The author's first novel has all the trappings of his later works but not the coherence. The prose is a little too florid and the narrative is too jumpy. Definitely need to pay attention while you are reading. Worth it if you like the author. If you haven't read one of his other books start with The Road or Blood Meridian.

A real tough slog. Enjoyed "the Road", in the "Orchard Keeper" McCarthy seems to be trying too hard. Inanimate objects like windows and cars are given far too much attention stretching metaphors to the breaking point. Ex. "....beer taverns were closed , their glass fronts dimmed and muted in sabbatical quietude". This sort of thing is pervasive and diverts from narrative and character development and the book suffers accordingly.

I had to read it once, get some commentary from various sources, and read it again twice to fully understand this book. It is usually hit or miss for me with this author, and this was a near miss.

The narrative is sometimes hard to follow: it forces one to read closely. The McCarthy hallmarks are all here though: unusual and archaic and subject specific words (and paratactic constructions), strikingly grim phrases, sometimes extending to whole paragraphs (eg. page 12, first paragraph).

Truly a chore to read, not his best work to say the least.