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An odyssey set in the Jim Crow south? To each their own, I guess.
by kolanos 9y ago
An odyssey set in the Jim Crow south? To each their own, I guess.
- tptacek 9y agoO Brother is The Odyssey set in the south; Blood Meridian is the ur-Western, and isn't based on an epic poem of any sort. (As a nit, I'd also say O Brother is set in the Depression-era South).
- kolanos 9y agoI didn't claim Blood Meridian was based on a poem. But I do consider it an odyssey, set in the South (Eastern Texas), and during the Jim Crow era. And last I checked, the Jim Crow era encompassed the 1930s, especially in the South. By odyssey I mean: 1. a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune 2. an intellectual or spiritual wandering or quest I think Blood Meridian fits that description.
- tptacek 9y agoBlood Meridian is set before Jim Crow, and all across the American Southwest. It's also just tonally about as far as you could possibly get from O Brother. If it was a comedy, it would be American Psycho. If Fargo was just people being fed into the wood chipper, it would be the comedic counterpoint to Blood Meridian.