Living inside Cormac McCarthy’s mind while reading The Passenger is a fascinating exploration of grief that prompts questions about living with the past. It’s about how to live a human life at all when that life is flawed, skewed by individual perception of reality, and tainted by experience.

The plot is a framework for McCarthy’s main character, Western, to experience the hard-won ruminations on life from a motley crew of characters who reside in New Orleans. The descriptions of the city are lush. The characters pop off the page with their rough edges and direct assertions that fail to save them from their fallibility.

McCarthy takes the reader in one direction only to pull back and redirect attention to Western’s sister and her perception of reality through mental illness. He takes Western forward only to pull him back into his past. There are people pursuing Western as he struggles to navigate the murky depths of past and present, sometimes one step ahead, sometimes too far behind.

Everyone will come away from The Passenger with their own interpretations of what it all means and that’s what makes Cormac McCarthy a legendary writer.

They are after Robert Western but he doesn't know who they are, or why.

Western and his diving partner know that a tenth passenger is missing from a plane the two were hired to search. Then the partner dies in an accident.

Still grieving for his younger sister, Western meets up with a barrel full of New Orleans pals as he tries to choose between fight and flight.

McCarthy's writing improves with age.

Publication Date October 22, 2022
My husband is a HUGE fan of Cormac McCarthy. I, on the other hand, have never really appreciated his books. But I decided to give The Passenger (the first in a two-book series) a try, hoping that because it sounded like it might be a mystery/suspense thing (right up my literary alley) that finally I would join the CMcC appreciation club.

The first chapter seemed to set the stage for a mystery/suspense story. Then it got confusing and just plain weird. Thinking it might just be me, I gave it to my husband for his input. He truly loved two of McCarthy’s previous works, All the Pretty Horses and The Road.

As I understand it, a salvage diver named Western has been sent to explore a sunken airplane. He and his partner find the plane, including all the passengers (still strapped into their seats) resting on the bottom of the ocean. Except: one passenger is missing. And so is the plane’s “black box.” WTF?

Very intriguing, even for this non-appreciative reader. I was curious as to what had happened, and where the plane and the missing passenger had gone. I was ready! But then McCarthy didn’t stay with that intriguing story, but chose to switch both location and timeframe with every chapter (I think). The other main storyline is definitely odd, and somewhat offensive, even including some characters from a carnival sideshow…including a “thalidomide baby” with “flippers’’ and this was about where I gave up. Is it a metaphor? Am I missing some symbolism? Is it just too complex for my taste? I may never know…

If my husband chooses to finish it, I am sure he will share his opinions, and I will update this partial review. I suspect that when the second volume comes out in December 2022, he will leap on it, anmaybe even convince me to add it to my TBR pile. For now, I am giving it three stars just because – well, because it is Cormac Freaking McCarthy! Thanks to Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for my attempt at a review.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A novel about a young man whose life is spent dealing with unfathomable loss.

This is a contemplative book that follows a grieving man trying to make sense of his own life and the life of his family. It was disorienting at first, because you definitely get the impression that you are reading half of a duo. But it is decidedly character-focused and progresses mostly through meandering conversations, but I found myself hooked and turning the pages. I will definitely be picking up Stella Maris when it comes out to see how all the pieces fit together. Would recommend to readers who are looking for ambitious books and are looking to explore themes of grief and legacy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I will not be reviewing this book as I didn't finish it. It did not appeal to me , but I am sure it will be a best seller because the author is such a good writer. This was just not a good fit for me.

The first chapter is intriguing and sets the stage for a mystery/suspense story. Then it gets confusing and just plain weird.

I loved McCarthy's previous works, All the Pretty Horses and The Road. His writing is so wonderful and unusual and captivating, but this one is just confusing. Perhaps the issue is that it's volume one of a two book series, and perhaps (with perseverance) had I kept reading I would have come to love it. I gave it a shot (up to about 25%), but I have way too many books on my "too read" list and I found myself just putting this one down far too often.

The story begins with Western, a salvage diver who is sent to explore a sunken airplane. He and his partner find the plane and its passengers at the bottom of the sea, all bodies still strapped in except one. And the "black box" is missing. What happened? Where did they go? I was definitely interested. The problem is that McCarthy doesn't stay with that story, but switches times and places with every chapter and the other main storyline is definitely odd, to say the least. In fact, some will find it offensive since the main characters include a "thalidomide baby" with "flippers' and several carnival characters from a sideshow -- use your imagination. I just didn't get it!

McCarthy is a modern genius with a unique writing style (punctuation, dialogue style, lyrical prose), so perhaps given the time and effort, this one would have captured my attention. Perhaps I'll give it another try at a later date, and perhaps taken as a whole (with volume 2) it all makes sense. It is definitely NOT for the average reader.

A major event in contemporary American literature -- which, I expect, will be amplified in conjunction with its companion volume, Stella Maris -- the culmination of work McCarthy is documented to have begun at least by 1980; and arguably the best since Blood Meridian (which I regard as his fairest claim to immortality). I also expect this new pair of books may effect some fascinating alterations in how the gestalt of McCarthy's ouvre as a whole is regarded, in light of its biographical dimensions and the varied philosophical speculations about mortality, loss, physics and mathematics voiced by numerous characters throughout.