Janelle Janson's Reviews > Stella Maris

Thank you so much Knopf for the free copies.

I read THE PASSENGER and STELLA MARIS back-to-back because I just couldn’t wait. I am already familiar with Cormac McCarthy’s books - Blood Meridian being my favorite - so I was excited. McCarthy is known for his exquisite and polished writing. And true to form, there are some beautiful passages in these unusual books.

THE PASSENGER is the story of a salvage diver in New Orleans named Bobby Western. Unfortunately, in Bobby’s line of work, he can find terrible things beneath the murky waters, including an airplane crash with the long ago deceased still inside. But the real interesting things about Bobby are that he’s a genius mathematician, he’s tortured by the past work of his physicist father, and oh yes, he’s in love with his sister, Alicia Western.

STELLA MARIS is the companion novel that goes into more depth about Alicia. It covers her stint in the hospital asylum, STELLA MARIS, where she spent time for a year before her death. To be clear, this short novel takes place 8 years earlier than the events in THE PASSENGER. Alicia is 20 years old, diagnosed with schizophrenia, and yes, in love with her brother, Bobby. The book covers the conversations between Alicia and her psychiatrist, Dr. Cohen.

I found both books together to be compelling. McCarthy writes with precision, but also with ambiguity. Some readers might prefer it if there was no STELLA MARIS, and they might be right. However, I found THE PASSENGER and STELLA MARIS to be perfect companions. McCarthy gracefully covers themes of genius and madness, illicit dreams and reality, heartache, incestuous relationships, and what’s the phrase? “Sins of the father”. It’s all complicated, but excellent.