Review by thebetterstory - The Road

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thebetterstory 's review for:

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

4.0

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I enjoyed this a fair bit! I actually found it relaxing to read, though I know that certainly wasn't the intention. It's slow-paced, and moment to moment the story is just the rambling, poetic dialogue between the main character and his son, and the things they scavenge for and do to survive on their gradual journey south. It's almost like a post-apocalyptic slice-of-life. The prose is stripped down and slightly experimental, with no chapters or usage of apostrophes in its dialogue. It's beautiful to read.

There's violence and a smattering of cruelty, but it's mostly just a quiet, sad sort of end of the world, and nearly everything is left mostly to implication. Unless you really have a horror of cannibalism (which is more implied than graphically explored) or The End of All Things, I think most people who don't mind dark stories would be able to get through it without excessive emotional damage. I'm not sure I could have marathoned it, but it's short and I found it a good book to pick up and read a few pages of before putting it back down again. I'll certainly be looking to read the author's widely acclaimed Blood Meridian after this.

Content Warnings