SOURCE: "A Sense of Incarnation," in Commonweal, Vol. 119, No. 16, September 25, 1992, p. 29.

In the following review, Malin discusses imagery, characterization, and the spiritual quest found in All the Pretty Horses. Malin comments on the language used in the novel, and on the "juxtapositions of beauty and blood, 'prettiness' and terror."

Cormac McCarthy is one of our best—if least known—writers. In this, his fourth novel, he uses the archetypal journey to discuss important spiritual themes. He is primarily interested in the origins of evil; the search for redemption; the meaning of our brutal existence.

Although his latest novel deals with the relatively simple characters of three adolescents—Cole, Rawlins, Blevins—who light out for the unknown territory of Mexico to find their mixed fortunes—the year is 1949—he is less interested in their characterizations than in their spiritual recognitions. The plot involves various adventures, misfortunes, coincidences. It is...