I found this essay fascinating because I had never considered the idea that writing from a female perspective would be a difficult thing. Firstly I have never read Cormac McCarthy - in fact prior to Substack I'd never come across him... so I have nothing to add about him but I do read a lot of female authors and, strangely ( or perhaps not so strangely), this never seems to be an issue for them to write male characters, male leads, male villains, because they write people. That is, they observe real people and use their knowledge to bring those characters to life. Ursula Le Guin, for one, no matter how fantastical her story, the characters are always grounded in a reality that makes sense for the narrative. I so rarely think about gender, it always amazes me when it crops up as something we need to discuss. Characters are made up of so many elements, needs, wants, upbringing, circumstance, age ( only as a framework for understanding/knowledge - never as a device), and maybe somewhere gender comes into it but it's a tiny part of bringing a character to life - there are so many more important things. Aren't there?
I wonder if it's ever worked the other way, where a woman had trouble writing about a man. If we view the issue through oppressive structures, I wouldn't think so. Historically, men saw woman as something less than themselves, believing those structures to be a function of nature and not society. To write a woman well because she's a person requires that writer to see themselves in her, a task too great, it seems. We have less trouble understanding that those artificially placed above use are no different from us.
I would have hoped that such issues were becoming artifacts of a former time, but recent events suggest otherwise. Specific to Cormac McCarthy, though, he was a strange fella, willing to live in abject poverty rather to take on any work than writing--and subjecting his wives to that same poverty as a result.
Hailed in his time as the greatest living author and yet unwilling to talk about writing, saying he could think about no subject more boring to talk about.
Very true - I can't think of anytime I read a book written by a woman and I questioned the representation of men; however, as Men have owned the narrative for so long, maybe any representation of a man feels valid... Women in fiction/TV/ media in general are still fighting for representation as ubiquitous as men - they are still stereotyped negatively, whereas men are still stereotyped positively - there is still a need to fight battles which should have been long dead. It does not need to be reiterated that a woman can do everything a man can, but men cannot do everything a woman can... yet here we are...2025 and the land grab for narrowing mindsets and obscuring truths is in full effect again.
Last year I read both Outer Dark and ATP, and I loved both Rinthy and Alejandra’s great aunt. Is Rinthy a bit unidimensional? Yes, but in the same way the Father is in The Road and that’s because people tend to appear unidimensional when they are consumed by a quest. The Great Aunt in ATP is a complex character, despite being a foil to John Grady. She empathizes with the protagonist and we empathize with her. Also, if I remember correctly, she has the longest monologue in the book, one that reveals her as both wise and caring, a mater familias through and through. And now that I think about it, she has one of the longest monologues of any McCarthy character I’ve read except for the Judge.
Man I just love All the Pretty Horses. Completely and uncomplicatedly. It’s his purest pop song of a novel, with a self-conscious mythic glow to it all. Yeah the dream girl is a bit flat. More to JG and Rawlins’ friendship than to the teenage love with Alejandra. But I don’t care. I read it young and fell hard. One of those books where I remember the light on out on that screened porch when I turned the last page. Goddamn
I'm not sure I've seen enough evidence to support either way whether McCarthy was or was not a misogynist, and I've read all his books minus some of the plays, plus the recent Vanity Fair piece.
It seems to me McCarthy's oeuvre tackles masculine issues—the consequence of failing as a father/husband in Outer Dark, violent sexual depravity in Child of God, war and violence in Blood Meridian, the call to adventure and the attempt to tame nature in The Border Trilogy, the consequences of willingly straying into a violent world in No Country and the Counselor, fatherhood in the Road—because these are what he wanted to write about, not because he's unequipped; although I grant the quote you cited is a bit damning. But I think it's wrong to fault McCarthy for the cardboard characterization of Alejandra. He fleshes his characters as much as they need to be for the story; in this case, how much she needs to be for John Grady. Thus, perhaps the way he writes her reflects more on John Grady than it does on the author.
I think I feel similarly about McCarthy as I do regarding Philip K. Dick. I don't have a lot of forefront knowledge to confirm whether thats accurate or not, but they fit in the same box in my mind.
I've read The Passenger. Strella Maris I'll have to come back to. The format was losing me.
She's a character, which many of his women aren't. I think he did with her what I would have told him to do all along. Just write a person. She's that first.
I have an inchoate thesis (ie I haven’t done enough research to defend it in any way) that Alejandra is not fully character like John Grady and company but is meant to symbolize the horse, much like how Fitzgerald’s Daisy is meant to symbolize wealth and the evanescent American dream. Much more can be said, but I thought that was interesting.
Interesting references . And I know this wasnt the point of your article and what a title ( clever marketing) Perhaps men aren't writing fancy books because we're done pretending. Done trying to write like whatever or whoever . Done masturbating our egos onto pages for some New York critic's approval. What if we’re just being men ?
If you want to write about a woman just go talk to them. What are the oddities and quirks of my mom and sister? They're part of the human race.
Once would think.
I found this essay fascinating because I had never considered the idea that writing from a female perspective would be a difficult thing. Firstly I have never read Cormac McCarthy - in fact prior to Substack I'd never come across him... so I have nothing to add about him but I do read a lot of female authors and, strangely ( or perhaps not so strangely), this never seems to be an issue for them to write male characters, male leads, male villains, because they write people. That is, they observe real people and use their knowledge to bring those characters to life. Ursula Le Guin, for one, no matter how fantastical her story, the characters are always grounded in a reality that makes sense for the narrative. I so rarely think about gender, it always amazes me when it crops up as something we need to discuss. Characters are made up of so many elements, needs, wants, upbringing, circumstance, age ( only as a framework for understanding/knowledge - never as a device), and maybe somewhere gender comes into it but it's a tiny part of bringing a character to life - there are so many more important things. Aren't there?
I wonder if it's ever worked the other way, where a woman had trouble writing about a man. If we view the issue through oppressive structures, I wouldn't think so. Historically, men saw woman as something less than themselves, believing those structures to be a function of nature and not society. To write a woman well because she's a person requires that writer to see themselves in her, a task too great, it seems. We have less trouble understanding that those artificially placed above use are no different from us.
I would have hoped that such issues were becoming artifacts of a former time, but recent events suggest otherwise. Specific to Cormac McCarthy, though, he was a strange fella, willing to live in abject poverty rather to take on any work than writing--and subjecting his wives to that same poverty as a result.
Hailed in his time as the greatest living author and yet unwilling to talk about writing, saying he could think about no subject more boring to talk about.
Very true - I can't think of anytime I read a book written by a woman and I questioned the representation of men; however, as Men have owned the narrative for so long, maybe any representation of a man feels valid... Women in fiction/TV/ media in general are still fighting for representation as ubiquitous as men - they are still stereotyped negatively, whereas men are still stereotyped positively - there is still a need to fight battles which should have been long dead. It does not need to be reiterated that a woman can do everything a man can, but men cannot do everything a woman can... yet here we are...2025 and the land grab for narrowing mindsets and obscuring truths is in full effect again.
Last year I read both Outer Dark and ATP, and I loved both Rinthy and Alejandra’s great aunt. Is Rinthy a bit unidimensional? Yes, but in the same way the Father is in The Road and that’s because people tend to appear unidimensional when they are consumed by a quest. The Great Aunt in ATP is a complex character, despite being a foil to John Grady. She empathizes with the protagonist and we empathize with her. Also, if I remember correctly, she has the longest monologue in the book, one that reveals her as both wise and caring, a mater familias through and through. And now that I think about it, she has one of the longest monologues of any McCarthy character I’ve read except for the Judge.
Man I just love All the Pretty Horses. Completely and uncomplicatedly. It’s his purest pop song of a novel, with a self-conscious mythic glow to it all. Yeah the dream girl is a bit flat. More to JG and Rawlins’ friendship than to the teenage love with Alejandra. But I don’t care. I read it young and fell hard. One of those books where I remember the light on out on that screened porch when I turned the last page. Goddamn
I'm not sure I've seen enough evidence to support either way whether McCarthy was or was not a misogynist, and I've read all his books minus some of the plays, plus the recent Vanity Fair piece.
It seems to me McCarthy's oeuvre tackles masculine issues—the consequence of failing as a father/husband in Outer Dark, violent sexual depravity in Child of God, war and violence in Blood Meridian, the call to adventure and the attempt to tame nature in The Border Trilogy, the consequences of willingly straying into a violent world in No Country and the Counselor, fatherhood in the Road—because these are what he wanted to write about, not because he's unequipped; although I grant the quote you cited is a bit damning. But I think it's wrong to fault McCarthy for the cardboard characterization of Alejandra. He fleshes his characters as much as they need to be for the story; in this case, how much she needs to be for John Grady. Thus, perhaps the way he writes her reflects more on John Grady than it does on the author.
I think I feel similarly about McCarthy as I do regarding Philip K. Dick. I don't have a lot of forefront knowledge to confirm whether thats accurate or not, but they fit in the same box in my mind.
They were both odd in their own ways
Have you read The Passenger/Stella Maris? What do you think of Alicia Western's character?
I've read The Passenger. Strella Maris I'll have to come back to. The format was losing me.
She's a character, which many of his women aren't. I think he did with her what I would have told him to do all along. Just write a person. She's that first.
I have an inchoate thesis (ie I haven’t done enough research to defend it in any way) that Alejandra is not fully character like John Grady and company but is meant to symbolize the horse, much like how Fitzgerald’s Daisy is meant to symbolize wealth and the evanescent American dream. Much more can be said, but I thought that was interesting.
I think there's a lot to be said for that idea
Yes, this seems like a strange excuse not to try. At the end of the day, we all share a semblance of connection that threads our experiences together.
Interesting references . And I know this wasnt the point of your article and what a title ( clever marketing) Perhaps men aren't writing fancy books because we're done pretending. Done trying to write like whatever or whoever . Done masturbating our egos onto pages for some New York critic's approval. What if we’re just being men ?