“It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way.”

American author

Cormac McCarthy was an American author known for fiction and drama that moved across the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Gothic traditions. He is credited with twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories. His work is marked by stark violence, spare punctuation, and minimal use of quotation attributions. Across those books and scripts, he developed a voice that is lean, severe, and closely associated with the American literary canon.