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Summary: The Road
Comment: `The Road' by Cormic McCarthy is about a father and son who are two of the only survivors of an unexplained apocalypse and their journey through deserted America on their way south to try and beat the cold weather.
I wasn't a fan at all of McCarthy's novel No Country For Old Men as although the story was good, I hated the writing style, so I was very sceptical about reading `The Road' but thanks so Amazon Vine I got a free copy so gave it a read and I am so glad I did read it as it is one of the most moving and well written books I have read in a long time (despite his returning bad writing style).
After a slow start tp the book, I was about to give up as the main characters were literally walking then sleeping, walking then sleeping with literally nothing else happening for the first 55 pages or so and just as I was about to give up with it the pace sped up, the story got more exciting and I was hooked. I actually read this in one (short-ish) sitting and loved the last three-quarters immensely.
The apocalypse is sort of a side story, something that is just there and has happened. This story is mainly about the relationship between a man and his son in the most extreme and difficult circumstances and the outcome is very emotional, disturbing and heartwarming all at once.
Overall I will happily be recommending this book to others and anyone who doesn't read this is definitely missing out!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The road to hell..........
Comment: Cripes! Don't read this book if you live alone!
A haunting, mesmeric tale that will stay with you for hours after you've put the book down.
I read it in 4 sittings during a bout of insomnia over Christmas and believe me you're absolutely chuffed to see the dawn rise after inhabiting the sunless world of the survivors for a couple of hours.
Bleak, but not without hope. This book will hook you big time. Buy it now!
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Summary: Helpless, but not hopeless
Comment: If you don't know that Cormac McCarthy is one of America's greatest living novelists, and if for some reason you haven't already read his Suttee, Border Trilogy, or Blood Meridian, now's the time to make up for it with this taut, lean tale of survival on a scorched Earth, told in a prose style as hypnotic and rhythmic as a drum beat. It is a harrowing, forceful work of literature.
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Summary: A Journey Worth Taking
Comment: I read this book in one sitting. I did not want to miss any of the wonderful and haunting writing. The story of a seemingly pointless journey through a post apocalyptic landscape by a father and son is truly a coruscating experience. At times the simple things in life, which we all take for granted are thrown into sharp relief by the very desolation and destruction surrounding the protagonists. A simple story, simply told. No reason or justification is given for the holocaust, this is not the story of super heroes or high level politicians surviving the debacle. Simply a story of human courage, honesty and endurance. Some parts are not for the squeamish, but I found it haunting, memorable and very moving.
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Summary: An apocalyptic vision of the future that is destined for greatness
Comment: In The Road, Cormac McCarthy presents an apocalyptic version of the future that recalls the great post-war novels that predicted a post-nuclear future.
Some sort of environmental catastrophe has sucked the life from the country. A grey pallor hangs over everything. Society has entirely broken down. A man and boy - we never learn their names - are emerging from the shadows to take the road to the ocean where the promise of redemption lies. Until they do, they lead the lives of rodents - scavenging, hiding, watching, fearful.
It is a perilous journey fraught with constant dangers. In the world of the man and boy, there are only good guys and bad guys, but everything they seem to encounter is bad and to be feared. The prose is unremittingly bleak but it is compelling throughout - I read it in one evening. Although I had seen the film of No Country For Old Men, this is the first Cormac McCarthy novel I have read, and he has a way of cranking up the tension to fever pitch that was reminiscent of that movie. Yet at the same time his language has an almost Beckettian quality (eccentric pronunciation, parsimonious prose).
This isn't just about the breakdown of society, or the preface to the world's end - it as an exposition of the bonds between man and son. This relationship, which was at the book's core, was as poignant and tender as anything that I can remember reading and ultimately marks The Road out for greatness. And despite the dark tone that exists throughout, the message at the book's end is one of hope and the promise that goodness will prevail.
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