Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy. Worth reading for the landscape descriptions alone, McCarthy transforms the American west into a hellscape of inhuman violenc

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy. Worth reading for the landscape descriptions alone, McCarthy transforms the American west into a hellscape of inhuman violence, savagery, and evil; and yet, it's a beautiful descent into madness. His character of the Judge is as captivating as he is horrifying. Some choice quotes from him: > "Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent." > "War is the ultimate game because war is at last a forcing of the unity of existence. War is god." > "Moral law is an invention of mankind for the disenfranchisement of the powerful in favor of the weak. Historical law subverts it at every turn. A moral view can never be proven right or wrong by any ultimate test. A man falling dead in a duel is not thought thereby to be proven in error as to his views. His very involvement in such a trial gives evidence of a new and broader view." > "The freedom of birds is an insult to me. I'd have them all in zoos." > "All progressions from a higher to a lower order are marked by ruins and mystery and a residue of nameless rage."