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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
esw's review
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? Yes
3.25
I usually have read a fair share of dark books, but this was BLEAK. It was the book equivalent of watching someone pass away in front of you. Personally, I didn't enjoy reading this book at all just because of how bleak it was.
However, the concept is very fascinating, and there are moments where the father/son duo have cute interactions.
Edit: I've come back and changed my rating. Not that I've re-read the book, but simply that I respect the book where my initial ranking was based on fierce emotion. Yes, it's very bleak, though I would say I enjoyed this more than Blood Meridian. It's Prose was good if a little hard to read, and it wanted to make me sad and it delivered. I may not read this book again, but I absolutely respect it as a work of art.
However, the concept is very fascinating, and there are moments where the father/son duo have cute interactions.
Edit: I've come back and changed my rating. Not that I've re-read the book, but simply that I respect the book where my initial ranking was based on fierce emotion. Yes, it's very bleak, though I would say I enjoyed this more than Blood Meridian. It's Prose was good if a little hard to read, and it wanted to make me sad and it delivered. I may not read this book again, but I absolutely respect it as a work of art.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Gun violence
Moderate: Slavery, Suicide, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury
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