More interesting than the sentimental evocation of reading as an activity that sets lonely children apart is the conception of authors as would-be ushers of the apocalypse. That books themselves are pregnant with the urge to burn down the world would seem to be part of their appeal. Like many remarks in Cormac McCarthy’s books, delivered in apparent jest or mock solemnity, the character’s words are part of a larger thematic schema that equates language with the destructive power of fire and the bomb.