Discussing Suttree on There Will Be Books
Added 2023-06-06 12:39:27 +0000 UTCI was recently a guest on the podcast There Will Be Books to discuss Cormac McCarthy and what I think is his most underrated novel, Suttree.
Forest of Symbols fans will probably be most interested in the discussion about the symbolism of the Tennessee River in the novel, which I compare with the river Styx, and is called in the book a cloaca maxima, which was the main sewer of ancient Rome.
I also bring up some Christian symbolism related to fishing and the sign Pisces, and toward the end I bring up my theory that McCarthy is alluding to the change of astrological ages from the Christian era of Pisces to the age of Aquarius.
As always with these guest spots, I wasn't able to mention everything I had on my mind. I may write about Suttree at some point, but for now I will direct those interested to take up this dense and fascinating work, and look out for spiral motifs (the symbol of organic and spiritual growth as well as of obsession and hypnosis) and the theme of the twin or double.
