Blood Meridian
Outside Reviews
A Movie?!
Recently, there has been some speculation for a film for Blood Meridian. James Franco created a test reel for the film a few years back and it recently surfaced on the internet. It has sparked a new want for a movie for one of the best novels of the late 20th century. However, many claim the novel to be unfilmable; its harsh violence and deep meaning could cause a director to stray too far from the real path of the novel. Below I have put the link to the test reel; it's around twenty minutes long, but it's definitely worth looking at.
http://www.vice.com/read/james-francos-blood-meridian-test-656
"BLOOD MERIDIAN' comes at the reader like a slap in the face, an affront that asks us to endure a vision of the Old West full of charred human skulls, blood-soaked scalps, a tree hung with the bodies of dead infants. But while Cormac McCarthy's fifth novel is hard to get through, it is harder to ignore. Any page of his work reveals his originality, a passionate voice given equally to ugliness and lyricism. Over the past 20 years the brutality of his subjects may have kept readers away, but the power of his writing has earned high critical repute." -Caryn James, NY Times
Six Versions of Blood Meridian is an ongoing project where six artists–Zak Smith, Sean McCarthy, John Mejias, Craig Taylor, Shawn Cheng, and Matt Wiegle–illustrate each page of the novel. There is such a range of styles and interpretations that makes such an interesting take on contemporary art and the book. Below I have placed the website for you to look at their online gallery.
People take interpreting Blood Meridian extremely seriously. Ben Nichols has created an album based on the novel and the novel alone. His album, The Last Pale Light in the West, gives the novel a new life with its guitar heavy songs and deep lyrics delving into the minds of the characters and the events that occur throughout the book. Below is the song Toadvine to spark your interest in the album!
Artists and the Book
Music and The Book
Interesting Things Surrounding the Book
Looking through websites on the infinite Internet led me to some pretty awesome tidbits about the book and what surrounds it in popular culture. People draw pictures, write songs.... These people are insanely creative! I've also included some outside reviews of the novel, just in case you want to see how other people felt about the book before you try it yourself!