Stella Maris
Cormac McCarthy’s final novel pairs with The Passenger. It is a dialogue between Bobby Western’s sister, Alice, and her psychiatrist. The “action” takes place at a rehab facility named Stella Maris (Star of Mary in Latin). The dialogue becomes listless and bogged down in various philosophical and mathematical issues quickly.
Alice or Alicia (she changed her name at one point) has picked up and wrestled with these issues into oblivion. Literally to the point that she began experiencing hallucinations, just not in Stella Maris. The halluciations are detailed in the italicized portions of The Passenger. So yes, you need to read that first.
Because the novels involve someone with a multiple personality disorder (or is she a metaphor for modernity?) I was thinking she may be hallucinating the entire dialogue. The psychiatrist is often as well educated in some of the erudite topics as she is. The book is… weird. Often disturbing. Not as good as The Passenger, but I guess McCarthy was using it as a playground for some of his advanced notions he picked up at the Santa Fe Institute.
Related
- Inherent Vice — 15 Oct '09
- Olive Kitteridge — 12 Jan '10
- American Pastoral — 27 Mar '10