So a few months ago, after reading Suttree I went to my local bookshop pretty much cleaned out the McCarthy section. I bounded through The Border Trilogy and loved it but I kept one little chestnut, in the form of The Orchard Keeper to read after I’d taken a little (much needed) McCarthy Downtime.

Having picked up and read The Orchard Keeper, I’ve decided to write a quick review of Suttree, which is probably my favourite book.

Suttree is an unusual offering for those new to McCarthy’s material. The recent No Country for Old Men is a fantastic, introspective window into the slow death of the wild west. The guns and violence are more of a new thing to him, with his stories being driven instead by the vividly written characters he includes. For those who have read a few of his back catalogue, The Border Trilogy being a fine example, will recognise this style of writing and probably prefer it.

“Lord Honey I know they make that old splo in the bathtub but this here is made in the toilet” He was holding out the bottle with his face averted in agony.

I loved No Country for Old Men with its undoubtedly evil but hypnotic antagonist, Chigurh and its protagonist, a morally questionable thief who you can’t help but cheer for. But to me, Suttree is a far more interesting and rewarding piece.

It follows the life of Buddy Suttree and a few of his pals, who live on the fringes of society in the most depraved areas of Jacksonville. From the instant it opened with Suttree fishing for a living in the languid Mississippi heat, him sharing conversation with the flotsam population coupled with McCarthy’s mystifying talent for description and language, you know you are about to be rewarded for picking this gem up.

The book usually follows Suttree from bar to bar and conversation to conversation across 1950’s Tennessee. A brilliant example of this comes early on in the book, with Suttree walking in on “A few good old boys” passing around some home-brew (splo) whisky.

Suttree looked toward the door. A graylooking man with glasses was watching them, he said; “How you boys? What ye drinking?”
“Early Times, Jim says it is”
“Get ye a drink”
He moved towards the bottle, nodding towards all, small eyes moving rapidly behind the glasses. He seized the whisky and drank, his slack gullet jerking. When he lowered it, his eyes were closed and his face a twisted mask. “Pooh!” He blew a volatile mist toward the smiling watchers. “Lord God what is that?”
“Early Times” Cried J-bone.
“Early Tombs is more like it”
“Lord Honey I know they make that old splo in the bathtub but this here is made in the toilet” He was holding out the bottle with his face averted in agony.

Scenes like this, where the salty denizens come together to chew the fat and behave atrociously are a common occurrence and they provide the book with its humorous backbone. It reminds me of my family holidays to Cobh, in southern Ireland. My uncle Eamon and his close friends used to crowd around the bar in The Welcome Inn. Each and every year my Dad would clamour to get down there and sit shoulder to shoulder with those good old boys and share in the conversation. A few times, as a tot I was lucky enough to be allowed in there. This was back in a time when Pubs were smokey and raucous and Landlords could be as eccentric as they wanted.

So much of Suttree reminds me of that time and place that its impossible for me not to like it and I feel totally justified for pining for this kind of comical, refreshing squalor that’s been replaced byWine Bars and Comedy Clubs.

Another thing that sticks out in Suttree as well as in many of McCarthy’s books is a lack of remorse. What I mean when I say that, is that McCarthy doesn’t waste our time by taking us through the tiresome lamentations of the protagonist whenever a tragedy befalls him or her. To me, this is a HUGE PLUS. As in most of his books, in Suttree, tragedy is never far from the surface, but instead of a long chapter of depression and sorrow, we cut forward to another point in his life.

Some people might miss this link, but a lot of Richard and Judy Writers like to hold the readers hand through a certain topic, be it love, life, religion and even audaciously enough – Emotion.

McCarthy writes with a respect for his readers and his lack of depressing introspection is present for you to fill in the blanks. So thank you McCarthy for not telling us how to feel. A bold statement for him to make too, spelling out a characters turmoil only serves to reassure an under-confident writer, worried as to whether the readers will engage with their characters.

I like to think his standpoint is “like it or piss off”.

Suttree is a close, intimate, intelligent and witty look into the depravity, humour and integrity of the kind of people that get overlooked and avoided in modern society. Suttree – with its incredible use of language and description – is a frank and honest look at poverty, without the gushing political innuendos. It is simultaneously refreshing, hilarious and tragic.

You WILL like it…

…or piss off