Couldn't Care Less. Cormac McCarthy in conversation with David Krakauer
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- čas přidán 24. 10. 2022
- Cormac McCarthy has spent the last quarter century writing his novels at the mountain top retreat of the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) in New Mexico, an institute dedicated to the formal analysis of complex systems. In this documentary filmed in December 2017 at the library at SFI, Cormac in conversation with his colleague David Krakauer, reflects on isolation, mathematics, character, and the nature of the unconscious.
Filmed by Karol Jalochowski
Produced by Santa Fe Institute & Miller Omega Program
Watch also a companion movie veer: • cormac mccarthy's veer - Věda a technologie
It blows my mind how often McCarthy initially answers with “oh, I don’t know” to then eloquently and voluminously discuss the matter at hand lol
That’s why it’s important to get an interviewer on his level. Let him hash out his thoughts and ideas give him time to grow his ideas to fruition.
We're just witnessing a smart man thinking. Rare breed these days
Socratesmaxxxing
RIP Cormac McCarthy (July 20, 1933 - June 13, 2023), aged 89
You will be remembered as a legend.
This will never not blow my mind every single time I read it:
"The jagged mountains were pure blue in the dawn and everywhere birds twittered and the sun when it rose caught the moon in the west so that they lay opposed to each other across the earth, the sun white hot and the moon a pale replica, as if they were the ends of a common bore beyond whose terminals burned worlds past all reckoning"
truly the kind of prose that could make a grown man cry. blood meridian is full of descriptions like these that just seem to burn on the page.
I like his philosophy-
"You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it"
one of my all time favorite quotes from 'blood meridian'
"The crumpled butcher paper mountains.." really got me.
@@Johnconno ,
He is the Melville of our, fortunate times.
"1728 is 12 cubed, and everybody knows that"
Me: 😳
😂😂😂
I think I must need a math lesson, 12x12x12 is 1728, but wouldn’t 12 cubed be 12x12x12x12?
@@MightyConch no
@@MightyConchno. 12 cubed is 12^3.
never thought I’d lived to see and hear cormac talk about his ideas in an open, none dumbed down interview. Literally feels like a missing major cultural touchstone has been recovered. Thank you for making this.
omg. I just started this. Same. Excited to watch.
It’s like Pynchon writing the introduction to his short story collection.
@@graham6132 it is not "like" anything other than what you see and hear on this CZcams segment. It is like that.
@@danielrae861 yeah, you can never compare anything
@@DougerArt not so. I meant to say that our friend Cormac is beyond compare. One might say that he is "like" Melville in terms of their genius but apart from that just read his fucking books! Ya know?
I am so glad that this video was created at the time it was created. RIP legend.
Wonderful to see the brilliance of McCarthy isnt because he’s some genius made of pure light. He’s a guy, interested in people with ideas, who learned about those people and their ideas, and had ideas of his own, and never stopped being that.
way to go, right ? Thanks youtube for facilitating this for everyone with a friends list that's not full of quantum physicists and litterary geniuses.
:) Just a guy.
Well put.
Yup. Wish more people had the courage to take that route
Just finished Blood Meridian and cannot believe how normal its creator is.
he might not have seemed so normal when he wrote it 40 years ago
@@donaldwebb he wouldn't have changed that much in 40 years.
First read this a couple of months ago still and cannot believe how good it is.
@@billyalarie929 Ha ha . In forty years? That's a long time. We change daily
@@donaldwebb hell we can't ever decide precisely. Best we can do is say we feel at any moment.
I could watch 100 hours of conversations with McCarthy like this. It’s a shame no one else was able to film another video like this with him.
Karol you’ve filmed something truly valuable.
From All the Pretty Horses
"You cannot train any creature to that for which its heart has no shape to hold" I have loved this from the first time I read it and feel it reflects both the poetry and the varied interests he plays with
Thank you for sharing this quote. I picked up the book this past weekend. Can’t wait to read it
It's amazing the difference between this interview, and the one conducted by Lawrence Krauss...
Krauss basically recorded a video in which he gave Cormac his opinion on everything, hoping to receive validation from him.
Thank you for letting McCarthy speak.
Totally agree.
I came here from that one, after enduring an excruciating 10 minutes
The biggest wasted opportunity in the recent history of interviews, it makes me mad that one of the 5-6 chances of hearing McCarthy speak results in a monologue of the interviewer.
I don't think this is really fair to say, after watching both. First, this was filmed in 2017. Second, McCarthy was in much poorer health in the Lawrence Krauss video. Third, McCarthy seems much more willing to speak in this video than he does in the Krauss video. Krauss talks so much because McCarthy wouldn't budge, and there are multiple moments where he actually interrupts this interviewer in wanting to launch a thought!
@@QuietExplorationsno, the krauss guy is notorious for trying to be the loudest and most obnoxious in the room, he craves attention like a petulant man child.
"Fly them"- Suttree, 1979
Here on the day he passed away. RIP
Such a soft-spoken, gently-mannered man for a writer of such darkness and violence and human depravity.
Watching the camera chase cormac's slouch is as iconic as he ever is
I'll never forget The Road. I read it when I was 14 and it scarred me. The baby eating part horrified me. I slammed the book shut. Took me a few days to pick it back up and finish it. It still bothers me to this day. (This was about 17 years ago) What a remarkably effective piece of literature.
"People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn't believe in that. Tomorrow wasn't getting ready for them. It didn't even know they were there"
You should try Blood Meridian
comforting the disturbed and disturbing the comfortable.
Well wait till you pick up Blood Meridian.
Every father should read The Road.
I read it on one rainy Sunday when it first came out- had to take the following day off work and stare at the distant horizon for quite some time. Love at its bleakest.
Just heard the news. I'll miss his incredible writing. Thanks for posting this.
His writing is transcendent and so subtle but absolutely brilliantly blunt in his entire writing style. Doesn't pull punches, no quarter is given.
May his soul rest in peace. No one will ever compare.
Interesting how the interview is all about architecture and analytic philosophy. You could watch this interview and not even know McCarthy wrote novels lol. I enjoyed it a lot.
I want another interview where they discuss nothing but Gnosticism. Is the horrifying cave beast in the beginning of the Road that has eyes like spider eggs the demiurge? I want to know.
Forests move me deeply, but McCarthy is right to say there is something truly transcendent and ineffable about deserts.
This is the best interview with Cormac McCarthy I have seen. Finally someone has allowed him to talk. It was a pleasure. Thank you.
The ending is profound. Not only Cormac's final words. Words I find quiet heartwarming and brilliant. His whole take on the exclusivity of our personal subconscious at the ready in our service. Though too the choice of the auteur on the other side of the camera to leave the words hang and resonate in the silence.
Great conversation, thank you for uploading this
What an amazing interview. Thank you so much for releasing it openly for everyone.
What a wonderful interview! I enjoyed every minute of it.
What a gem. Thank you so much for this.
It was just an amazing piece of a conversation , thank you
1:05:38 I can’t even imagine the psychological burden of the guy whose job it is to decide whether *an interview with Cormac freaking McCarthy* has gone on long enough.
The answer is always no
This is the kind of talk everyone has been waiting for! Compared to the interview with Oprah, you really get to see McCarthy here open, candid, and really in his element. I remember I saw a two-minute snippet a while back and can't believe the full video is out and in beautiful quality!
His explanation of how sentences are formed in speech and writing is very interesting
Hi, at what point did he talk about this?
@@anshulkandpal2384 42:11
Amazing. This needs to be preserved.
What a fantastic conversation. I could listen to these two all day. Great palate cleanser for my mind after my daily CZcams diet of Russian car accident videos, bar fight compilations and other nonsense that I usually watch.
Don't forget border car jacking attempts
Ah, i see a fellow russian dashcam connoisseur. A child of god much like myself perhaps. Chapeau!
what a gift to have given this video to the community. Thank you for this.
Wow! What a rarity and a treasure this interview is. It honestly feels like a gift
Terrific. Thank you!!
Fascinating. Thank you.
This video justifies CZcams forever. Thank you so much!
This was wonderful to watch. Thank you.
This was super cool! Thank you for making this. Would love to have more but I’m happy with this.
Cormac McCarthy is my all time favorite author. I've read everything he has ever written, that I could get my hands on. I'm going to be lost after Stella Maris. I will forever long for his prose, approach and environmental descriptions. The hundreds of ways he has described the moon, many times in each book. That very thing keeps me looking up. Thank you so much!
What's your favorite of his lunar depictions? Also, what are some of your favorite lines of his?
I love every one of his novels (except the Passenger). Even the greats must eventually pass on though.
Cormac just passed away recently.
RIP.
Is there something you want to say about this?
Read William Faulkner next, it was his favorite author
to see and hear cormac talk is just amazing, thanks, so much, for filming this!
Panie Karolu, co za wspaniałości. Dziękuję!
Fantastic interview. Thank you 🎉
Coming back to this interview I'm reminded of the fact that so many great authors alive today and in the past required self isolation in order to create, and how that it's increasingly tougher to do that today. I wonder if part of the reason we don't see writers and storytellers with the level of weight and elegance in their work as Cormac has is because the internet has made quiet contemplation too difficult or unappealing.
It’s never been THAT appealing. Yes it can make for interesting art, but I think we really need to be careful not to glorify self isolation. It can be hard on peoples mental health. 2020 certainly showed how true that is.
@@billyalarie929 Fair point. Another reason could be a lot of the creative thinking that used to go into writing books now goes into films and digital content creation.
I get not glorifying isolation, I just find people who are singularly focused and obsessive about their process fascinating.
@@i.hold.vertigo2329 or passively watching CZcams....
@@i.hold.vertigo2329 There's no shame in glorifying isolation. I mean, it's a mediative act for a higher purpose. A lot like the isolation and vows that monks take upon themselves for their beliefs.
No art is devoid of love by it's creator and molder of it's form. Even if a piece is inspired by and created during a time of pure rage it wouldn't exist without love.
So you can see it as isolation, I see it in the same vein as spending all your free time with the woman you love.
A dangerous thing, solitude, it can be maddening, especially when it is done, not because of a near manic desire to create but, because a deadline needs to be reached.
Stress and isolation are essentially the recipe for a break down.
Even if the means are unhealthy I believe intense passion and such a strong commitment to anything should be commended and encouraged.
As well, perhaps a bit of a dark thing to say but with each day we are decaying, we're meat outside of the freezer, it's just a matter of time. We can't live forever. I think some goals are worth sacrificing this short life's luxury, companionship, joy, and even it's very existence. To me the most worthy would be the creation and immortalization of your very soul that true art becomes.
Reminds me of a quote:
"The world is a hellish place and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering."
How wonderful - geez I wish he gave more interviews. Well I have my reading list for the next ten years I suppose. Merci...
I just coincidentally finished reading Blood Meridian and Blindsight. While these books are vastly different in terms of genre and style, Cormac McCarthy's questions in this video about the relationship between the unconscious and the conscious are surprisingly in line with the themes of Blindsight.
If you're interested in further exploring the question of the unconscious and the conscious, and its relationship to intelligence, I highly recommend checking out Blindsight. It is a hard Sci-Fi book but deeply philosophical.
It's always a thrill to find bridges between different genres of books. It's a reminder that all great stories are connected in some way, and that there is no such thing as a truly isolated work of art. You never know what sort of connections you'll find, and that's part of the joy of reading.
He was without equal in his life and we will never see another like him again.
This is tremendous and a sheer delight.
Farewell to the old Don, his work will for centuries. And thanks to Mr Krakauer for this parting gift.
God I wish there were more interviews with this guy. He's so fun to listen to.
Just an astounding interview! Thank you
This conversation fills me with glee.
I will always be grateful to Harold Bloom for introducing me to Cormac McCarthy
100% same here. I picked up blood meridian after seeing a quote of Bloom's in '06. It was Christmas time and I had a really bad flu with a high fever, in bed for days, and I started reading it and my mind was blown. The fever, the weird dreams, all that definitely helped me transport to the world in that novel. I couldn't stop talking about it for days and everyone was sick of hearing me
This was wonderful. Thank you.
I love his books. The man is brilliant
.
I can't believe there's footage of a truly great writer.
Just listening to the audio alone I expect this to be some super 16mm film back of the studio classic interview. Very well done and well a treasure
Oh my goodness. Thank you for this. David Krakaur and Cormac McCarthy. Miracles do happen. So much greatness. Just Wow.
We need David Krakauer to do more interviews like this.
Yesss. For the longest time I could only find that interview w Oprah and a few scattered Santa Fe Institute clips. This is incredible. Many thanks.
I've read a good few of his books, but what a thrill to hear him talk like this, I'm not surprised Mr McCarthy has his own spin on the unconscious, what a delight:)
Mr. McCarthy’s work has impacted my life as I know it has so many others. Grateful for this interview.
I had more in common with the workers drilling holes outside bothering the interview, but loved No Country for Old Men very much. I live in that bleak and awesome part of West Tx. He wrote fiction just the way it is in what passes for the real world. Great conversation/interview and thanks for posting!
You sir just made history. Thank you immensely for making this - we'll be studying this forever.
Damn right.
Well said.
hahahah what are you on about man
I just finished reading the passenger and it's crazy how much of this interview feels like it leaked right into that book. There were a couple of times when you could see Cormac McCarthy just staring off into space after talking about stuff that features heavily in the book. Your mind can't help connect dots and wonder
How was the book?
The interview is also a specimen of the sort that forms the backbone of Stella Maris, doncha think?
Just finished it myself. Certainly far from his best work but I loved every minute of it.
@@ghostsballz Very good.
Unbelievable talent, what a brilliant mind. Proud to have shared a city with this man(Knoxville,Tn)
A treasure. Thank you.
Amazing interview!
came to watch this again after hearing the news today. rip.
That's the longest I've ever heard him speak. What a cool guy.
Incredibly pleasant man to listen to.
I was smiling through Cormacs’ discussion on whales and elephants. So fascinating
Excellent interview. Thank you.
He was such a legend. Currently reading the passenger, ive enjoyed all of his previous works. The road ive read many times such a good book.
I’m new to Cormac McCarthy’s work, I’m reading the passenger and have to say I’m literally blown away.
Thankyou for this.
Thank you for this
Its beautiful watching Cormac look for the right word to say live as its happening in his head
This guy's generosity of spirit is incredible. I assumed he'd be a Brando type where he'd treat every interview question as ignorant, or a waste of time. Instead, he takes such careful time to craft thoughtful answers. What a gift.
RIP LEGEND
Thrilled to hear McCarthy talk about Fallingwater.
McCarthy is the Melville of our times. A brilliant scholar , he is a gift. A true higher mind, he is.
Cheers Jeff Hidalgo
Brilliant writer, not a scholar.
or maybe he’s just the Cormac MCarthy amid our time
Interesting you would say so. Maybe the hardness of the intellect, but surely not in style. Melville was beautifully sententious; while McCarthy has an austere spareness to his prose in a way that Hemmingway would wish he had.
Relating him to Melville is the highest honour but it seems so apt, both describe the world so artfully.
Brilliant!
This is invaluable.
Please get more of McCarthy on video in this interview format please!!!
Gold. Just great. His timing and word choice make some of the anecdotes pure stand up.
There is a tremendous amount of comedy in most of his works, even in the darkest pieces.
Best American author since Hemingway. My God, such talent!
Wow. Thank you for making this.
Cool to see what he looks and sounds like!
wow, what a wonderful conversation. thank you for sharing it with the world!
It's great to finally see him speak at length. All of the talk about the unconscious really shined a light on the more hallucinatory parts of the Passenger. What a guy.
That's what I was thinking. I'm nearly finished The Passenger and have been finding those pages difficult. I'm wondering whether his desire to 'chat' with the smartest people on the planet is a coin with a flip side - people are nasty and brutish and make bad decisions, like his protagonist's description of his participation in war. And even his brilliant physicists caused the ultimate destruction. I think he's lived his whole life gobbling what the best minds have to offer, because everything else is hell bent.
All the Pretty Horses is my favourite book of all time incredibly beautiful novel.
Cormac helps the scientists write by getting them to pay attention to punctuation? That's rich😂 I'm so very glad he recorded a talk like this. Thank you to everyone involved.
whoa, thanks for posting
What an amazing journey McCarthys life has been. A struggling writer for many years then finally becoming celebrated and appreciated. You have to admire his tenacity. Never giving up. He is probably the last writer that can achieve this.
Amazing to hear from CM in 22
Love how he's slowly sliding down into the couch in the first half hour.
Love that you didn't edit out the disruption and Cormac getting his mic adjusted. haha.
This man is an inspiration
You will be so, terribly, missed.