All the Pretty Horses Annotated Bibliography

Arnold, Edwin T. “The Mosaic of McCarthy’s Fiction.” Sacred Violence: A Reader's Companion to Cormac McCarthy : Selected Essays from the First McCarthy Conference. Eds. Hall and Wallach. El Paso: University of Texas at El Paso, 1995. 17-23. Print.

In this essay, Edwin T. Arnold makes connections among all of McCarthy’s novels up to All the Pretty Horses (ATPH). He shows how the books revisit similar themes and characters, making the complete study of all of McCarthy’s works a much richer experience. Arnold argues that ATPH is  both a continuation of Blood Meridian and a variation of it. He makes comparisons between John Grady and the kid, highlighting their journeys as rites of passage that differ within the contexts of their environments and their interactions with other characters.

Busby, Mark. “Into the Darkening Land, The World to Come: Cormac McCarthy’s Border Crossings.” Myth, Legend, Dust: Critical Responses to Cormac McCarthy. Ed. Wallach. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2000. 227-48. Print.

In this article, Mark Busby analyzes all three novels in McCarthy’s Border Trilogy. He claims that the Mexican border is a metaphor for dialectic themes that invite further exploration. In All the Pretty Horses (ATPH),the most important dialectic is between human responsibility and fate. As Busby points out, this theme is constant throughout McCarthy’s descriptions of the history of Mexico such as the parallel histories of Mexico and the United States, which are both filled with mindless violence and no true heroism. The dialectic is also illustrated by the contrast between Mexican culture and American culture; in ATPH, most of the Mexicans believe in forces outside of an individual’s control while the Americans follow their own ideologies of free will and individualism.

Cooper Alarcón, Daniel. “All the Pretty Mexicos: Cormac McCarthy’s Mexican Representations.” Cormac McCarthy: New Directions. Ed. Lilley. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002. 141-52. Print.

In this essay, Daniel Cooper Alarcón shows how All the Pretty Horses fits into what he calls the infernal paradise myth tradition in literature. McCarthy, as with writers before him, creates his own version of a Mexican culture guided by images maintained in historical references and in the media. McCarthy uses standard oppositional terms such as ‘enchanting’ and ‘repellant’, and ‘dream-like’ and ‘bloody’ to define Mexico, also constructing Mexico from both and Anglo and Spanish perspectives. Cooper Alarcón questions whether McCarthy’s Mexican novels contribute or challenge the Mexicanness this infernal paradise tradition supports\Cooper Alarcón argues that the romanticized ideals which motivate John Grady’s trip to Mexico come from his vision of Mexico as a “blank space on the map that has no past of history” (148). Eventually though, Grady discovers Mexico’s own parallel history and reality that overturns this misconception.

Evenson, Brian. "McCarthy’s Wanderers: Nomadology, Violence, and Open Country.” Sacred Violence: A Reader's Companion to Cormac McCarthy : Selected Essays from the First McCarthy Conference. Eds. Hall and Wallach. El Paso: University of Texas at El Paso, 1995. 41-48. Print.

In this essay, Brian Evenson classifies the nomadic characters throughout McCarthy’s novels as tramps, focusing on the meaning of their particular nomadic existence. He argues that with John Grady in All the Pretty Horses McCarthy has created a new kind of nomadic character: a wanderer with a need for roots and a desire to belong and be accepted into society. As Evenson points out, Grady adheres to society’s standards of morality and values, instead of living on the margins of society parasitically like many of McCarthy’s previous protagonists.  

Luce, Dianne C. "‘When You Wake’: John Grady Cole’s Heroism in All the Pretty Horses.” Sacred Violence: A Reader's Companion to Cormac McCarthy : Selected Essays from the First McCarthy Conference. Eds. Hall and Wallach. El Paso: University of Texas at El Paso, 1995. 155-67. Print.

In this essay, Diane C. Luce argues that John Grady showsMcCarthy’s ability to create round characters, subverting the traditional static heroes found in most adventure stories. Grady begins his journey to Mexico as if in a dream world, a world characterized by idealism, innocence and immaturity. With a child-like sense of entitlement and opportunism he desires “a beautiful woman, a ranch to run, a world arranged to match one’s ideas of right and justice” (156). However, violence and injustice shatters his dream world such that he must face reality and the uncertainty of his existence. His heroism then lies in his ability to deal with the real world with humility and to act on what he believes is true (164). He replaces his desire for a fantasy world with a quest for truth and understanding.

Owens, Barcley.  Cormac McCarthy’s Western Novels.  Tucson: U of Arizona P, 2000. Print.

Though this book covers all of McCarthy’s western novels, Owens specifically covers the Western myths found in All the Pretty Horses (ATPH). He describes the novel as an illustration of the myth of American progress, further exploring themes of romantic nostalgia in characters without the mindless violence of his previous works. He critiques McCarthy for the inherent superiority and entitlement of the American protagonists in ATPH, describing their ethnocentrism and McCarthy’s limited portrayal of Mexican characters. He also critiques the two-dimensional role of women, who are often times portrayed as only unattainable idealized sexual objects or part of the myth of entitlement, such as Alejandra, whose white ethnicity “matches a white heroine to a white hero” and is a “tragic marker on the trail to manhood” for John Grady (65).

Tatum, Stephen. Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses: A Reader’s Guide. New York: Continuum, 2002.

In this guide, Stephen Tatum describes McCarthy’s biographical and literary journey towards All the Pretty Horses (ATPH), showing McCarthy’s transition from anonymity to critical and commercial success. Tatum also explores the nature of truth, pointing out how the main characters in ATPH try to control their fate through their actions and morality, yet they realize how many things are still out of their control. Through experience, many of them come to the conclusion that there is “no such thing as a life without bloodshed” (23). Tatum argues that, despite the characters’ conclusions, the novel leaves readers with endless possible readings.

Woodson, Linda Townley. "Deceiving the Will to Truth: The Semiotic Foundation of All the Pretty Horses.” Sacred Violence: A Reader's Companion to Cormac McCarthy : Selected Essays from the First McCarthy Conference. Eds. Hall and Wallach. El Paso: University of Texas at El Paso, 1995. 149-54. Print.

In this essay, Linda Townley Woodson explores the idea of truth in All the Pretty Horses (ATPH). Themes in the novel such as the loss of country, the relationship between humans and nature, the responsibility between humans, and the subordination of women, she identifies as symbolic sources of discourse in the representation of truth. Nature, for example, becomes a symbol of preexisting truth and meaning as it transcends generations and human existence, while among humans truth is the acceptance of personal responsibility instead of fate. Through her many examples, Woodson shows that in ATPH, “truth is as one makes it” (152).