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erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Gun violence, Murder, Body horror, Physical abuse, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
lilybear3's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.75
I've been curious about this book for some time and I finally got around to it. When reading and reviewing this book in 2023, it's important to remember this book was first published in 2006. I didn't initially see why this book won a Pulitzer Prize, however, at the time and for all of it's hidden intricacies, it is great.
On the surface, the book is very straightforward and sentences are mainly stating what a character is doing or feeling, what the environment is, etc. However, every now and then, we get a poetic and philosophical paragraph that wants the reader to stop and think. This book is not a feel good book and there are some gruesome imagery at times, but it's not extremely pessimistic either. There is hope, even if just a little. Other themes are love, loss, grief, and humanity.
I think this modern classic is really accessible, the writing isn't too complicated, except for a few words here and there that I didn't recognize. I've seen other reviews question why there aren't quotation marks when characters are speaking and the lack of apostrophes in contractions like "cant." These details are intentional. As a reader, I could still understand who was talking based on how dialogue is laid out in other books. I'm speculating here, but I think it represents the fall of structure and formality, almost all of humanity is gone. It might also be hinting at the lack of education and need for written language.
I love a dystopian and I love that there are so many scenarios that fit that description. There aren't a lot of details as to why the world has turned out this way, but I kind of like that the reader doesn't know and that is left to their own imagination. I thought it might be a statement on environmental issues, but we just don't know. Obviously, reading this in 2023 has made me compare it to more recent media like "The Last of Us," but I don't think that's a bad thing. Both The Road and "The Last of Us" have similar themes, as mentioned above.
I could write an essay on this book. I wasn't sure what I was walking into (I encourage you to do this with any book you read), but I ended up enjoying this a lot. I couldn't put this book down.
On the surface, the book is very straightforward and sentences are mainly stating what a character is doing or feeling, what the environment is, etc. However, every now and then, we get a poetic and philosophical paragraph that wants the reader to stop and think. This book is not a feel good book and there are some gruesome imagery at times, but it's not extremely pessimistic either. There is hope, even if just a little. Other themes are love, loss, grief, and humanity.
I think this modern classic is really accessible, the writing isn't too complicated, except for a few words here and there that I didn't recognize. I've seen other reviews question why there aren't quotation marks when characters are speaking and the lack of apostrophes in contractions like "cant." These details are intentional. As a reader, I could still understand who was talking based on how dialogue is laid out in other books. I'm speculating here, but I think it represents the fall of structure and formality, almost all of humanity is gone. It might also be hinting at the lack of education and need for written language.
I love a dystopian and I love that there are so many scenarios that fit that description. There aren't a lot of details as to why the world has turned out this way, but I kind of like that the reader doesn't know and that is left to their own imagination. I thought it might be a statement on environmental issues, but we just don't know. Obviously, reading this in 2023 has made me compare it to more recent media like "The Last of Us," but I don't think that's a bad thing. Both The Road and "The Last of Us" have similar themes, as mentioned above.
I could write an essay on this book. I wasn't sure what I was walking into (I encourage you to do this with any book you read), but I ended up enjoying this a lot. I couldn't put this book down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Death
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Animal death, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Pregnancy
jackieeejw's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minimalist, almost to the point where it becomes a fault (what with the boy and father having no names and little backstory) but it really wins you over with the emotional connection it’s trying to forge. I won’t spoil the last couple of pages, but they’re tearjerkers, and Cormac McCarthy uses descriptive writing VERY sparingly so that when he chooses to, it feels like a revelation. It manages to find a relatively happy ending while not betraying the (very dark) tone and theme of everything before it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Torture, Cannibalism, and Violence
bookish_bry's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I really enjoyed this book. It was incredibly bleak, but there was also some burning embers of hope on almost every page. I really liked the relationship between the father and son. The father was really trying hard to raise his child the best he could even in a world of death and suffering.
The apocalypse itself didn't always make the most sense. It wasn't really steeped in much reality, but that didn't detract from the story too much. I really liked the writing style, but that comes from having listened to its audiobook. Judging by the other reviews, there may be some style choices that could have made it hard to read a physical copy. The audiobook however was great.
The apocalypse itself didn't always make the most sense. It wasn't really steeped in much reality, but that didn't detract from the story too much. I really liked the writing style, but that comes from having listened to its audiobook. Judging by the other reviews, there may be some style choices that could have made it hard to read a physical copy. The audiobook however was great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Murder, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia
The canabolism is pretty bad through the book. This includes the main characters stumbling across a baby being cooked. There are many dead bodies. Also, the characters almost starve to death a few times.j_2112's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
The depravity of man is real. But this book was too disgusting for my liking.
Thought provoking. Writing style is good, but just felt like a Hemingway knockoff.
Really don't think this should have won the Pulitzer.
First book I've read with no chapters and no quotations for dialogue. Interesting read.
Thought provoking. Writing style is good, but just felt like a Hemingway knockoff.
Really don't think this should have won the Pulitzer.
First book I've read with no chapters and no quotations for dialogue. Interesting read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Cannibalism, Child death, Dysphoria, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infertility, Murder, Death of parent, and Genocide
saxymisty's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Whenever someone asks me for a book recommendation, this is always the book I suggest. I'm not really sure what that says about me. It's not a perfect read, as the writing style takes some getting used to and paragraphs don't really exist. But this is a dystopian novel that's more realistic than most. It's dark and bleak and shows the worst of humanity, but in the end it's a father trying to keep his son alive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Torture, Murder, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
This is not an easy book to read, research any specific triggers you might have, because yikes. Rape is both mentioned and heavily implied in this book even if it's not described in detail. Cannibalism, however, is very, very heavily implied. Reveal for specific warnings/spoiler -->npericchi's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The road is a touching book about a father/son relationship. It takes the reader through the essence andb psychological challenges of being a parent and finding light in a bleak world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Murder, Cannibalism, and Violence
revolution666's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Abandonment, Torture, Murder, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Rape, War, Pregnancy, Grief, and Animal death
atreidesjr's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Chronic illness, Grief, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Genocide, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Torture, Slavery, Blood, and Child death
jaynainjayna_16's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book DESTROYED ME. Like Viola Davis snot falling down and all. I’m usually not a dystopian fan because the usual dystopian settings (sometimes the setting just doesn’t garner my attention), but this book’s setting was really interesting. Stated in the synopsis, it’s all set on a road and rarely deviates from it. This choice purposefully simplifies the story, creating suspense for the reader. There’s only so much that can happen on one singular road and to see what the man and boy encounter throughout their story is touching and jarring. Another interesting choice on Cormac McCarthy’s part is the lack of names in the story. The only time a name is used, we don’t know if it’s genuine, showing the lack of identity and distorted past the characters have. I’m trying not to spoil anything, but the last like 5-10 pages of the book tore me to pieces and I have to reread it again to get the full effect. Anyways, if you’re not a big fan of dystopian books like me, I suggest you give it a go, and maybe you’ll start liking the genre!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Slavery, Cannibalism, Child death, and Torture
Moderate: Blood and Excrement