The Sunset Limited

Book Description

Critics

• The Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy: review

  What is a novel in dramatic form? To the untrained eye, it looks very much like a play script. Indeed, The Sunset Limited was performed on stage by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2006 and it’s currently being made into a film starring Tommy ... (read full critics)

  telegraph.co.uk published on Thu, 16 Sep 2010

• The Sunset Limited: a Novel in Dramatic Form by Cormac McCarthy: review

  Cormac McCarthy’s ear for nervous and energetic dialogue is often overshadowed by the heights of his descriptive prose, yet the beauties of his speech can equal those of his narrative – most conspicuously in his dialogue-driven works such as the play ... (read full critics)

  telegraph.co.uk published on Thu, 16 Sep 2010

1 Review

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  For those who enjoy The Road, The Sunset Limited can indeed be seen as a companion piece for The Road. Perhaps this play is dryer and far less action is involved than The Road because what constitutes this play is a debate on the meaning of life. I think it is more like a closet drama which dire ... (continue)

  For those who enjoy The Road, The Sunset Limited can indeed be seen as a companion piece for The Road. Perhaps this play is dryer and far less action is involved than The Road because what constitutes this play is a debate on the meaning of life. I think it is more like a closet drama which directly deals with ideas itself than a normal play in which the idea is dressed up in plot. Thus it's hard for me to imagine an actual production of this play...will a play which consists almost only of philosophical debate succeed on stage? I do not know.
  Both The Road and The Sunset Limited concerns with the end of the world. While the former literally depict a world destroyed, here in the latter, the destruction seems to occur in the metaphorical level: the waning power of culture and the loss of any meaning of life. These views can be seen in White's lament and his nihilist view toward everything. He once believes in power of culture, and it is such power that lies between White and Death. Nevertheless, since the power of culture dwindles down, he thinks of death and its eternal nothingness as his only hope out of this wretched human condition full of suffering and distress. Even the stoic will to persevere which characterizes The Road seems "farcical" for him. White is indeed the professor of darkness.
  What interests me more is McCarthy's role here. What does he think of about the nihilist comments voiced out by White? As a novelist, it is hard for him not to think of the waning power of culture and art in this age because it also signifies the declining power and influence of his own work. Then what can the author do when his tools no longer prove useful and powerful?
  Does McCarthy have an answer to this question? I do not know and I should explore more about it. Is is answer the essential human kindness, as is in The Road? Or does McCarthy's answer lie in somewhere else? Or does he offer an answer at all?

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Book Details

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• English Books
• Paperback 143 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0307278360
• ISBN-13: 9780307278364
• Publisher: Vintage
• Pub date: Oct 24, 2006
• Dimensions: 1290 mm x 839 mm x 65 mm Just how big is that?
• In other languages: other languages Libri Italiani

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