Overcoming Cormac McCarthy

I've never been too fond of meeting authors or hearing them speak. There's too much of a risk that if they turn out to be dicks I can never read their books again as all I'd have in my head is an image of them and their dickishness. That apart, Roland Barthes wrote a very interesting essay that more or less sets my stall out for me regarding authors more articulately than I could ever manage.

However, strangely enough the absolute opposite may just have happened. Regular readers may be aware of my antipathy towards pulitzer prize winning author Cormac McCarthy and his punctuationless prose. Indeed it is a fairly long running bone of contention here at C&P. McCarthy's The Road was recently chosen as an Oprah's Book Club choice and as part of this privilege the reluctant and shy McCarthy was obliged to undertake an interview with Ms Winfrey. You can watch it here although you do need to sign up to Oprah's Book Club to do so.

The thing is, is that I watched expecting my prejudices to be fulfilled but unfortunately McCarthy turned out to be a thoroughly nice and interesting bloke. Watching him squirm trying to politely answer Oprah's inane questions I found a whole new level of respect. So much so that I'm going to try The Road Again!

I suppose the thing to do is not just to admit you were wrong but to admit it in public too...