no country for old men - the book
Discussion
just finished reading this. as with the film i'm slightly confused with the incidents surrounding moss's death. has anyone read it that can explain the following? (obvious spoilers ahead).
only chigurh and sheriff bell know where moss is heading - el paso to meet up with carla jean. chigurh has figured this out himself, the sheriff knows where she is and that moss called her there from the hospital in mexico.
the scene after this call concerns a couple of mexicans taking a phonecall before tearing off in a plymouth barracuda.
what I fail to understand is how these mexicans know that moss is at the motel in van hoorn when he himself doesn't know that's where he'll stay the night. chigurh has also killed those sent by the drug kingpin (and the man himself) to find the money.
additionally, there is brief mention of a person unknown using a carwash to hose down the barracuda of blood on the outside of the car. however, when sheriff bell arrives at the van hoorn motel the cuda is there in the parking lot. chigurh, as we know, has been using a ramcharger, then an unnamed and unregistered pickup bought in mexico.
whilst I usually enjoy fiction/films that you need to join the dots yourself, this section of the book is at odds with the rest - which is slightly misjointed in narrative but is still easily pieced together.
so, anyone care to punt how he was traced to the motel and what the cuda was used for on its way there?
if anyone who hasn't read it has got to this point, its well worth a read. much of the film is lifted line for line which is a testament to the strength of cormac mccarthy's writing talent.
only chigurh and sheriff bell know where moss is heading - el paso to meet up with carla jean. chigurh has figured this out himself, the sheriff knows where she is and that moss called her there from the hospital in mexico.
the scene after this call concerns a couple of mexicans taking a phonecall before tearing off in a plymouth barracuda.
what I fail to understand is how these mexicans know that moss is at the motel in van hoorn when he himself doesn't know that's where he'll stay the night. chigurh has also killed those sent by the drug kingpin (and the man himself) to find the money.
additionally, there is brief mention of a person unknown using a carwash to hose down the barracuda of blood on the outside of the car. however, when sheriff bell arrives at the van hoorn motel the cuda is there in the parking lot. chigurh, as we know, has been using a ramcharger, then an unnamed and unregistered pickup bought in mexico.
whilst I usually enjoy fiction/films that you need to join the dots yourself, this section of the book is at odds with the rest - which is slightly misjointed in narrative but is still easily pieced together.
so, anyone care to punt how he was traced to the motel and what the cuda was used for on its way there?
if anyone who hasn't read it has got to this point, its well worth a read. much of the film is lifted line for line which is a testament to the strength of cormac mccarthy's writing talent.
Cormack McCarthy would be shot if he ever joined PH.
FFS, managing to write a story which has no f
king speech marks in the whole fking book. What a c nt. It made the book so fking difficult to follow it spoiled the story for me. So in short, I don't know, but well done for being so PH about a book. 
FFS, managing to write a story which has no f
king speech marks in the whole fking book. What a c nt. It made the book so fking difficult to follow it spoiled the story for me. So in short, I don't know, but well done for being so PH about a book. if you struggled with that, avoid hubert selby jr. at all costs. the only punctuation he uses is a full stop, uses no capitals and no paragraph structure.
I've googled the no country plot and it seems it's not just me who doesn't understand this section of the narrative. I still haven't read a plausible explanation other than that the original manuscript ran to 600 pages so it has likely suffered poor editing.
I reckon the mexican who bell visits in prison could be the driver of the cuda, who killed the deputy on the way to the motel (the cop car that bell sees ablaze, subsequent washing of the car, injured in the gunfight and airlifted to hospital).
this still doesn't explain the surplus of mexicans at the hotel, why chigurh is there, and how anyone knows moss is there in tbe first place.
I've googled the no country plot and it seems it's not just me who doesn't understand this section of the narrative. I still haven't read a plausible explanation other than that the original manuscript ran to 600 pages so it has likely suffered poor editing.
I reckon the mexican who bell visits in prison could be the driver of the cuda, who killed the deputy on the way to the motel (the cop car that bell sees ablaze, subsequent washing of the car, injured in the gunfight and airlifted to hospital).
this still doesn't explain the surplus of mexicans at the hotel, why chigurh is there, and how anyone knows moss is there in tbe first place.
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