Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"

[Tages]

You know what's really strange? Last year I had an abortive attempt to write a novel I had always planned on coming back to later. Now, thanks to Mr. McCarthy, I don't have to, because "The Road," with minor differences, is exactly the story I was writing a year ago.

My version was with two brothers instead of a father and son, and it was slightly less bleak and less literature-y and more comic book-y (what drove the plot was the massacre of their commune by bandits and the older brother's obsession with getting revenge). While I am perturbed that now I have no reason to finish my magnum opus, I am about 100 pages into "The Road" and I have to say that unless it takes a major turn for the suck, it is hands-down the best novel I've read released this year (which granted, isn't many, as I prefer older fare).

It's a post-apocalyptic novel unlike what the subgenre is used to. A father and son have to travel south for the winter in a burned, ruined America (specifically, the landmarks used point to the Kentucky-Tennessee-Georgia region; they hint it was nuclear war in flashback though it's never explicitly stated) where entire cities lie in ruins, crops rot in fields, it snows ash and roving bands of slavers and cannibals make survival difficult for everyone. If you thought "Blood Meridian" was stark, after reading half of "The Road" it seems like the earlier work was a warm-up. This has got to be one of the most unrelentingly dark and bleak works of fiction ever conjured. Yet, at the same time, there's a kind of grace to it, and the love between father and son is quite touching.

I'm going to finish in the next day or two. Has anyone else heard of this or picked it up?

[howyadoin]

Cormac McCarthy? Post-apocalyptic?

Shit, count me in.

[JeffreyWKramer]

This sounds excellent.

[howyadoin]

Finally picked this up the other day. I'm not that far into it yet, but so far it's friggin' fantastic.

[Tobias March]

Y'know my cousin is getting married to a guy named Cormac McCarthy. When I found out I made some poor taste joke about miserable cowboys. He didn't get it.

I hate my family..... :p

[Subotai]

This is a great book, and I was surprised at the ending, SPOILERS that it was so 'optimistic'. I gotta say, I don't think I could've handled it if something worse had happened. I read this over the holidays, and I caught the flu, and feverish when I read it, it really added to the tension.

The scene where the bombs hit - really underwritten, but chilling. He just turns on the taps and his wife asks why he's taking a bath, and he says that he's not. I have to say, after reading this my thoughts turned to Y2K-esque stockpiling.

McCarthy's narrative style really reinforces the sense of the kid as the guy's conscience.

[Nate C.]

So of course I've been wanting to read this since I heard about it. Got a chance to about a week ago. Only took a couple of hours to read straight through which was surprising. Enjoyed it a lot. Easier than BM, less dark in it's imagry if not it's content, and more joyous (McCarthy joyous) than.

I was happy with the ending. I reccommend the book to anyone interested in apocolyptic literature, or McCarthy.

If you thought "Blood Meridian" was stark, after reading half of "The Road" it seems like the earlier work was a warm-up. This has got to be one of the most unrelentingly dark and bleak works of fiction ever conjured.

See, I didn't see it as near as dark as BM. BM is the more unrelenting work to me. SPOILERS- there was/were no coca cola, tinned fruits, jumps in the ocean, or clean baths in BM. There was also no youthful innocence to balance out the stark adult horror.

Yet, at the same time, there's a kind of grace to it, and the love between father and son is quite touching.

we may be saying the same thing in different ways.

I'm going to finish in the next day or two. Has anyone else heard of this or picked it up?

any thoughts since you finished it?

[Davideaux]

This is now an Oprah book.

[Athena Bast]

Cormac McCarthy? Post-apocalyptic?

Shit, count me in.

It's Oprah's new book club selection. And what's really annoying is people calling the store asking if we have it and then being shocked that we do because Oprah just announced it was her club book.

bloody hell

[Daniel Lewis]

I got most of the way through it, and then I put it down. His writing style just annoys me to no end.

Are all his books written this way?

[Subotai]

More or less. Roll with it.

[Daniel Lewis]

Nah. I'll just read it, then ignore the rest of his works.

It's pretty bad when I want to bleed all over his book with my pen.

[Dragondragonfly]

This is by far the best depressing book I've ever read. ;)

[Subotai]

I guess the Pulitzer committee likes depressing.;)

[howyadoin]

This is by far the best depressing book I've ever read.

What exactly were you expecting? I haven't seen too many happy post-apocalyptic books.