BOOKS I READ: All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (1992). John Grady Cole heads down to Mexico with his buddy Lacey Rawlins, escaping the disappointment of losing his homestead once it’s clear he can’t prevent his family’s Texas ranch from being sold. He’s too young to purchase it.
On the trail south, they encounter an even younger boy. They give him a hand, but he ends up derailing their plans. The boy Jimmy Blevins is stubborn and impulsive, with a smart mouth to match.
Eventually, they split from Blevins, finding work at a hacienda where they impress the owner with their cowboy skills. There, John Grady falls for the patron’s daughter, Alejandra. She loves him back, but she knows their pairing is not permissible; he’s just a vaquero with no money or education. Soon after, the police comes to arrest them in connection with something Blevins has done. The Mexican jail is the start of their nightmare.
McCarthy’s descriptions of the southwest and his slow motion accounts of the violence that ensues are breathtaking and often worth rereading. The lengthy soliloquy by Alejandra’s aunt was especially exquisite. She lectures John Grady on the restrictions imposed on the women of Mexico’s society and how their reputations must remain unsullied at all costs. It is she who ends up pulling important strings in the story. To say more is to include spoilers.
Another welcomed surprise is how McCarthy switches to Spanish and Spanish dialog throughout. He assumes the reader is fairly knowledgeable about the two languages, interspersing the two fluidly, and adding authenticity to the story.
All The Pretty Horses won the National Book Award in 1992.
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