All the Pretty Horses Review

Holiday Reading

     Over break I chose to read All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. This novel has a delightful blend of western adventure, young romance, and painful loss.

     All The Pretty Horses begins with 16 year-old John Grady Cole's grandfather's funeral. His parents are finally getting divorced, and his mother wants to sell the Texas ranch that her father left behind. John Grady cant stand this idea, so he and his childhood friend, Lacey Rawlins, who is 17, set off on an adventure to Mexico. Shortly after leaving home, the boys realize they are being followed by another much younger runaway. He calls himself Jimmy Blevins and claims to be much older than he really is. John Grady instantly feels sorry for Blevins, but Rawlins knows the boy will just cause trouble. The trio continues on, crossing the Rio Grande, into the prosperous and plentiful land of Mexico.

     When a lightning storm hits, Blevins takes off all his clothes and loses not only all his clothes but his fancy bay horse as well. The caring John Grady lets Blevins ride with him to the nearest town where they find Blevins horse and try to steal it back. Rawlins and John Grady are suddenly separated from Blevins, which seems to be a relief. The two boys find the hacienda that they have been looking for and get hired as cowhands and wranglers. To prove themselves they break 16 horses in 4 days, and John Grady gets hired as the breeder for the owner, Senor Rocha. This is when the romance starts in the novel. John Grady falls in love with Senor Rocha's daughter, Alejandra. They go out dancing, ride horses and even sneak into each other's rooms at night. Rawlins knows better than to get involved with the boss's daughter and tries to warn John Grady, but he doesn't listen. Finally, at the end of Part 1, Rawlins and Grady get taken away in handcuffs for 'stealing' Blevin's horse back.

     They find themselves in a jail cell with Blevins who has broken both feet and an old man that says Blevins killed three men. Blevins denies killing the three men and claims he just wanted his pistol back. On a transfer to a new prison, a great tragedy occurs.

     After getting roughed up in the new prison, John Grady and Rawlins are handed an envelope with money in it and released. Soon we find out where the money came from, and that a special deal was made. Rawlins decides he has had enough adventure and goes home to Texas, however, John Grady wants to see his love, Alejandra. He goes back to the hacienda that he worked at and talks with Alejandra's great aunt and she gives him a horse. He calls Alejandra and they decide to meet in Zacatecas. Alejandra and John Grady talk of their future together and once again John Grady is upset, so he drinks his feelings away. He rides back to the town that he was jailed in and takes the captain hostage. He gets his, Blevin's and Rawlin’s horses back and heads back to Texas. John Grady spends months trying to find the rightful owner of Blevin's bay horse but he finally retreats home to San Angelo, Texas. He rides over to the Rawlins family ranch, and Rawlins is pleased to see his pal, John Grady and his horse. The book ends like it began, with a funeral. With another loss, the lone John Grady rides west on another adventure.

     Throughout the book, many themes appear. My favorite is the old west relationship between the horses and their riders. When John Grady is released from prison he hears Redbo, his horse, whinny to him in reunion. The horses play a huge role in the novel; they are lifelong friends, have great historical merit, are hard workers, show free spirit and a desire for adventure. The dream of crossing the border is also a fascinating theme. The boys know of Texas as dreadful and agonizing ranch land, while they dream of Mexico having running water and tall grass. The two places are really the same desert, but John Grady and Rawlins are so done with the hardships of Texas life and are ready for the more prosperous life that they hope to find in the lands to the south.

     The style of All The Pretty Horses is also quite interesting. McCarthy doesn’t tell us the characters names until we have gotten the background on them. It forces the reader to put the character together without judging them based on their name. Referring to each character as he/she makes the text hard to follow showing the reader that each character is complicated and hard to understand. Throughout the novel McCarthy shows the importance and impact that our family has on us. Alejandra's great aunt dislikes John Grady very much and demands that Alejandra doesn’t see him. John Grady's grandfather passing and his parents divorce cause him to go on this adventure of his and grow up. The moment Rawlins and John Grady leave for Mexico they also leave their innocence behind. Young Blevins can shoot a pocketbook with a pistol and John Grady can handle himself in a knife fight, showing that they are no longer children. These boys left their innocence along with their past. They ran from their family history and whatever undesirable thing Blevins is running from.

     I would recommend All The Pretty Horses to anyone and everyone that has an interest in the adventures of the old west!