Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
New York : Vintage Books, 2006.
Description
"A startling encounter on a New York subway platform leads two strangers to a run-down tenement where a life or death decision must be made." "In that small apartment, "Black" and "White," as the two men are known, begin a conversation that leads each back through his own history, mining the origins of two fundamentally opposing worldviews. White is a professor whose seemingly enviable existence of relative ease has left him nonetheless in despair. Black, an ex-con and ex-addict, is the more hopeful of the men - though he is just as desperate to convince White of the power of faith as White is desperate to deny it. Their aim is no less than this: to discover the meaning of life."--BOOK JACKET.
Media reviews
The Sunset Limited is a technically and creatively pedestrian work that falls far short of what readers should expect of a master like McCarthy at this point in his career.
“The one thing I won’t give up is giving up,” White says toward the end of the play, his language elevating and his curt sentences expanding into more elaborate musings. This is no mere argument anymore. It’s a poem in celebration of death.
As his descriptive writing has, over the decades, economised so his discursive writing has expanded; read The Road as a two-character play with lengthy stage directions, and read The Sunset Limited as an intriguing companion to that work.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Djupstrom
I didn't know what to expect from such an intense author. Sunset Limited is a novel, written as a play, about suicide, death, God, Jesus, racism, and other light-hearted topics.
LibraryThing member fuzzy_patters
This is the second published play by Cormac McCarthy, one of my favorite authors. The play centers around two men, named simply the white and the black, who discuss whether the white man should kill himself. They met earlier that morning when the black man prevented the white man's first attempt at
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suicide, but he would like to have a chance to try again. Their conversation soon turns to a theological and philosophical look at the meaning of God and the meaning of life. The white man, a college professor, looks at the world from the cynical perspective of an educated man who believes that he understands the futility of existence at a far deeper level than his fellow man. Meanwhile, the black man, believes that the meaning of life lies in love for your fellow man and putting faith in God. McCarthy does an outstanding job or portraying these two versions of mankind in an honest and non-judgmental manner that leaves the reader questioning just where he falls on this philosophical spectrum. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cygnus555
Very powerful read - I loved the juxtaposition of these two very real characters.
LibraryThing member clstaff
The Sunset Limited is written almost entirely as a dialogue between a black man and a white man on their opposing beliefs about religion and the way they see the world. It is an amazing read and while it is quite short and can be read pretty quickly, it is easily the most thought provoking book I
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have read in ages. If you like arguing the pros and/or cons of religion over beers, then this is a must read. Show Less
LibraryThing member fothpaul
Strange old book this one. Takes the form of a conversation between the two characters. the subject of the conversation is religion and the meaning of life. Some points in the conversation were thought provoking but I felt a little short changed by the length and the ending.
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
A professor attempts to kill himself, only to be saved by an ex-con with strong religious faith. The two discuss their beliefs and views on life and faith.
LibraryThing member jpporter
If you want to know how good a short (143 pp.) book with larger typeface can be, here you are. McCarthy's The Sunset Limited is a "novel in dramatic form" - a dialogue between two men. One of the men (White) tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a subway train. The other man (Black) pulled
What ensues is a discussion of the meaning of life and where it is to be found - if, indeed, it is to be found at all. White, a professor, has come to feel that everything he believed in has proved worthless, while Black, a former junky and ex-con, has been "born again" and finds all value through the Bible.
The discussion swirls around the debate between materialism and idealism: can we base our lives on only that which has substance, can be proved, can be a source of value, or is true value to be found in an abstraction, the idea of what should be of value, a mystery?
No decisive answer has ever been given to this debate, and if anything, McCarthy points out where the lack of an answer leaves us.
This is an incredible book that deserves multiple readings.
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White away from the train and has taken him to Black's apartment, which is where the novel takes place.What ensues is a discussion of the meaning of life and where it is to be found - if, indeed, it is to be found at all. White, a professor, has come to feel that everything he believed in has proved worthless, while Black, a former junky and ex-con, has been "born again" and finds all value through the Bible.
The discussion swirls around the debate between materialism and idealism: can we base our lives on only that which has substance, can be proved, can be a source of value, or is true value to be found in an abstraction, the idea of what should be of value, a mystery?
No decisive answer has ever been given to this debate, and if anything, McCarthy points out where the lack of an answer leaves us.
This is an incredible book that deserves multiple readings.
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LibraryThing member Polaris-
An arresting and thought provoking two-hander that was (I think) originally written for the stage. It is described as "a novel in dramatic form". "White" is an atheist and suicidal professor rescued from his final act down at the Subway platform by "Black", an ex-convict who has found some
It is a thoroughly entrancing situation - where two men believe so absolutely in seemingly incompatible opposites. The existential discussion is well-handled and genuinely moving. It is a brief novel, and probably best experienced as a fully immersive experience where one can give full attention to the brilliantly written script. Despite the subject matter, there are some very funny lines and I really enjoyed this 'listen'. The audiobook narration by Austin Pendleton and Ezra Knight was pitch perfect on both counts.
Part of McCarthy's undeniable brilliance lies with his ability to create with a bare minimum of pages a pair of characters so well-formed and complete with their own intriguing back-stories that the reader not only feels that he or she "knows" them quite well, but also wants to get into the room with them and sit down at the beat-up old kitchen table and join the conversation. I found myself torn agonisingly between both "White"'s and "Black"'s positions and was genuinely pained with the ending. This small book packs a powerful punch.
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salvation in life through his faith in God. (Not a spoiler as the failed suicide is made clear on page one.) Entirely set within the latter's sparse apartment in a rough part of town, there follows an intense and gripping dialogue as the two men discuss pretty much life, the universe, and everything. The closing pages reveal with devastating finality a resolution that one party will struggle immensely with.It is a thoroughly entrancing situation - where two men believe so absolutely in seemingly incompatible opposites. The existential discussion is well-handled and genuinely moving. It is a brief novel, and probably best experienced as a fully immersive experience where one can give full attention to the brilliantly written script. Despite the subject matter, there are some very funny lines and I really enjoyed this 'listen'. The audiobook narration by Austin Pendleton and Ezra Knight was pitch perfect on both counts.
Part of McCarthy's undeniable brilliance lies with his ability to create with a bare minimum of pages a pair of characters so well-formed and complete with their own intriguing back-stories that the reader not only feels that he or she "knows" them quite well, but also wants to get into the room with them and sit down at the beat-up old kitchen table and join the conversation. I found myself torn agonisingly between both "White"'s and "Black"'s positions and was genuinely pained with the ending. This small book packs a powerful punch.
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LibraryThing member payam-tommy
A well-written play (or a novel in dramatic form) about different attitudes of an atheist and a religious man.
The good thing is there is no straight conclusion at the end and you can draw your own conclusion from the script.
“I yearn for the darkness. I pray for death. Real death. If I thought
The good thing is there is no straight conclusion at the end and you can draw your own conclusion from the script.
“I yearn for the darkness. I pray for death. Real death. If I thought
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that in death I would meet the people I've known in life I don't know what I'd do. That would be the ultimate horror. The ultimate despair. If I had to meet my mother again and start all of that all over, only this time without the prospect of death to look forward to? Well. That would be the final nightmare. Kafka on wheels.” Show Less
LibraryThing member 4everfanatical
Another book written by Cormac McCarthy that makes me feel just 'meh'.
There are two characters, Black and White who are in Black's apartment having a conversation about the meaning of life and the subject of faith. Black is a reformed sinner who found God and White is an educated atheist who wants
Black tries his absolute best to convince White that life has meaning through various anecdotes and personal stories. I found Black to be pretty boring, and I hated his roundabout ways of trying to illustrate his point. He just talks and talks forever and White's dialogue is merely a couple of words in response. Didn't feel like much of a conversation or debate to me. Near the end White finds his voice and puts forward his interesting view of the world but I wanted that from the first page. In short this novel disappointed me as I wanted a more interesting exchange of opposing points of view.
There are two characters, Black and White who are in Black's apartment having a conversation about the meaning of life and the subject of faith. Black is a reformed sinner who found God and White is an educated atheist who wants
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to kill himself and has a very nihilistic view of the world and humanity.Black tries his absolute best to convince White that life has meaning through various anecdotes and personal stories. I found Black to be pretty boring, and I hated his roundabout ways of trying to illustrate his point. He just talks and talks forever and White's dialogue is merely a couple of words in response. Didn't feel like much of a conversation or debate to me. Near the end White finds his voice and puts forward his interesting view of the world but I wanted that from the first page. In short this novel disappointed me as I wanted a more interesting exchange of opposing points of view.
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LibraryThing member bartt95
Very painful book, especially the ending. McCarthy at his absolute, chilling best.
LibraryThing member dypaloh
Looking for a way of summing up the actions of Anton Chigurh of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men? Try this, from his play The Sunset Limited: “The world is basically a forced labor camp from which the workers—perfectly innocent—are led forth by lottery, a few each day, to be
It is a thought reminiscent of one from Pascal’s Penseés: “Let us imagine a number of men in chains, and all condemned to death, where some are killed each day in the sight of the others, and those who remain see their own fate in that of their fellows, and wait their turn, looking at each other sorrowfully and without hope.”
There’s a video of The Sunset Limited starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones. Watch it if you get a chance.
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executed.”It is a thought reminiscent of one from Pascal’s Penseés: “Let us imagine a number of men in chains, and all condemned to death, where some are killed each day in the sight of the others, and those who remain see their own fate in that of their fellows, and wait their turn, looking at each other sorrowfully and without hope.”
There’s a video of The Sunset Limited starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones. Watch it if you get a chance.
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LibraryThing member A.Godhelm
One of the best representation of existential suicide I've ever seen. Uncompromising and bleak, offering a parallel to the longer case for suicide in Stella Maris.
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Reread 2023, won't leave me alone.
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Reread 2023, won't leave me alone.
LibraryThing member dele2451
Powerful 2-man play by McCarthy.
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2011)
Language
Physical description
162 p.; 21 inches
ISBN
0307278360 / 9780307278364