No more heroes : narrative perspective and morality in Cormac McCarthy / Lydia R. Cooper.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cooper, Lydia R., 1980-

Series:

Southern literary series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

McCarthy, Cormac, 1933-2023--Criticism and interpretation.

McCarthy, Cormac.

McCarthy, Cormac, 1933-2023--Technique.

McCarthy, Cormac, 1933-2023.

Narration (Rhetoric).

Heroes in literature.

Ethics in literature.

Empathy in literature.

Technique.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

x, 185 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2011]

Summary:

From critically reading the corpus of American novelist and playwright Cormac McCarthy, Cooper (English, Monmouth College, Illinois) makes the case that idealism, heroism and redemption obliquely infuse the seeming nihilism of such novels as The Orchard Keeper (1965), All the Pretty Horses (1992), and The Road (2006). And despite criticism of his characters as amoral and lacking an inner voice, she argues that his detached narrative style evokes empathy for their flawed morality in the face of despair ("a theology of suffering"), and is consistent with linguistic pragmatism. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Introduction: narrative perspective and morality in McCarthy's novels

"Word and flesh": narrative and morality in the early Appalachian novels

"A dream of shriving": empathy and the aesthetics of confession in Suttree and Blood meridian

"Pledged in blood": linguistic interiority and redemption in the border trilogy

"He's a psychopathic killer but so what?": moral storytelling in No country for old men

"There is no god and we are his prophets": heroism and prophetic narrative in The road

Conclusion: finding heroism through empathy in McCarthy's novels.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780807137215

0807137219

OCLC:

639573968