Has anyone else noticed that there are scenes in both The Gunslinger and McCarthy's Blood Meridian that are eerily similar? Brown in Gunslinger and the hermit in Blood Meridian; both have mules, both are travelers in a dry land, both are welcomed for water and dinner, and spend a night engaged in cryptic conversation. Meridian was published in 1985, The Gunslinger in 1982 (although segments were published as early as 1978). My question, I guess, is were these two great authors just drinking from the same cosmic well or was there ****ery afoot?