Book · 2010 · Fiction
Blood Meridian
Or the Evening Redness in the West
#178 of 15,621 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts
- mentions
- 22
- people
- 14
- podcasts
- 9
- episodes
- 18
- critical mentions
- 0
The audio book of Blood Meridian by Cormick McCarthy is like the trippiest possible. It's the It's It's an extraordinary book that that's basically like um a sort of, if you haven't read it, like a sort of 20th century Dante explaining an absolutely hellacious experience.
What they say about it
- Reads the book“most recently read Blood Meridian”3
- Mentions Judge Holden“Judge Holden from Blood Meridian”3
- Recommends reading it“I would tell you to read”3
- Discusses the plot“follows a story of like this kid”2
The best things said about it
Oh I would tell you to read blood meridian by Cormac McCarthy Oh just tell you read a real writer.
The classic is Blood Meridian, which is one of the darkest books ever written.
McCarthy's book where basically you know like follows a story of like this kid who goes on a scalping mission.
Joe Rogan The Joe Rogan Experience · Aug 2025 Judge Holden from Blood Meridian nailed it. Horrible guy, but very smart.
In Blood Meridian there's this fantastic speech about war given by the judge.
Josh Barnett Lex Fridman Podcast · Mar 2021 One of those novels that's sort of considered unfilmable.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
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How it comes up
14 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy is a harrowing and visceral historical novel that depicts the extreme violence and bleak reality of the American West through the harrowing journey of a runaway teenager known as the kid. Widely regarded as a masterpiece of twentieth-century literature, the book is often praised and debated for its unflinching portrayal of human depravity and its poetic, biblical prose. Derek Thompson recommended the audiobook version on The Ezra Klein Show, describing the experience as a trippy and extraordinary descent akin to a twentieth-century Dante navigating a hellish landscape. Henry Rollins enthusiastically endorsed the novel on The Joe Rogan Experience, suggesting it as the definitive starting point for anyone looking to read the work of a genuine literary artist. Other podcasters and guests have frequently invoked the book to illustrate brutal or philosophical concepts. Rich Roll referenced the novel on The Rich Roll Podcast to emphasize the stark and dangerous realities of extreme wilderness environments. Ryan Holiday identified a famous paragraph from the book during a discussion on The Daily Stoic, while Ben Bowlin cited the chilling character Judge Holden on Stuff They Don_t Want You To Know to discuss technological precedents in warfare and the archetype of the captivating yet wicked fictional figure. Joe Rogan also compared historical accounts of scalping missions in the American West to McCarthy_s narrative depiction on The Joe Rogan Experience, underscoring the novel's lasting cultural footprint regarding historical violence.
Every mention
Henry Rollins oh I would tell you to read blood meridian by Cormac McCarthy oh just tell you read a real writer 2
Recommended
“oh I would tell you to read blood meridian by Cormac McCarthy oh just tell you read a real writer”
Recommended
“oh I would tell you to read blood meridian by Cormac McCarthy Oh just tell you read a real writer”
Derek Thompson The audio book of Blood Meridian by Cormick McCarthy is like the trippiest possible. It's the It's It's an… 1
Recommended
“The audio book of Blood Meridian by Cormick McCarthy is like the trippiest possible. It's the It's It's an extraordinary book that that's basically like um a sort of, if you haven't read it, like a sort of 20th century Dante explaining an absolutely hellacious experience”
Ben Bowlin You know, Judge Holden from Blood Meridian nailed it. Horrible guy, but very smart. He was right. 3
Discussed
“You know, Judge Holden from Blood Meridian nailed it. Horrible guy, but very smart. He was right.”
Discussed
“The judge from Blood Meridian or Anton Sugar from No Country from Old Men.”
Discussed
“but we also have to remember this guy is pretty close to judge Holden in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian”
Joe Rogan oh I think I think was the book blood meridian and he talks about and this apparently was a practice 3
Discussed
“I imagine it like blood meridian like like McCarthy's McCarthy's book where basically you know like follows a story of like this kid who goes on a scalping mission you know where their their job is to go down into Guadalajara and then come up in through the states and they just they scalp pretty much everyone they meet indiscriminately”
Discussed
“oh I think I think was the book blood meridian and he talks about and this apparently was a practice”
Discussed
“you know you're cornerback McCarthy talked about the the about everything is about games in this book bloody Meridian and he goes on about how it's you know games men love games boys love games”
Robert Evans It's kind of—I think that Blood Meridian is challenging in some ways that aren't different, because like so… 3
Discussed
“It's kind of—I think that Blood Meridian is challenging in some ways that aren't different, because like so much of reading Blood Meridian is like, 'What the f*** did he mean by that?”
Discussed
“Blood Meridian is a lot closer to an abnormal novel than Finnegan's Wake is, though, but like, they're both interesting.”
Discussed
“And what she means by this is that books, from Blood Meridian to Hop On Pop, are a dialogue between writer and reader.”
Dwight Garner of course the classic is Blood Meridian which is one of the darkest books ever written 1
Discussed
“of course the classic is Blood Meridian which is one of the darkest books ever written”
Gilbert Cruz he was a cult figure and he wrote these five novels which culminated with what is considered to be one of h… 1
Discussed
“he was a cult figure and he wrote these five novels which culminated with what is considered to be one of his best novels now Blood Meridian”
Greg Fitzsimmons I just just finished this book about that exact time it was about the Rangers when they first went down int… 1
Discussed
“I just just finished this book about that exact time it was about the Rangers when they first went down into Mexico because it's a book by Cormac McCarthy called blood meridian oh yeah I've heard about that”
Ian McGuire and I thought about MacArthur's Blood Meridian his Great Masterpiece and I went back and and read that and… 1
Discussed
“and I thought about MacArthur's Blood Meridian his Great Masterpiece and I went back and and read that and that became tremendously helpful”
Jocko Willink The other book that I've read multiple times is Blood Meridian Blood Meridian Yeah I don't know that You do… 1
Discussed
“The other book that I've read multiple times is Blood Meridian Blood Meridian Yeah I don't know that You don't know Okay So it's written by cor M McCarthy”
Josh Barnett and i think the one of the best explanations i ever got from this and another person very impactful on my l… 1
Discussed
“and i think the one of the best explanations i ever got from this and another person very impactful on my life and outlook and thinking about things cormac mccarthy and so in blood meridian there's this fantastic speech about war given by the judge which there's a ton of fantastic speeches on things given by the judge all that”
Kathryn Schulz But no, I most recently read Blood Meridian and then I'm only like two and a half years into my 10-year sti… 1
Discussed
“But no, I most recently read Blood Meridian and then I'm only like two and a half years into my 10-year stint, which I'm slightly exaggerating about, but somehow I'm the last person in America not to have read The Road even though I understand exactly why I should.”
Rich Roll Like blood meridian like this is like in this is Yeah. And so when you're face to face with that and they h… 1
Discussed
“Like blood meridian like this is like in this is Yeah. And so when you're face to face with that and they have 6 foot long arrows”
Ryan Holiday Oh, that is a famous paragraph, right, from Blood Meridian. 1
Discussed
“Oh, that is a famous paragraph, right, from Blood Meridian.”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker1
Discussed
“He's apparently been in the works on a film adaptation of Blood Meridian by Cormack McCarthy for a long time, which is always I think Ben, you've described it as one of those novels that's sort of considered unfilmable”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (14: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“Blood Meridian.”
Passing
“McCarthy, who died in 2023, is the author behind books as popular and traditional as No Country for Old Men and All the Pretty Horses, and as ornate and knotty as Blood Meridian.”
Passing
“The Road, Blood, Meridian. I mean, there are many other examples.”
Passing
“there's a scene in a book called Blood Meridian where the guy chops the dude's head off with that [__] knife”
Passing
“There's a scene in a book called Blood Meridian where the guy chops the dude's head off with that [ __ ] knife”
Passing
“um I'm going to go do a Blood Meridian after this Jes call me the judge”
Passing
“I'm going to go do a Blood Meridian after this. Use my own urine to make gunpowder.”
Passing
“so Blood Meridian comes out 1985 and then as you say there really is at kop which is where he was published a a push starting with All the Pretty Horses in 1992 to try to break him out”
Passing
“there's also this really ornate style that he gets in in Blood Meridian in the darkest way and Suri in a comic way”
Passing
“I mean those are Grim obviously but this is just about this character in Tennessee a guy who sort of lives outside the bounds of society”
Passing
“that was I think the opening to Blood Meridian”
Passing
“uh I started chatting with uh with with a a good friend of mine Cormac McCarthy about bringing one of his books to life and the way he'd always intended which was by having me read Blood Meridian in my award-winning Boston accent”
Passing
“just because like it's it's actually it's kind of I think that like Blood Meridian is is challenging in some ways that aren't different because like so much of reading blood murderney is like what the [ __ ] did he mean by that”
Passing
“Oh I think I think was the book blood meridian and he talks about and this apparently was a practice”