The Road
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NSS, Linda Brehmer, Rebecca Adler, Veselov Ilya, Jason Kurtz, J. Kaye Oldner, Chris Donaghey, Sharon, zewellcool, and elise.
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Book Details
Written by Cormac Mccarthy.
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($24.95)
Editorial Review (from Amazon.com)
A searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece.A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.
The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.
User Reviews (2) Login or create an account to write a review.
J. Kaye Oldner thinks this book is Terrible.
The Road was a book selected by Oprahs book club. Nothing against Oprah, I even tune into her every now and then, but she and I dont seem to have the same tastes in books. Shes geared to the literary types whereas Im more of a junkyard dog reader. So when an Oprah pick shows up here, its abnormal. The reason I picked this book up was too many of my reading buddies were talking about it. Okay, that wasnt the main reason. If I hadnt found a copy at my library on audio, Id have passed it by. Yes, thats how much faith I have in O.
Even halfway through, I am wondering why this book made it and not Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. In fact, I think Atwood is a better writer than McCarthy, but thats just my opinion.
The book is an apocalyptic novel, not suited for the depressive types. But even the coldest of hearts might find themselves blubbering their eyes out as I did. Jeez, finishing the book in the morning is not a good way to start the day and I am not sure Id want to end the day with it either.
Jeez! What a depressing book!
For more reviews, go to http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/
Rebecca Adler thinks this book is Good.
In a land ravaged by nuclear war, we find a father and son who have managed to save not just themselves, but their humanity. The son was born just after war sunk the world into a nuclear winter. He never knew the world with animals running wild and plants blooming and dying with the seasons. He's also never known a world where humans don't fear one another.
In the world where he grew up, ash is constantly clouding the horizon, humans hunt each other for lack of any other available food, and masks are worn in attempt to postpone the inevitable radioactive poisoning from the atmosphere. And the only person he can trust is his father, who is using the last months of his life moving his son south, where it is bound to be warmer and hopefully safer.
The story follows the two on their journey down the road. Their run-ins with other humans are often graphic, with the father turning at one point to see a headless infant roasting on a skewer. The descriptions of falling forests, barren land, and starving people can seem hopeless at first, but in the end we see that the one thing that was never lost was a sense of hope.
Throughout the story the father tells the son the difference between good guys and bad guys, pointing out that they themselves are the good guys. The two, no matter how long they have to go without food, will never stoop to eating other humans. In teaching his son this, the father tries to preserve the son's humanity.
The Road is a quick and interesting read. The punctuation is a little weird, missing apostrophes and commas, along with quotation marks, but it makes the book a quicker read and even might be symbolic of the loss of culture and education. I haven't read other McCarthy books, so I don't know if the punctuation is a trademark of his, or if it was for this book alone.
I'd recommend picking this one up though. It definitely wouldn't have caught my eye if it weren't the book club selection here in Paris last month. I'm glad it was chosen though and I'd like to read more of McCarthy's work to see what it's like.