The Crossing

The Border Trilogy, Book Two

By: Cormac McCarthy

Narrated by: Richard Poe

In The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy fulfills the promise of All the Pretty Horses and at the same time gives us a work that is darker and more visionary, a novel with the unstoppable momentum of a classic Western and the elegaic power of a lost American myth.

In the late 1930s, 16-year-old Billy Parham captures a she-wolf that has been marauding his family's ranch. But instead of killing it, he decides to take it back to the mountains of Mexico. With that crossing he begins an arduous and often dreamlike journey into a country where men meet ghosts and violence strikes as suddenly as heat lightning - a world where there is no order "save that which death has put there".

An essential novel by any measure, The Crossing is luminous and appalling, a book that touches, stops, and starts the heart and mind at once.

©1994 Cormac McCarthy (P)2016 Recorded Books

Impressive

I find the Spanish sections difficult, but there is a resource online with the translations in an order somewhat close to the original. The story itself seems inspired by the Nick Adams stories, or at least in part. And at its core it’s about boy that goes after what he wants at all costs. He seems to be running from some unknown danger but always chasing his past constantly discovering new and worse dangers along the way. The narration by Poe is excellent and perfectly matches the tone written by the author.

Soul-affirming beauty

An excellent second instalment to the trilogy. New characters, but once again laced with alternating episodes of brutality, and soul-affirming beauty.

Cormac McCarthy=great novels.

Like most of Cormac McCarthy's works, this is a sad tale. The 2nd in the border trilogy, it tells of a young "cowboy", Billy Pahram, as he makes 3 border crossings into WWII era Mexico. It is a McCarthy saga and is, therefore, a sad one.

McCarthy is the best

Absolutely loved the book! there were a few times it seemed to drag on with unnecessary stories, but overall it's a must read if you're a Mcarthy fan.

Mcartgy usually has a bit of Spanish in his books, but this one seemed a little heavy in Spanish. Not a deal breaker though as you can usually figure out what's being said if you're paying attention.

A story of living and dying and living again

A great story well told and we’ll read. I felt like I was riding along with Billy and Boyd and felt what they were feeling. You can’t ask more from a story than that. The sections of spanish dialogue makes you yearn to know the language but it makes the story more authentic for the telling.

Westerns aren’t my thing

However, there is a way that Mr.McCarthy can force his readers (listeners) to feel what the characters feel and not only empathize but understand. I continue to dig into his writing and continue to enjoy it more with every work.

Another great book by McCarthy

The story was so great about the wolf, and a suprising outcome, but it was only the beginning

Stunning

Cormac...just a miraculous wordsmith.
For me, life changing narrative.
Excellent narration as well.
Didn't want it to end.

Great Book, Great Narration

Cormac McCarthy is one of my favorite authors & have read all of his books several times through the years. I thought I’d revisit The Border Trilogy via audio & the only unfortunate aspect I hadn’t considered is the amount of Spanish that appears throughout these. I don’t read or speak Spanish, but it was MUCH easier to contextualize these passages when actually reading the text. Listening, not so much. There’s a website that translates most of the passages, but it was too difficult to stop listening, look at the translation, then jump back in the story. Other than this, it was a great listen but I’m glad I already had a general idea of what was being conveyed from reading them. If you’ve never read these & don’t have a cursory understanding of Spanish by ear, you might find it frustrating. But the meat of the narrative & philosophy is still beautiful without the context of these passages.

Addictive

Couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook… what a great writer! I’m looking forward to reading the last in this series.