Chapter 9

This chapter was pretty good. It was long, but most of the scenes were so descriptive that it felt like a movie. Or it did when I was reading it. Though, some of the descriptions were highly disturbing, and that is putting it lightly.

The ambush scene was interesting. It wasn't much of a fight though. Just a few Apaches come riding and they past the group and kept going. Only a few people died, which I expected a massive casualty count. There was a good simile describing the kid on page 109. "...letting off the shots slowly and with care as if he'd done it all before in a dream." I think this quote shows how the kid has improved through fighting these indians, and he's not hastily firing his revolver's ammo away.

A very gross and disturbing scene follows when they come across the dead Apache. The way McCarthy described the Apache was pretty cool. From the way his scars were described it made me think of Rambo, and it's proof that he's been in many battles. In this scene, I didn't understand the quote on the following paragraph, "It held a calculus or madstone from the inward parts of some beast..." Dictionary.com's definition makes me think it's basically like a kidney stone or something, but why would that be important, and why would the judge think so? Ok, here's the grotesque scene, "Tied alongside the dark genitals was a small skin bad and this the judge cut away and also secured in the pocket of his vest." Really? That is probably too vivid and descriptive than I had hope, but it also shows that once again, McCarthy is not afraid to go there.

I've noticed that McCarthy used the phrase "they rode on" in some form of fashion a lot. It's probably not important, but I think of every cowboy movie, pretty much Silverado because I can't think of other ones, when the badbutt cowboy just rides on, even though he saved a town or stopped a terrorist. I think it cements the coolness of these guys, because even though they're doing whatever it is they're doing, they're just riding on. Thought that I'd point that out.

The next scene I thought was interesting was where they went in the presidio and found those wounded squatters. It was pretty funny that the first thing they asked for was whiskey, and the second was tobacco. Shows they don't think they're going to make it, so they want to have at least a drink and a smoke before they go. Also, the horse was pretty gross. "...this thing now stood in the compound with its head enormously swollen and grotesque like some fabled quine ideation out of an Attic tragedy." It sounds disgusting, but I don't understand the Attic Tragedy part. I searched Attic Tragedy but all I found was a tragedy from Attica, so I'm not sure what that could mean.

I also liked how Glanton treated the squatters when they were leaving. Shortly before, the judge was talking scripture to some of the squatters and he replied with, "He speaks in stones and trees, the bones of things." I think this quote is pretty awesome. When the squatters try to join, Glanton just basically ignores them because he obviously didn't want a bunch of useless people dragging him down.