12th January 2025 - No Country For Old Men
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First book of the year but I started it over the Christmas period. No 
Country For Old Men is by Cormac McCarthy and has been made into a 
film by the Coen Brothers. I saw the film before realising there was 
a book and greatly enjoyed the film. Well, it is hard to not enjoy a 
Coen brothers film, 

The story is set in 1980s Texas, close to the Mexican border. A drug 
deal goes wrong and a chancer stumbles across the aftermath. He finds 
the cash and runs off. We now follow the law, the chancer and a 
strange mysterious character who is certainly not one for the lawful 
life. The book and film follow these characters as they try to either 
catch up with one another or avoid one another. 

I found this a hard read. It is a good book and I like the story. Yet, 
it felt like work. Was it the slow start? I feel I know the rocks 
around the failed drug deal more than the back of my hand. Although, 
is that part of a slower, back country way of living? Who knows? The 
film is also full of beautiful panaramic shots with 'slow action'. I 
would rather watch the film than read the book. It seems to be a story 
which fits film rather than a book. It took me a while to get into the 
story. I vaguely remembered the sequence of events from the film and 
so knew it would liven up. That is the only reason I finished it 
really. I would have given up otherwise. 

Save yourself some effort, watch the film. There are not many books I 
would say this about!