After reading Blood Meridian, I needed to read a book to explain to me what Blood Meridian was really all about.

There are many trains of thought.

Personally, I think if you're looking for a strong argument about a single direction for such a thematically complicated novel, you might look at Mavericks at the Border: The Early Southwest in Historical Fiction and Film.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Mavericks-Border-Southwest-Historical...