The Crossing is the second book in McCarthy’s Border Trilogy. It is much slower, bleaker and longer than the first book, All The Pretty Horses. You can find my review for that book here.

The story focuses on Billy Parham, a young boy from New Mexico. Parham begins his journey by capturing a she-wolf and taking her down to Mexico. I was quite amazed by his resolve to maintain control over the wolf, while still expressing his bizarre love for her simultaneously. Eventually Parham returns to America to find that his family has been murdered, with the exception of his younger brother, Boyd Parham. The family horses have been stolen as well, so the two brothers go off in search of the horses. They find the horses in Mexico, but run into trouble and become separated from each other. When Billy returns to America in 1943, he finds out that World War II has begun. Turned away by three recruitment offices for a heart-murmur, Billy finds ranch work and wanders for roughly three years. Upon his return to Mexico, he is greeted by an unwarranted surprise and the novel ends with a conversation between Billy and an unnamed American man.

McCormac’s style throughout The Crossing is very deep. I found that more often than not, I couldn’t read more than 30 pages without being overloaded with information and falling asleep. Some of the most interesting parts of the book were 10-page conversations with random characters in Mexico. Most of these people only showed up in the book once, but a few of them made repeat appearances. Overall, I really enjoyed the book, but it was a tough read and not uplifting at all. I am looking forward to the final book in the trilogy, Cities of the Plain.

4/5 Stars. 426 pages. Published 1994.