This I did not love.....a wee bit heavy for me......a lot of knowledge assumed about Catholicism, Catholics who dislike Protestants, Saints, French language, and so forth.....none of which assumed knowledge i have! Philosophical treatises in short stories do not sell well with me....There were a few i did like, those least blatantly philosophical, such as: 'The Old Men,' 'Yonder Peasant, Who Is He?' & 'C.Y.E.'......but i was not high on 'The Blackguard' or 'The Cicerone'......and i really thought the mini-novel 'The Oasis' was tedious...maybe it was more poignant in its day.....but maybe not.......just lots of Utopian theory and plenty of proof that it is just a wishful fancy, and not too practical.....those pesky humans always seem to screw it up. I will approach the remaining McCarthy on my shelves with great caution! ( )