Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

1 review

perthalus's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
The Road speaks to me on many levels. To some extent I can compare it to my own life, especially due to how this was originally based on the author’s relationship with his son. I feel as if I am something in-between the father and the son. Carrying my fire through a grey and hopeless world, uncertain who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. Like the father and son I argue with myself about whether I’d be better off helping somebody or looking out for myself. It’s a cold ash-covered world.

The way the world is described, and the characters journey through it, feels like it draws from feelings of depression and anxiety, which I can definitely relate to. We get pages of hopeless grey landscapes full of death and destruction, only to have it broken up by an intimate moment, surrounded but also contained in those feelings. A glimpse of hope.

Every description and conversation feels real, and they never stop no matter how slow or quick the pace goes. It’s a constant, seemingly endless journey, yet every moment is to be savoured and held. The tension of reward and punishment is constantly pulling you to the following page, just to read about every night spent watching the road, every tin of pears and every secret door, because you can feel it.

Maybe I’m biased because of the person who recommended it to me, or because this is the first buddy read I’ve ever done, but this may be my favourite book I’ve read so far. It deserves every bit of praise it gets, it’s beautifully haunted, hopeless yet so incredibly hopeful.

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