It may or may not come as a surprise that the novel “All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy isn’t just about horses. Sure, horses are an important part of the story, but they are not the central premise. Instead, the story focuses on the trials of a young man exposed to the beauty and danger of following his dream.
The novel begins at a funeral for the grandfather of John Grady Cole in southern Texas. Sixteen-year-old John Grady has been living on his grandfather’s ranch due to family circumstances which include his mother’s career as small-time actress and his father’s illness. However, now that his grandfather is gone, John Grady’s mother plans on selling the ranch, and there is nothing he can do or say to make her change her mind. Since his dream rests on living on a ranch with horses, he decides on what he sees as a logical Plan B: travel to Mexico to live on a ranch.
Thankfully, his friend Lacey Rawlins is also intrigued by the vision of a ranch in Mexico, so John Grady isn’t alone in his venture. The two boys set off on their horses, packed with the essentials, and head for Mexico. Before crossing the border, they meet another boy who calls himself Blevins. Despite the fact that they don’t trust Blevins because of his too-fancy horse, they allow him to tag along on their mission. They don’t realize until it’s too late that Blevins draws attention and trouble from Mother Nature and supposedly peaceful townspeople alike.
Once they reach a ranch, the boys comfortably settle into a routine working with horses. John Grady is highly skilled in breaking wild horses, his expertise surprising given his young age.
Still, the stability and comfort they find at the ranch doesn’t last long as John Grady falls in love with the beautiful and slightly mysterious Alejandra. To add to the complication, Alejandra is the ranch owner’s daughter, and though she loves John Grady, it is soon made clear that their love is dangerous for both their emotions and their lives. The rest of the ensuing story is riveting and always changing, denying opportunities for resolution at every turn.
John Grady is serious, honorable, and prideful to a fault, making us forget that he is merely a teenager as he traverses the challenging terrain of Mexico. We travel with him as he experiences friendship, loyalty, love, hardship, success and everything else Mexico has to offer to a young man on a horse. The larger question is in wondering if and how he will cross back over the border into Texas, and if he can still recognize himself after all he’s been through.
Throughout the novel, McCarthy’s refined style enraptures us not only through the plot line, but also through the complexity of his characters and scenery. Each character reveals him or herself by their interactions with each other, with the horses they are constantly connected to, and with the scenery as it changes in reflection of their situation. McCarthy develops seamless symbolism and gives importance to every word he writes.
His writing is captivating because he rejects using excessive punctuation, purposefully ignoring the use of quotations when characters speak, but never allowing for a moment of accidental confusion. Once we adjust to the lack of expected punctuation, we forget the fact that something is missing, because everything we truly need is in the story itself.
