A review by vhindy
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

My first McCarthy and it was an excellent choice. I think, now that I have young children, I’m in a place where I resonate with the book much more deeply.

I felt the stress of survival every step of the way. There’s seemingly always a risk monsters or horrors around the corner and that sense of dread that is associated with it.

I was expecting it to lean into that quite a bit more at the start but ultimately this is a tale of what it means to be a human when there are no humans left.

The relationship at the center of the novel, the father and his son is powerful.

You can help but feel the impending dread of the father’s long illness that is slowly killing him. He knows it, the boy knows it but they don’t allow themselves to get there until the very end and finally you get the discourse between the two of them. The father in his final moments sees the light that is within the boy. Born in a world where there are no more humans, only those that have become animals. The man would likely have become one too if not for the boy. The boy is somehow caring and humane in this wasteland. The man can recognize that and wishes him to go on to carry the light of humanity forward.

In the end, I think he will. And what is left of the world will be better for it. I’ll definitely need to revisit in the future. Highly recommend.