What is the author's style in Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy?

The point of view of this novel is dramatic or objective third person. While the main character of the novel is clearly the kid, the point of view is not through his narration but rather a distant narrator who does not attempt to tell the reader what the characters are thinking or feeling. It is an impersonal narration that often leaves the kid completely out of the story for chapters at a time, although he is the clearly the main character because when he separates from the Glanton gang, the narration follows his travels rather than the travels of the other characters.

This type of narration makes it possible for the writer to cover the exploits of many characters at once without wasting time dwelling on the subtle nuances of what makes a character human, such as thought and emotions. However, this narration can also be difficult to read because the pace of the narration tends to be quick and a reader may miss important information and be forced to go back through the previous pages in order to find the information lost. Not only this, but the reader may become confused as to the importance of each character. All novels have one or two main characters and then many minor characters. Within a novel told with this point of view, the main character may not be clear until late in the novel, or like this novel, the main character is lost in the middle of the story as the writer concentrates more on the activities of the characters as a whole rather than the individual characters.