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A review by tits_mcgee
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
5.0
This book is bleak as hell, full of hopelessness and desperation, but it is also heartwarming and at times quite tender.
This was my first Cormac McCarthy and I'm instantly obsessed. I'm hooked on his straight shooting prose, which gave the book a kind of tired, scared, reality struck voice. The dialogues between the nameless man and his boy were some of the best I've ever read.
"What is it?
Nothing. I had a bad dream.
What did you dream about?
Nothing.
Are you okay?
No.
He put his arms around him and held him. It's okay, he said.
I was crying. But you didnt wake up.
I'm sorry. I was just so tired.
I meant in the dream."
That's what this book is about really, the relationship between father and son, and what that means when everything else has failed. It's about what that bond means when confronted by starvation, by "bad guys", and the bitter cold of a dead planet.
"He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it."
The Folio Society edition is wonderful, Gérard DuBois's illustrations are perfect. It won't be long before I read this again...
10/10 - one of the best things I've ever read.
This was my first Cormac McCarthy and I'm instantly obsessed. I'm hooked on his straight shooting prose, which gave the book a kind of tired, scared, reality struck voice. The dialogues between the nameless man and his boy were some of the best I've ever read.
"What is it?
Nothing. I had a bad dream.
What did you dream about?
Nothing.
Are you okay?
No.
He put his arms around him and held him. It's okay, he said.
I was crying. But you didnt wake up.
I'm sorry. I was just so tired.
I meant in the dream."
That's what this book is about really, the relationship between father and son, and what that means when everything else has failed. It's about what that bond means when confronted by starvation, by "bad guys", and the bitter cold of a dead planet.
"He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it."
The Folio Society edition is wonderful, Gérard DuBois's illustrations are perfect. It won't be long before I read this again...
10/10 - one of the best things I've ever read.