Tales of West intrigue

Cormac McCarthy

Knopf

Of the numerous books that are published everyday, only a select few are lucky enough to start out ahead of the game. Cormac McCarthy's "Cities of the Plain" is one of these books.

At the beginning of the year, it would have shown up on any critic's list as one of the most important books to look for in the coming months. It is the work of a highly acclaimed American writer. "Cities of the Plain" is the final installment in a trilogy of novels - a trilogy that started with the contemporary Western classic, "All the Pretty Horses." What is really impressive, though, is that the public proved to be as geared up for McCarthy's latest book as the critics. The book spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list when it first came out this summer.

So "Cities of the Plain" hit the shelves with every advantage. The real question is, did it deserve them? For fans of the first two installments of McCarthy's Border Trilogy, the answer is yes.

On the first page of the book, McCarthy satisfies at least one of the anticipations of his admirers. He brings together John Grady Cole and Billy Parham, the protagonists of "All the Pretty Horses" and "The Crossing," respectively. The boyhood adventures and passage into adulthood of each character take center stage in the first two books of the trilogy. So it is fitting that their friendship, years later, is the foundation of this third novel.

This is a book about cowboys, saloons and horses. It is also about what two men receive from their relationship with each other that they cannot get anywhere else. It is about the passion that leads one of them to risk that relationship. It is about a world that has been disappearing for ages, but is somehow hanging on in 1952. Mostly, it is about the new dreams that always appear to take the place of the old ones that will never come true.

Sometimes, it feels hopeless for the reader to consider this last matter during his or her journey through the book. But McCarthy consistently employs humor and humanity to make the experience feel ultimately worthwhile. One of the delights is the masterful dialogue of these "natural" men and those they encounter and work with. Their conversations reach unparalleled heights of charmed absurdity.

Most memorable though, are the two main characters. John Grady is the so-called all-American cowboy, as glamorous a figure as there can be in the sometimes squalid world of the book. Billy has a tougher, more cynical exterior. But Billy reveals the softest of hearts as he tries to "protect" John Grady from the woman that draws him repeatedly across the border - to the cities of the Mexican plain.

Alhough it has many good qualities, McCarthy's latest is not a perfect book. McCarthy aims high here, and while he often succeeds, he sometimes only appears pretentious. At these times the reader must endure until the next lightening of mood. The world of the characters is not pretty, and it may discourage readers without the patience to become attached to its spirit. There is recurrent Spanish that the average reader may not be able to decipher. It is a book that asks a lot from its' readers. Its popularity then, might be surprising. But readers who add their own support to McCarthy's success story will receive much in return.

-Jeff Druchniak

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