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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Slavery
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An absolutely heart-wrenching tale about the journey of a father and son through a bleak and desolate post-apocalyptic earth. But it's also about perseverance and unrelenting love, and even hope among such grim circumstances.
The writing is unconventional but incredibly compelling. This is a book that sits with you for a while. Very moving.
The writing is unconventional but incredibly compelling. This is a book that sits with you for a while. Very moving.
You have to carry the fire.
I don't know how to.
Yes, you do.
Is it real? The fire?
Yes it is.
Where is it? I don't know where it is.
Yes you do. It's inside you. It always was there. I can see it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Gore, Cannibalism, Death of parent
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The writing in this book is phenomenal. I wouldn't have been able to put it down, except that I had to in order to reflect on what I was feeling. This is perhaps the darkest story I've read, and I've read a lot of post-apocalyptic novels. It's not due to the plot but because of the way the emotion is conveyed through words.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The boy said Papa too many times for me to like this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cannibalism
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A thought-provoking exploration of a post-apocalyptic world. Very well done.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Death of parent
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Cannibalism
Minor: Rape
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder, Slavery
Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, Pregnancy
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Cannibalism
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a #FOMO Lighthouse Library Bookclub read for June 2023, and I really had no idea what it was about. I was amused that I had already read "The Road" by Jack London which is also a really cool book, though published 99 years earlier.
My overall impression of this book was that it was like a zombie apocalypse story, minus the trees and the zombies. In a non-descript North America that has been razed by fire, a man and his boy walk south in the hopes that they will get to warmer weather, and find it easier to survive. The main characters are known simply as the man, and the boy. This sort of increases the feeling of the bleakness, because for the most part, people are few and far between, and so you don't need a whole heap of names to disambiguate people.. and those names you do get from people are arbitrary and fairly meaningless.
Obviously this is a story of survival, and the balance of grief, hope and faith. As they travel down a highway they have to overcome obstacles both physical and emotional. The narrative is a mix of procedural descriptions, and poetic prose. It almost feels like the pretty bits are mismatched to the story, but I figure you have to have some fancy bits for your essays about the Literature (crozzled means with dark crispy bits on the outside.. like bacon). Typically the poetic observations are those of the end of day; musings that find one just before sleep after a long day of slogging through the countryside. It might help to have a dictionary nearby, because you don't get a Pulitzer by only using common words. There is a harsh poetic beauty to describing a highway full of burnt out cars whose occupants were scorched inside as they tried to flee the firestorms.
My overall impression of this book was that it was like a zombie apocalypse story, minus the trees and the zombies. In a non-descript North America that has been razed by fire, a man and his boy walk south in the hopes that they will get to warmer weather, and find it easier to survive. The main characters are known simply as the man, and the boy. This sort of increases the feeling of the bleakness, because for the most part, people are few and far between, and so you don't need a whole heap of names to disambiguate people.. and those names you do get from people are arbitrary and fairly meaningless.
Obviously this is a story of survival, and the balance of grief, hope and faith. As they travel down a highway they have to overcome obstacles both physical and emotional. The narrative is a mix of procedural descriptions, and poetic prose. It almost feels like the pretty bits are mismatched to the story, but I figure you have to have some fancy bits for your essays about the Literature (crozzled means with dark crispy bits on the outside.. like bacon). Typically the poetic observations are those of the end of day; musings that find one just before sleep after a long day of slogging through the countryside. It might help to have a dictionary nearby, because you don't get a Pulitzer by only using common words. There is a harsh poetic beauty to describing a highway full of burnt out cars whose occupants were scorched inside as they tried to flee the firestorms.
Ten thousand dreams ensepulchred within their crozzled hearts.
I really loved the descriptions of coming upon windfall resources, and in my own mind, I would have stopped my journey if I found plenty of resources.. or at least had a breather. Maybe I'm too risk averse to survive the holocaust of a continent. From what happens it doesn't look like radiation is a part of it, so this is a different take on things than other apocalyptic stories like Mad Max.
It was certainly an interesting read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Nobody wants to be here and nobody wants to leave.”
—————————————————————
A slow-paced book, The Road by Cormac McCarthy tells the desolate and cumbersome story of a father (“The Man” ) and his son (“The Boy”) as they travel through a post-apocalyptic United States of America. Their world is severely limited by their grim circumstances. Harsh living conditions, starvation, the threat of animals, the inhumanity of other people. Society is now rampant with thieves, bandits, cannibals, and the like who will do virtually anything to stay alive. Because of the harsh and untrustworthy nature of nearly everyone in the USA, the Man copes with this reality by trusting and helping no one he and his son come across. Although harsh, considering the circumstances, the Man feels this is necessary. If push comes to shove,
—————————————————————
A slow-paced book, The Road by Cormac McCarthy tells the desolate and cumbersome story of a father (“The Man” ) and his son (“The Boy”) as they travel through a post-apocalyptic United States of America. Their world is severely limited by their grim circumstances. Harsh living conditions, starvation, the threat of animals, the inhumanity of other people. Society is now rampant with thieves, bandits, cannibals, and the like who will do virtually anything to stay alive. Because of the harsh and untrustworthy nature of nearly everyone in the USA, the Man copes with this reality by trusting and helping no one he and his son come across. Although harsh, considering the circumstances, the Man feels this is necessary. If push comes to shove,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail