Outer Dark

By: Cormac McCarthy

Narrated by: Ed Sala

Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Outer Dark is a novel at once fabular and starkly evocative, set is an unspecified place in Appalachia, sometime around the turn of the century. A woman bears her brother's child, a boy; he leaves the baby in the woods and tells her he died of natural causes. Discovering her brother's lie, she sets forth alone to find her son. Both brother and sister wander separately through a countryside being scourged by three terrifying and elusive strangers, headlong toward an eerie, apocalyptic resolution.

©1968 Cormac McCarthy (P)2013 Recorded Books

bleak chilling and dreadful consequence

Cormac mccarthy delivers something truly ghastly and horrific. Southern gothic terror and constant suffering. Very fitting narration and is best to experience this by listening while reading along.

Amazing & Powerful

Nothing brings you back to reality quite like a novel by Cormac McCarthy. My god, he is an incredible author. I hope he never stops writing.

Darkness clean through

Are you familiar with Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prarie? This book is a lot like that, if'n Pa had developed a serious meth habit.

Desolate.

Story begins and ends the same. A walk thru which we all avoid, praying grace and enlightenment.

Masterpiece

A true gift
Mesmerizing and taunting, profound and humorous, nauseating journey through a sometimes haunting in sometimes beautiful south.

So depressing.

An amazing use of language enhanced by an incredibly narrator. But this book completely took me off Maccarthy’s writing. Its so pessimistic and depressing.

least favorite cormac so far but still great

i love how weird this world feels. the characters are interesting. i feel like that was pretty pointless.

Masterful Narration of a Dark and Haunting Tale

Outer Dark is a haunting and mesmerizing novel by Cormac McCarthy that delves deep into the human condition, exploring themes of isolation, guilt, and the unrelenting brutality of life. The story is set in an eerie and foreboding Southern landscape, and McCarthy’s prose, as always, is breathtaking in its stark beauty.

The audiobook narration by Ed Sala elevates this experience even further. Sala’s voice perfectly captures the somber tone and atmosphere of the novel, drawing listeners into the bleak and mysterious world McCarthy has created. His pacing is deliberate, and his delivery adds layers of depth to the characters, making them come alive in a way that enhances the novel’s already gripping narrative.

That being said, Outer Dark is not for the faint of heart. The violence and darkness that permeate the novel can be overwhelming at times. McCarthy does not shy away from the grim realities his characters face, and some scenes are deeply unsettling. Listeners should be prepared for the intense and often brutal nature of the story.

Excellent, but...

I felt like I needed to shower while listening to get the grime of the words off of me. It was as though I was face down in the decaying mud of a bog listening.

I say that as a good thing. This is a vivid story, excellently voiced.

Dark & beautiful

Dark and incredibly beautiful and there couldn’t have been a better reader for this work. It’s perfection