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Stella Maris cover art

Stella Maris

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Julia Whelan
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Summary

God. Truth. Existence. From the legendary author Cormac McCarthy, Stella Maris is a masterful coda to The Passenger.

A mathematician, twenty years-old, is admitted to the hospital. She has forty thousand dollars in a plastic bag, and one request. She does not want to talk about her brother.

Stella Maris is book two in a duology, preceded by The Passenger.

©2022 Cormac McCarthy (P)2022 Penguin Random House

Critic reviews

'It's an uncanny, unsettling dream, tuned into the static of the universe' – New York Times

What listeners say about Stella Maris

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The end of something.

If this is his final novel then McCarthy has chosen to say goodbye by showing us that there is beauty and wonder, even in the bleakest depths of the human experience. The novel is presented as a series of transcripts and therefore almost entirely a dialogue, between Alicia Western, (whose brother is the central character in McCarthy’s The Passenger), and her psychiatrist. The conversations (perfectly performed by Julia Whelan and Edoardo Ballerini) between the pair range across themes familiar in McCarthy’s work - violence, cruelty, grief, incest, but also explore ideas his characters have rarely ever had a chance to ponder openly - mathematics, quantum physics, linguistics, the mysteries of consciousness, hallucination, dream - with Alicia being revealed as at times dishonest and manipulative and at others, blunt, open and profoundly honest.

I understood the exploration of her lonely existence as McCarthy’s way of painting in micro, the paradox of human experience - the beauty even in the most devastating places that our minds can take us. The longing to be rid of it and the acknowledgment that without it, we are not truly human. At one point there’s a short discussion of the comfort that can be derived in knowing that we can commit suicide, at another of hallucinated “familiars” becoming companions.

I could go on for ever about this novel, I listened to it in one sitting. and will listen many more times.
Like The Road, this is a bleak, unnerving and deeply humane book. Alicia is flawed and often unlikable whilst being deeply sympathetic and ultimately, just like the rest of us, fearful of what it means to exist and and fearful of ceasing to exist also.

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6 people found this helpful

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A beautiful end to a singular dyptych

My god what a tale. The slender mirrored companion to “The Passenger” delights and confounds with equal measure. Please do listen, McCarthy’s prose has always been at its strongest when it is heard, rather then read.

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3 people found this helpful

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Stellar

I must say, I enjoyed this even more than the sibling novel The Passenger, albeit they were both stellar. It’s a series of conversations between the protagonist and her psychiatrist. To say it is more complicated and interesting than that is an understatement. It’s perfect for audiobook form.

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2 people found this helpful

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Touches the deepest of the humanity

Puts the most essential human question Igę context of one othe most damaging human achievement and destruction - development of the nuke. Perceived, proccessed, explained by a daughther of one engaged scientists. Evolves into a wider reflection upon the humanity, etternal life, relations between individuals and the world. Containned in a simple, so well known by most of readers, form of a dialogue between a patient and psy.

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1 person found this helpful

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Captivating

I listened the passenger (which I now plan to relisten to) a few months ago, and I liked but, didn't quite love it. This however, I did love. I haven't read/listened to anything that hit quite as hard as this for some time. Maybe it is a little self-indulgent, but the conversations between the two characters are so captivating, that I really didn't care. It left my head spinning for some time after.

In terms of the narration and production, I can't think of a better audiobook. Both narrators are fantastic. I also loved how the ending was punctuated with a piece of music, that was significant to the protagonist and mentioned earlier in the book - Really nice touch.

I cannot recommend this enough, though it absolutely is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea - but if it sounds like yours, I think you'll really like it.

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Ok

Totally saw the oh my goodness part coming, it’s not hard to do the ‘math.’ Will probably re read it down the road but maybe you have to read the passenger first???? Edit- reading the passenger now. Read that first

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it is brilliant just brilliant

it covers a range of deep ideas in an interesting format.
McCarthy always writes beautiful prose

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Excellent supplement

This book was very enjoyable and it provided alot of context retrospectively to the the previous book in the duology 'the Passenger'

I almost enjoyed this book more as it was alot more focused and alot less meandering than 'the passenger'

There was alot more character exploration of one of the two main characters in the mini series which we didn't get to see in the previous book.

I thought the book being a series of interviews worked really well as a plot device as well as a general format.

McCarthy unapologetically wrestles with alot of deep scientific, religious and philosophical questions in this book without 'dumbing the subject matter down' for the reader which assumes a certain level of intelligence on the subjects. This was nice in some places as the reader, because you don't feel patronised, but in other parts the content was quite complex and involved which made concentrated listening essential (not necessarily a bad thing).

The narration for this audiobook is honestly some of the best I've heard. It was almost like listening to a high quality theatre production! Excellent casting and brilliant chemistry between the two narrators.

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Exceptional performance by both actors

I enjoyed the questions posed and the subject matter of Stella Maris when I read the book, but I couldn’t help but feel it was a little cold and clinical in it’s presentation and that lessened it’s impact.

The audiobook really addresses these misgivings and truly brings the dialogue and emotion to life: the rapport between Cohen and Alicia is really evocative thanks to the masterful performances of Julia Whelan and Edoardo Ballerini and gives the content an almost voyeuristic quality.

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Take my hand

Beautiful swan song. Great performances, great story, a perfect ending to a great writers work.

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