Another from late summer 2023, recommended by Jake after a chat about East of Eden.

Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses is a bittersweet elegy to a vanishing way of life. Set in 1949, it follows John Grady Cole, a young Texan cowboy, as he and his friend Lacey Rawlins ride south into Mexico, seeking work and adventure.

A poignant journey, filled with both beauty and brutality. McCarthy’s prose, stark and poetic, paints a vivid picture of the vast landscapes they traverse and the harsh realities they encounter.

This is not a story of easy triumphs. It is a tale of loss, disillusionment, and the painful transition from adolescence to adulthood. As the boys confront the complexities of love, violence, and the unforgiving nature of the world, they come to understand that the romantic ideals of the cowboy life are fading into the past.

“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.”

All the Pretty Horses is a haunting and unforgettable novel that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned.