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The Road

By Cormac McCarthy

(636)

| Others | 9780307267450

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Book Description

In this postapocalyptic novel, a father and his son walk alone through burned America.

Critics

The Lost Diaries

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, one could surmise that Craig Brown admires and respects a large cross-section of famous figures. Yet this compilation of his on-the-money parodies of more than 200 well-known names (written for Private Ey ... (read full critics)

ft published on Mon, 8 Nov 2010

The Road The Road

I love post-apocalyptic science fiction. I feel like Lee "Apollo" Adama yelling to the world "I love Kara Thrace (Starbuck)" on Battlestar Galactica in the episode "Unfinished Business" after Apollo and Starbuck have boxed until they can barely stand ... (read full critics)

sfsite published on Sun, 17 Oct 2010

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46 Reviews

7 people find this helpful

Slow starts are the best.

This wasn't an easy book. It's my first McCarthy book and it took me a few days to adjust to his writing style, with his (now I know) typical lack of dialogue punctuation and complex descriptions of every single PART of every single ITEM in the story.
Then, after having attuned to both protago ... (continue)

This wasn't an easy book. It's my first McCarthy book and it took me a few days to adjust to his writing style, with his (now I know) typical lack of dialogue punctuation and complex descriptions of every single PART of every single ITEM in the story.
Then, after having attuned to both protagonists ("the man" and "the boy", as nobody in the book is ever given a name. A name is a luxury in The Road) I started feeling more involved and by the end I was sincerely moved.
It doesn't really happen much in the novel, at least at first, but even in the end, events are few and far between. It's HOW this "little" happens that matters. How the author manages to create a sense of estrangement yet hope, when all hope seems lost.
The fact I mostly read it when commuting, during a time of continue rain and general cold and horrible weather that struck Italy in December 2008, with the sun returning only at the end of the reading, added to the experience and made me feel a bit more involved. A book I advise to anyone.

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Luciferasi said on Dec 18, 2008 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | 1 feedback

7 people find this helpful

I peeled off the Oprah's Book Club sticker because it made me want to die, but the book was great.

This book reminds me of a discussion that took place on several occasions during my one of my classes this year. The central topic of the class was the Holocaust, and we talked a number of times about what we each would do in situations dealing with the time period. To an extent, I think it's a poin ... (continue)

This book reminds me of a discussion that took place on several occasions during my one of my classes this year. The central topic of the class was the Holocaust, and we talked a number of times about what we each would do in situations dealing with the time period. To an extent, I think it's a pointless question. No one can answer honestly whether or not they would be willing to hide someone in their own home, to avoid working with the Nazis, to avoid killing someone else if their own survival depended on the person's death. Without actually being in the situations, no one can predict what they would do. This book is a testament to that--the father's commitment to what he believes is right, and what he can, will, and must do for his son in their struggle to survive amid the ash-covered hell of a post-apocalyptic world. Poignant, scattered, sickening, and tender--a book to drive people apart and bring them together.

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Chezmerelda said on Jun 28, 2007 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

5 people find this helpful

There is no God and we are its prophets.

An absolute masterwork, as far as I'm concerned.
An one of the very few books (I can't think of any other at the moment) that actually made me cry.
Fulfilled my penchant for the post-apocalyptic (Godspeed You Black Emperor, 28 Days After, Freakangels, the SteamPunk Guide t ... (continue)

An absolute masterwork, as far as I'm concerned.
An one of the very few books (I can't think of any other at the moment) that actually made me cry.
Fulfilled my penchant for the post-apocalyptic (Godspeed You Black Emperor, 28 Days After, Freakangels, the SteamPunk Guide to the Apocalypse...)
On a tangent, one of my professor of anglo-american literature in Venice compared the book with Fucking Hell by the terrible Chapman Bros., a work shown at Punta della Dogana, also in Venice.
Check it here: http://www.jakeanddinoschapman.com/
But be warned: it is one f***ing SCARY piece of art.
[edit] nope, they restyled the website. Have no fear though, since you can watch the London version of Fucking Hell here: http://www.jakeanddinoschapman.com/exhibitions/hippy-hi…
Ok, you might want to feel scared after all.

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míol mór said on Apr 14, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Powerful novel...

The book totally shattered me in a way it made me cry and ponder too much over many observations, but I was at the beginning really puzzled by the grammar and scant use of complex sentences. After a while I got used to it and realised the purpose of such writing style - it perfectly matched the down ... (continue)

The book totally shattered me in a way it made me cry and ponder too much over many observations, but I was at the beginning really puzzled by the grammar and scant use of complex sentences. After a while I got used to it and realised the purpose of such writing style - it perfectly matched the down-hearted state of protagonists' minds. The Earth in which they live dies, slowly but consistenly and inevitably, and in such world without hope and future, where everything material if not edible is completely worthless and pointless, the remarks and thoughts are scarce and restricted to the current state of awareness, basically to their survival insticts and values as human beings at the brink of extinction, which they in this story really are.
The father sees the only fire worth living for in his own boy - that boy is his light, his hope and his purpose... The cause of the apocalypse is in this story irrelevant - it might be super-volcano, an extra-large comet, a nuclear catastrophe, whatever - that would be interesting question for a debate though, as such scary scenario might really happen, not in the near future, I hope. The real essence of the story lies in what makes our life valuable, worth living for, when we are left without absolutely anything but our own kin and the values we honour from our ancestors and the close loved ones... Shall we descend to the lowest levels of savagery or retain some dignity, honour, selflessness and love in the life that offers nothing but despair.

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Zeljka said on Apr 14, 2012 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

I’m sorry, but in times of extreme famine, having babies in order to eat them is not cost-effective. I’d imagine it would also be pretty damn hard to pull off, from a physiological standpoint.

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Biscia said on Nov 22, 2011 | Add your feedback

This is my least favorite book I have ever read. Ever. I have to figure out where I got this book recommendation from and then never read anything else that person recommends. Ever. All of the 1 star reviews on Amazon say everything I want to say about this book.

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Deanna Kyre said on Jul 16, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback