2009-05 – Blood Meridian
Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
Host: Clint
Whisky: Glenmorangie Nectar D’Or, Auchentoshen
Rum: n/a
Okay…where to begin…
This night has gone down in Liquorature lore as a lesson in not missing our monthly meetings. Only three people made it to this one (Pat, Clint and I). This was truly unfortunate, as it was arguably the most enjoyable gathering to date. Put simply, it was the perfect marriage of all the ideals that come together to make Liquorature a reality. Nice whiskies, fantastic food, a well-written controversial novel, great discussion and brilliant company.
Chef extraordinaire, Ostby, prepared a nice BBQ pork, salsa fresca, cheeses, etc. After feasting we continued the slow nibble through the eve. Clint has since found his services in demand for other hosting duties. Hey…the man runs a mean grill.
Blood Meridian. Sigh. An absolute masterpiece, if you ask me. However there are others here who may have a thought to share on that (ahem…Watson). Very polarizing book. Interestingly enough, I think the three of us who held the book in the highest esteem were the three who made it to this meeting. Extremely deep and interesting conversation rife with speculation regarding all of the metaphysical content in the book. Much consensus regarding personal opinions of the book as well.
We spun the Earth – Hex album for some droning Western music to truly set the mood, and followed it up with a little Neil Young – Harvest.
One of, if not, the best meeting so far. Should mention the serious ‘Slash’ bromance that followed book discussion (Pat…you’re such a softie…when it comes to Slash). Thoroughly enjoyable evening. Topic conversation about two hours, and came back to it a bunch more through the course of the night.
One last note…
This was the novel which gave Liquorature its ‘godforsook’ adjective to describe those less than appreciated works.
This is the only session I did not attend, and I’m not happy about it – I missed all the food.
All kidding aside, I was terribly conflicted about this novel: dark, brooding, depressing, turgid and yet kind of grimly magnificent. Because of the violence and its occasional resemblance to torture porn, I was ambivalent about whether it was the literary equivalent of a B movie or something more meaningful. But it certainly incited more thinking than any novel we’ve done thus far, except for “Atlas Shrugged”. And for that reason it may deserve a second read.
Godforsook Blood Meridian!!!
This was the first book that we were fully & bitterly divided on. Borrowing from the novel….Godforsook has since been adopted as our go-to curse word when f***in’ awful just won’t make the point.
Nearly a year and a half later and those of us in attendence still have a bit of a soft spot for this gathering. I had a lot of fun hosting this one and between the 3 of us we laid a beatin’ on those 2 bottles. Thankfully Pat’s Slash love was over the top enough to conceal Curt & I gushing about Maynard…he’s so awesome
Clint…was it the Three Wood we had this night?
By the end of the eve I could have been drinking puddle water and paint thinner and not known any better. I blame the people who didn’t show up. The rest of us somehow felt obligated to consume your share.
Damn! This was a great night.
Rewritten.