How many of these terms, selected from the three-page prologue of Cormac McCarthy’s 1979 novel Suttree, can you define with some precision using only your brain?
1. stele
2. pinchbeck
3. dogwhelk
4. dementia praecox
5. hawsers
6. neap
7. flitch
8. chapbook
9. maugre
10. murengers
11. grots
Take the poll below and if you’re stumped on some of them, let’s see your best invented definitions in the comments.
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Apparently I am a complete dolt.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
I knew a chapbook was some not very specific kind of book, and I guessed a dogwhelk was a kind of whelk (and I knew a whelk was some kind of mollusk). So I might give myself 1.25 out of 10.
Nice on hawsers and whelk. I only knew stele is a monument of sorts. The prologue is especially tricky, but the rest of the book still averages about one baffling word per page or two.
Cormac McCarthy outshines us all. He’s up there in the Pantheon with Faulkner. Far as I’m concerned.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
I love the last choice–I am Cormac McCarthy. You should see this list for Blood Meridian. By the way, he doesn’t just have an insane vocabulary… his novels are incredible. Child of God is a great place to start if you don’t want to have to consult the dictionary too much on the first go-round.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
Knew a few, guessed a few, and a few were completely new to me.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
Only knew about two out of the entire list. Unfortunate. Must read more.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
Four sounded familiar and I might be able to bullshit my way through a definition. But I’m likely at two. I just finished Blood Meridian for the second time a little while ago.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit