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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
No
Estábamos a 30 grados pero tenía frío. Muy bonito
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This took me a while, and I had the unfortunate complication of learning about Cormac McCarthy's bizarre relationship with an underaged muse that tarnished my view of his writing a bit. But still...what a story.
The Road is such a beautifully desolate novel with such a raw exploration of human resolve and familial love. This was a challenging read as it could be somewhat monotonous. However, seeing as it follows a man and his son as they try to survive the barren wastelands of an Earth ravaged by fire (Nuclear holocaust? Solar flare? Unclear), left with nothing but scraps and ash to live off of, it is no wonder that McCarthy tries to capture the simplicity and dark beauty of the mundane in a post-apocalyptic future.
The ending was heartbreaking and it affected me in a way I truly did not expect. Though I was engaged, I wondered how I would walk away from the novel giving it more than 3 stars as it can become very predictable and monotonous at times, but the tragic and beautiful nature of how their story ends really saves it for me. The relationship between this man and his son, tested as it is by the bleak nature of their need for survival in this burned world, is so strong and arresting in its sweetness.
Having researched McCarthy's unsavory truths and also the things he has been quoted saying about how he "doesn't like writing women as I do not understand them" and chooses to avoid writing from their perspective when he can...you can really see that in a glaring in this novel which has barely any women in it at all. And while yes, this is a setting where almost all of humanity has been wiped out, we are still given some compelling story threads involving women that McCarthy doesn't explore more thoroughly.
The flashbacks to the beginning of the apocalypse that left the world as a pile of ashes are not only vague but they introduce us to the cold and vicious character that is the boy's mother and the man's wife. She just without much explanation or backstory is shown giving up on her family and walking away, presumably to commit suicide, because she just can't take it anymore. This is the only part of the novel that felt like a cop out and after learning what I now know of McCarthy feels like a stain on what is otherwise a very powerful narrative.
The Road is such a beautifully desolate novel with such a raw exploration of human resolve and familial love. This was a challenging read as it could be somewhat monotonous. However, seeing as it follows a man and his son as they try to survive the barren wastelands of an Earth ravaged by fire (Nuclear holocaust? Solar flare? Unclear), left with nothing but scraps and ash to live off of, it is no wonder that McCarthy tries to capture the simplicity and dark beauty of the mundane in a post-apocalyptic future.
The ending was heartbreaking and it affected me in a way I truly did not expect. Though I was engaged, I wondered how I would walk away from the novel giving it more than 3 stars as it can become very predictable and monotonous at times, but the tragic and beautiful nature of how their story ends really saves it for me. The relationship between this man and his son, tested as it is by the bleak nature of their need for survival in this burned world, is so strong and arresting in its sweetness.
Having researched McCarthy's unsavory truths and also the things he has been quoted saying about how he "doesn't like writing women as I do not understand them" and chooses to avoid writing from their perspective when he can...you can really see that in a glaring in this novel which has barely any women in it at all. And while yes, this is a setting where almost all of humanity has been wiped out, we are still given some compelling story threads involving women that McCarthy doesn't explore more thoroughly.
The flashbacks to the beginning of the apocalypse that left the world as a pile of ashes are not only vague but they introduce us to the cold and vicious character that is the boy's mother and the man's wife. She just without much explanation or backstory is shown giving up on her family and walking away, presumably to commit suicide, because she just can't take it anymore. This is the only part of the novel that felt like a cop out and after learning what I now know of McCarthy feels like a stain on what is otherwise a very powerful narrative.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Cannibalism
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix