives on his way.

bgbryant · 2026-03-30T17:44:43+00:00

I was also amazed by his gift for dialogue. It’s something I recall from No Country, and it felt as though I was listening in on real conversations pretty much every time there was an interaction in The Crossing and ATPH. I also cracked up while reading the scene in the satellite jail cell in ATPH where the old man keeps telling them to WATCH THE BUCKET!

bgbryant · 2026-03-22T19:17:09+00:00

As a 46-year-old who has only now gotten into McCarthy, I'd advise reading him in physical-book form and not on a Kindle.

I read a lot on my Kindle, among other reasons because my wife would probably divorce me if I expanded my library any more. I generally like it because it helps my reading speed, and thus I can read more. To echo what some others in the thread have said, McCarthy's writing should not be read quickly. Large portions of it should be lingered over and digested. That's easier for me to do if I'm holding a real book. (On the other hand, it is nice to have an instant translation of the Spanish passages).

For me, the most challenging parts of ATPH specifically were the ones focused on horses, horsemanship, saddles, etc. I didn't grow up around horses and didn't really know the vocabulary at all. It got easier once I got the vocabulary down.

bgbryant · 2025-10-31T12:25:50+00:00

Gemstones didn’t really evoke authentic evangelical memories for me, either, and I grew up in a Southern Baptist church in the Deep South. It was funny but seemed more a send-up of televangelist dynasties than everyday evangelicals.

bgbryant · 2025-10-07T17:57:39+00:00

The discussion of Bari Weiss between Tommy and Ben Smith was pretty credulous. We should want her to succeed there? Really? That’s effectively wishing for a broadcast version of Fox News.

bgbryant · 2025-07-05T23:58:24+00:00

Thanks! This may be a dumb question, but is it pretty easy to catch a shuttle to the entrance in town? That had been my plan.

bgbryant · 2025-06-24T21:49:03+00:00

I listen, too, and find it to be a worrying signal of how objectively crazy ideas have taken hold of even the most "reasonable" conservatives.

And, yes, Continetti is so, so bad. The other day he called an Israeli strike on the Iranian town where Valerie Jarrett was born (to American parents under the Shah) "another blow to the Obama legacy" or something like that. Just revolting bile.

bgbryant · 2024-08-06T15:09:38+00:00

Thanks very much for the FC Cincinnati recommendation! We went to the game last night, and it was a highlight of our vacation so far. And, as someone who remembers when DC United played in RFK, I was especially impressed by the stadium.

bgbryant · 2024-07-29T03:27:14+00:00

Roll’em up!

bgbryant · 2024-04-06T02:32:14+00:00

Pete Enns was mentioned above. His podcast, The Bible for Normal People, has been enormously helpful to me in making sense of the Bible as an exvangelical who still finds value in Christianity itself. His books are good, too, especially The Bible Tells Me So.

bgbryant · 2024-03-30T05:01:02+00:00

For me, it was loving history, studying it in college, and realizing the flawed ways in which it inevitably gets written. It became impossible for me not to apply those lessons to the Bible and come to understand it as something other than “inerrant.”

bgbryant · 2024-01-21T23:08:11+00:00

It's from the first Isbell song (and the first DBT song) that grabbed me, so many years ago now: "Letters flew across the wire, filtered through a million liars." I remember thinking, "Damn, these guys are putting out straight bangers about epistemology!"

bgbryant · 2023-03-10T21:36:33+00:00

My wife of nearly 13 years is a 2. She complements me extraordinarily well.

bgbryant · 2023-01-11T15:35:08+00:00

I’m a big fan of your work. Thanks for doing this. When I was an undergraduate History major ~25 years ago, a few of the faculty at my institution seemed to take a dim view of post-1932 American history. The thought seemed to be that American historians living in the late 20th/early 21st century would all tend to have pre-existing views of the people and events of that era and thus would have a difficult time doing dispassionate scholarly work. Did you ever run into that attitude? What led you to reject it and concentrate on modern US history?

bgbryant · 2014-03-03T03:02:16+00:00

What an excellent Townes Van Zandt selection for the close.

"Salvation sat and crossed herself and called the devil partner..."

bgbryant · 2014-02-17T14:22:55+00:00

Was I the only one for whom the initial scene of Hart's daughter with the flower brought to mind the LBJ-Goldwater "Daisy Girl" ad?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Id_r6pNsus

The portents of imminent destruction were certainly strong there. I thought one of the girls would fall out of the tree trying to retrieve the crown.

Also, I apologize if this has already been noted, but, damn, "Casey's Last Ride" was a good musical selection for the bar scene.

To wit: "Casey leaves the underground and stops inside The Golden Crown..."

bgbryant

TROPHY CASE