"No Country" I-:The setting and the time.


I-1- The setting: Texas seems to be ideal for several reasons, one being the plot:
The story is based upon one of the many drug-relaed crimes associated with the illegal drug tafraffic coming from the Mexican border, and since the border between Texas and Mexico is so long, Texas seems like an obvious choice.

Anybody who hasn't been to Texas (me for example) can picture the scene from other films or documentaries-- this is no exotic Congo River.

Still, here are some beautiful photos about the scenery taken from the Coen Brothers' film.


http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2007/11/no_country_for_old_men_out_in.html

I like the 4 photos with show a natural scene. If you click on the link below the picture you get an enlarged view.


So: why Texas ? seems obvious, but would you perhaps like to write about the following:

What part does the setting, Texas, play in the novel (apart from the illegal drug traffic already mentioned)?

I always thought the west always represented an open field, a place were moral problems come into question, a place where the law is fighting with lawlessness for control, an existential backdrop if you will.

I was wondering about the time period. If Moss is 35 and served in Vietnam, then the book can't take place in 2007. When does it take place? What does this do to the meaning of the book?

John,

I also wondered about time, but Kenneth had it all figured out!

http://www.booktalk.org/no-country-i-2-the-time-t4526.html

Which is scary. Bell says things have gotten worse in a short period of time, and questions how the future will look. Now we know. Has the country grown more violent? Without statistics at my fingers, I'd be inclined to say yes. At least, the bursts of violence have become more bizzare, frightening.

Teachers nowadays have even more disturbing concerns to mention in a poll, things that were inconceivable twenty years ago.

True? Or am I only under the spell of Bell's (McCarthy's?) pessimism?

No, of course it's true!

What we know about American schools is only the big stories that make the news, ie multiple deaths. I read somewhere , and it sounded very plausible, that those things only made the news if it was in a white, middle-class school, where people did not expect those things to happen.

I read this in James Garbarino's book, Lost Boys, a book I recommend. It's not about schools, and it's not just a long list of violent facts, it's a very humane description of the author's personal experience in helping violent boys.

In France pupils have no guns, but in difficult neighborhoods they bring knives, and use them.
And to return to McCarthy's list of teachers' concerns, teachers now fear for themselves as well. In some schools in France spitting on teachers is common, so you can imagine that being called "Sir" or "Ma'am" is not too strictly enforced. Several French teachers have been stabbed by their students in front of a whole class of onlookers, etc...
Those things only make the news occasionally, usually there is a lid put on all this.

Ophelia, I just looked at the pictures you linked . . . haven't seen the movie, but it looks exactly as I pictured it would look.

And . . . I have just become a Cormac McCarthy fan!

I think I did read one of his a long, long time ago - seems to me Brad Pitt was reading it on the audio - it was before I ever laid eyes on the image of Brad Pitt - I remember how much I liked it - a good old fashioned western and Pitt's voice was perfect for it.

I only started this book this week - came in from the library order - it's a print version - couldn't get an audio . . . I've also got 'The Road' on audio.

It's not me to enjoy a story with so much violence, but the author has written it so well and the story flows.

I just luvvvvvvvvv the part where Moss rents the second motel room, then uses the tent poles to fish the case with the money out of the first room - I just roared laughing.

My copy of the book has 309 pages - I got as far as 105 tonight.