[Editorial note: The following citations come from one-star Amazon reviews of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Passenger. I think The Passenger is a brilliant, messy, baggy synthesis of much of the philosophical and aesthetic themes of McCarthy’s previous work; I loved it.
I’ve preserved the reviewers’ own styles of punctuation and spelling. More one-star Amazon reviews.]
jumble
I’m too old
Horrible sci fi
another gut-punch.
literary tricksterisms
this one is different in so many ways
the airplane is never mentioned again
a cluster mess of absolutely nothing
Virtue signaling
who is missing
Zero.
Zilch.
Nada.
rambling
confusing
nonsensical
300 pages of mostly sci-fi
nothing like his previous writings
This author has written several really good novels
The only mention of salvage diving to find a plane was in the beginning of the book.
nothing about it makes one happy to be reading it
Introspection with no development
mediocrity
absurdity
Incest
A plot with … no plot.
I literally threw it in the garbage
portions in italics about some person with flipper hands in some alter reality
Tedious chapters where a character we never meet argues with her imaginary friends.
the editor and McCarthy were both under the influence of something!
he has decided to eliminate quotation marks
these questions are never answered
disjointed
irregular
senseless
I am a fan of McCarthy
The only passenger is the reader
reads like two people on an acid trip
If you are an average reader then you will find this book difficult to read
Why is the plane in the river
lack of punctuation
time line confusing
no stars
ten zeros
lost and confused
made me feel stupid
one of Americas great writers
A lot of physics talk by men with questionable morals.
a sunken private jet in the Gulf of Mexico is the MacGuffin in this book
I’ve read two other Cormac McCarthy works: The Road, and No Country For Old Men. I enjoyed them both, although they were nothing special.
If this book had been submitted for publication by an unknown author it never would have been published
gassy dialogue about cars, tools, diving, drinking, the Deep State, hopeless forbidden love, and loss
I get the distinct impression that the publicists never read more than the beginning of the book.
Will I read the sequel? Probably, just to see if this novel can be redeemed.
not the action adventure novel that the jacket cover advertises
I was continuing out of spite.
life is too short
What story?
Biblioklept 