# Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

17 Hacker News commenters recommended Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for its unmatched prose and imagery, and for rewarding re-reads. Critics call it extremely difficult, and some found the effort not worth it.

## Why people recommend it

- Unmatched prose and imagery (5 comments): "The imagery he created with words, some of them his own creations, is just ... beyond compare." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47153200)) "His style won't be to everyone's tastes, but you certainly can't describe it as bland." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49407882)) "my favorite prose is the passage from blood meridian describing the raiders" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49745718))
- Counted among favorite novels (3 comments): "Blood Meridian is one of my favorite novels & made me want to write." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49408727)) "Blood Meridian is one of my favorite novels." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45976265)) "I loved Blood Meridian for example." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50313180))
- Stands apart from other books (3 comments): "His novels are mind-blowing. Blood Meridian is unsurpassed IMO" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47589540)) "The only other book that pulled me in that deeply" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905231)) "there's nothing else like it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47158636))
- Rewards re-reading and effort (2 comments): "It's probably the book I've read the most amount of times and each re-read still manages to amaze me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45972621)) "it finally clicked for me last night and I'm fully engaged with it. And man was it worth the effort." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45968347))

## What people warn about

- Difficult with unclear payoff (3 comments): "Extremely difficult for no reason whatsoever. Terrible book." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45968038)) "Blood Meridian felt like a gratuitous ordeal to me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49409457)) "the difficulty wasn't worth it for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281671))
- Needs outside sources to follow (1 comments): "I thought it was a great book it isn't something you should just read without consulting outside sources" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45969990))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crime-and-punishment.md): 39 recommend
- [The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brothers-karamazov.md): 28 recommend
- [Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace](https://hackerapproved.com/p/infinite-jest.md): 26 recommend
- [The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://hackerapproved.com/p/great-gatsby.md): 24 recommend
- [Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atlas-shrugged.md): 23 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1529077168?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781529077162) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/blood-meridian/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).