The Sunset Limited (Vintage International) by Cormac McCarthy (EPUB)

Description

From the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Road—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 world views. 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.Deft, spare, and full of artful tension, The Sunset Limited is a beautifully crafted, consistently thought-provoking, and deceptively intimate work by one of the most insightful writers of our time.Look for Cormac McCarthy’s new novel, The Passenger.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The oddest thing about this book is the choice of an existentialist to play the atheist. Cormac McCarthy clearly has a darker worldview than the average atheist, but even so, I found the choice peculiar. These days most atheists are devout humanists. Rather than facing the problem of suicide (the way Camus sort-of did), most humanists have a rosy picture of human nature. In their view, the best thing about a life without God is that it is more joyous, more meaningful, and more ethical than a life with God.The atheist known simply as White disagrees. He sees life as a forced labor camp in which every day a few lucky lottery winners get their ticket out. They are released into the eternal nothingness where they will never again have to look at the vile ugliness that lies in their own hearts. As far as White is concerned, the only difference between himself and a humanist (99% of the secular readers of this book) is that he knows the truth and they are deluded. So White decides to punch his own ticket by jumping in front of a commuter train called the Sunset Limited, only to be saved by a Christian identified only as Black.The duel follows. White is a philosophy professor and rejects religion and black is humble and uneducated, but he is intelligent and knows his Bible. I think one of the other reviewers put it best: Black keeps trying to lead White to God and White keeps resisting, but every method that White uses to resist leads only to one place: back to the Sunset Limited. Ultimately White claims the victory by showing Black the full depths of his existential despair: (paraphrasing) “You claim to be my brother and want to help me? Well I look into your eyes and I’m disgusted by the ugliness I see. Because when I look at you I see myself.” Other people are windows into the ugliness that lies within ourselves. I suspect McCarthy’s point is that most people are deluded and make up pleasing lies about ourselves but we don’t make up lies for others. The unique thing about White is that he stopped believing the lies. That was when White achieved his knockout blow, and Black’s crisis of faith inevitably followed, but speaking as a Bible believing Christian, I think this is a defect on McCarthy’s part as a writer. Black should have had his response ready.There are 1189 chapters in the Bible. Chapter 1 of the Bible is about the creation of the entire universe. Chapter 2 takes a closer look on the creation of man. Chapters 3 through 1189 are about sin. They are about reconciling Fallen and sinful man with a Holy God. So consider the way that God curses Adam (Gen. 3:17-19, NIV)Cursed is the ground because of you;through painful toil you will eat food from itall the days of your life.It will produce thorns and thistles for you,and you will eat the plants of the field.By the sweat of your browyou will eat your fooduntil you return to the ground,since from it you were taken;for dust you areand to dust you will return.Now, perhaps you don’t find the Bible’s answers convincing, but this line of attack should not have rattled Black because he would already be intimately familiar with White’s worldview from the Bible. Leviticus is the book of the Bible that bores many people, but which I find fascinating. It starts by describing the sacrificial system and then goes into various laws and the punishments for sin. Then it talks about how to treat infectious skin diseases. Severe diseases (though not necessarily leprosy) that causes flesh to rot and body parts to drop off. Why does the Bible have medical advise on skin conditions after discussing the sacrificial system and the Law? Because these skin conditions teach us how God sees sin. They are not a punishment for sin, but rather a living metaphor. Sinners are ugly and vile in God’s eyes in the same way that an advanced leper with rotting flesh and missing limbs might revolt us if we aren’t prepared to be polite. And any Christian, particularly a poor, uneducated black Christian, would have this Biblical view of sin and human nature.So what is the Bible’s answer? For one thing, hell is a deserving punishment for such ugly and vile people as the lot of humanity. I know that 99 of the secular readers strenuously disagree with me on that point, but White would not. I wonder what White would say if someone were to point out to him that in hell he would be more separated from God than ever, and thus look even more vile and ugly in his own eyes. Death would not provide him a relief; it would intensify his self-loathing. If God had wanted to, He could have sent His angels down to earth and killed everyone and sent them to hell forever. And after they were done killing everyone, the angels would sing “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty.”Instead God chose to send his one and only son to take the punishment we deserve. And then the righteousness of Jesus is imputed onto us. When God looks at His elect He does not see their vileness; He sees the beauty of Christ. The Elect are His ravishing bride. That is how the afterlife will work for those who believe in Jesus. When we look at others, or at ourselves, that is what we will see too. White is correct in his analysis of the human condition, but his solution to the problem is 100% wrong.If White wanted a good attack it would be this: how is it that God manages to love us given that we are so ugly and so vile and so worthy of eternal condemnation? It is a mystery. God loves the elect at His pleasure and there is nothing that we have done to deserve or earn His love. The definition of grace is unmerited favor of God. God’s love is purely gracious. And to be honest, I still don’t get this and I’m a Christian who spends a lot of time thinking about these sorts of things. So in this reimaged version of the Sunset Limited, Black still doesn’t have a good answer to White, but even so, I believe that grace is better than the Sunset Limited.

⭐Thought I might not like the format, but I was wrong. Excellent story, time well-spent. Highly recommended to anyone undecided.

⭐it’s amazing that a person would complain about mccarthy’s work written in dramatic form as the sunset limited is. to even say that the mind conjures imagery of a third person who is dawkins, sitting at the table, “…who would mop the floor with these two sorry saps,” is completely missing the point as the reviewer who gave this play 2 stars did. two sorry saps? unfortunately the way most of us conduct our lives is based on the way that these two people are represented, i.e. good vs. bad, right-wrong, religious vs. agnostic, black and white, delusion vs. reality, hope vs. despair. we all live with a sense duality. to bring up dawkins book, the god delusion, is like arguing the bible. what’s right and what’s wrong? what is at the heart of mccarthy’s storys and what makes him an artist is that he understands both but doesn’t let his characters commit to one or the other. he intertwines good and bad and leaves it gray. his storys are of morality but he never sells bad or good he only presents things as they are. he has nothing to hide and is not selling his ideas politically, religiously, artistically, moralistically or falsely. because of these thing i feel he is always and will continue to be a breath of fresh air in these often sad and confusing times. buy this book.

⭐Can we really change one’s mind? If one is no longer curious but still willing to listen, does it mean they are really absorbing the meaning behind? What happens when the only hope you are left with lies in the comfort of nothingness… This is a riveting dialogue between two nameless man that sees the world in black and white, faith vs intellect with no direct answers…A recommended short day’s read that will stay with you and keep you thinking: what makes you get up in the morning and go through your day and the next and the next…

⭐McCarthy’s books are always good for a diversion. The stories are generally filled with despair but are also very thought provoking. “The Sunset Limited” is no different. The reader eavesdrops on a conversation between two very different men, a black ex-con and a white professor. Everything about the men is different, especially their worldviews and this discussion is a worldview discussion. What I like about this discussion is there is no middle ground, no gray areas…just a choice between Black and White.As a person of faith, I find myself most aligned with Black. He completely chooses faith, even though at times it didn’t make sense. This is one of our current problems in the faith world, we spend far too much time dabbling in the gray, trying to figure out the mysterious and trying to explain the things that are inexplicable to our mortal minds.Perhaps it is time for us (me) to just believe and obey. That simply.And maybe it is time for us to stop treating people like projects, another notch in the gun belt, another tally in the baptismal column, another soul saved…maybe it is time for us to start believing what we believe, start listening to our fellow humans, start sharing coffee and meals, and start sharing conversations about the journey of life.

⭐One of the problems of buying books on Amazon is that you can’t get a grasp of what the book looks like and how big it actually is (fonts, indents, etc.). There is just no way I would have paid $12 for this book considering its length. It is a very shot story, almost exclusively dialogue. The story itself is interesting, and the two characters have decent depth considering the short development. If money is no concern, or if its on sale, then pick this book up and read it, should only take one afternoon.

⭐Pretty much nails it.

⭐am a massive mcarthy fan but this was disappointing – probably better on the stage where it is meant to be

⭐Read it.Re-read it.Leave it for a while.Re-read it again.One of very few books you will never be finished with. Oh…. the movie is excellent too.

⭐I didn’t particularly enjoy this book but that is just my opinion.

⭐This book was written in such a way that is both brilliantly humorous and deeply poignant. An easy yet inspiring read that will leave you intrigued and inspired by the questions it raises about life. A suitable read for adults. 5 stars!

Keywords

Free Download The Sunset Limited (Vintage International) in EPUB format
The Sunset Limited (Vintage International) EPUB Free Download
Download The Sunset Limited (Vintage International) 2010 EPUB Free
The Sunset Limited (Vintage International) 2010 EPUB Free Download
Download The Sunset Limited (Vintage International) EPUB
Free Download Ebook The Sunset Limited (Vintage International)