I heard the other day that Cormac doesn't read. Kind of makes sense with his style, and I personally like his stuff. But is it possible to be an influential writer without reading? Was I fed garbage?
Also, do you know of any other influential writers who don't read anyone elses stuff?
He has read a lot. Whether or not he reads presently...
>>7512341
Every writer reads, some to a varying extent. Cormac without a doubt reads other's works but probably doesn't read as much as a critic or an academic.
>>7512341
>Cormac doesn't read
OH IT SHOWS
"I read newspaper." - Cormac McCarthy
Nor should you...
I believe there are certain plateaus that we may arrive at after periods of reading and reflecting. Often I've found that many individuals do not take holidays from reading to relish in these plateaus. Think of it as a set of stairs. With each step there is the plateau upon which exists a successively greater portion of Wisdom, upon which we both lose old and gain new pieces of ourselves. Many people either linger or dismiss this. With the dismissing comes a superficial encyclopedic understanding; however, with the lingering comes ruminations, ruminations that will either usher in something very good or something very bad. I believe Cormac settled somewhere comfortable on one of those plateaus.
That's my two cents.
>any other influential writers who don't read anyone elses stuff?
beats me doctor
>>7512393
Shut the fuck up you pretentious faggot. You could've just said 'he's read enough in his life, so any more would taint his writing.' Ame ven then, that's some stupid shit.
>>7512393
You've been reading too much DFW, bro.
Possible? Yeah.
Probable? Not really.
Only bad writers want you to read more(tm) bad things in the hopes of cheaply creating a wider audience they can hook into. There is only a small amount of good things worth reading in a life time unless you are female and everything is amazing. If you want to be a creator you have to believe your work is most worthy of being read and that can mean that nothing else is.
Isn't this guy old and fairly close to death now? He's probably spending more time than anything writing whatever it is he's supposedly working on. Or spending time doing whatever in life he wants to do before dying. I'm sure he meant "I don't read right now". A writer who doesn't and has not read is a pretty silly notion.
>>7513052
you're reading posts and shit posting on 4chan about how there's only so many things in life worth reading. Here's to hoping it's a ruse, otherwise you aren't as smart as you think you are.
>>7513330
Found the effeminate man who won't dismiss anything from a fear of offending his previous valuations. You don't have to pretend most things are pleasant, this is 4chan after all.
he probably mean he is not "only" a reader. Might read something like 10 books a year only and do other shit like go outside.
He certainly read a lot when he was younger and he wore his influences on his sleeve DESU.
>>7513052
How do you know who to beat if you dont read the greats retard?
I agree male writers are driven by overcoming an adversary, but you still gotta read the adversary. If you don't you will lose.
>>7513052
>unless you are female and everything is amazing.
The few really intelligent people I've ever met managed to find depth and inspiration in the most mundane of things, regardless of sex.
Don't be a frog.
>>7512341
I'm rather certain he's read Faulkner.
>>7513480
I'd say that's a pretty good bet with him mimicking Faulkner/Thomas Wolfe for his first four or five novels.
and The Bible.
>>7512393
>plateaus
>not plateaux
Promptly off self
>>7512341
He's bullshitting.
A lot of famous/influential people lie about what they do or do not do to "craft" their public persona almost as much as they edit and refine their creative output.
He's saying, "I don't read," because he thinks it makes him sound more mysterious or interesting.
This is common and has been happening since the beginning of time. The truth always comes out. Often posthumous.
McCarthy reads. Maybe he doesn't read classics or whatever, like he once did, but he definitely fucking reads.
>>7513734
>He's saying, "I don't read," because he thinks it makes him sound more mysterious or interesting.
Probably also because writers are narcissists who don't want to acknowledge influences because it makes them less unique.
>>7513759
McCarthy didn't say it, though. O right, I forgot where we were.
>>7513759
Yeah, that too.
>>7512393
I concur anon
Only plateaus may very well be planes we (re)visit resulting in stylistic disarray.
Author's in the spotlight tend to avoid talking about what they read and what their influences are because they don't want to be written off as a Twain wannabe, Hemingway wannabe, or Tolstoy wannabe. All they wannabe is themselves. It is a means of dispelling preconceptions.
>>7514140
I don't think it is possible to completely revisit those plateaus/planes. Rather, when revisiting the plane--with all that has taken place since departing from it--, it is little more than a false memory.
Something akin to a 28 year old man hanging out with a 19 year old boy, with only platonic friendship in mind.
>>7514303
What if the planes start stacking on top of each other? Then festering and leaking so you don't know which mouldy plateaux points upwards?
>>7514140
what a qt.
generic and most likely shallow if she becomes this much of a living cliche, but physically a qt.
>>7512978
>someone bothers to properly explain where they are coming from
>lets call them a faggot
fuck off you inbred retard
He's listed Ulysses, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Moby Dick (I'm probably missing one or two) as books he's loved and been influenced by.
