What I’m reading: The Road
August 5th, 2008
The Road is one of the books that everyone you know who’s read it demands that you must too because it is so very good.
The thing is that in this case they’re pretty much spot on, the book is that good. A literary science fiction novel focusing on a father/son relationship. It is a very powerful book.
Forget that the world is over, forget that there are roving bands of cannibalistic killers. The book is about the relationship between the boy, who has never experienced anything but the apocalyptic nightmare and the man, his father who will do anything to protect him.
The picture that Cormac McCarthy paints of the world after the apocalypse is vivid in its cold starkness, there is nothing left alive and everything is covered in ash and refreshingly the world isn’t recovering.
The survivors (outside of the boy and the man) resort to some of the most horrible things in order to stay alive, it’s like all beauty was removed from the world and also from their souls. I’m not going to give anything away lest it lessen the impact of such encounters but they will stay with you afterwards.
This is a very tight and personal story, it’s quiet and moving with the backdrop of the end of the world. I will warn you though that this book does not contain answers, you will think long and hard on its contents. There is no big bright bow to wrap everything up neatly in the end.
Go read it now.
From one award winning novel to another, if you’ve been following the twitter feed you might know that I’ve been getting off the computer earlier in the evening of late in order to re-read Watchmen. I will post about it sometime in the coming days. It is just as good the second time round.
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Categories: Books | Tags: apocalypse, Books, cormac mccarthy, literary science fiction, novel, Science Fiction, The Road, watchmen, What I'm reading
I’ve heard a lot about this book, and I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that if I read it it would kill me.
Dans last blog post..Grassington to Oughtershaw
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By Lee on August 5th, 2008 | Reply
Yeah Dan I don’t know how an actual Father can read this book without falling to pieces by the end. It really affected me and I’m not a father and wasn’t that close to my father anyway.
Heck of book.
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By Dan on August 5th, 2008 | Reply
What happens if I reply to a reply I wonder.
I have started dipping my toe in the whole kids in peril thing and I’m not as badly affected as I used to be. The whole James Gordon getting his son kidnapped in Dark Knight didn’t bother me for example.
Speaking of which I noticed that they deliberately didn’t feature Barbara Gordon at all, which was interesting. And it felt like they were sort of grooming Gordons son for a robin in later years (I don’t think a robin is believable unless he is 17 or 18)
Also with Morgan Freeman’s car accident it looks like the franchise may be a little cursed.
Dans last blog post..Grassington to Oughtershaw
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By Lee on August 5th, 2008 | Reply
I’m glad someone finally gave it a go!
I think you’ll probably be fine then for The Road.
I did notice that his little girl got absolutely no airtime whatsoever and his wife’s name is Barbara.
The only way I would accept Robin is that it has to be a child and Batman has to recognise the shared experience they have with their parents being murdered.
I really hope they don’t use Gordon’s son.
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Added it to my ‘books I need to read list’.
But there’s quite a waiting list I’m afraid.
Arjans last blog post..Blog meme: Age That I Wish To Go Back To.
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By Lee on August 5th, 2008 | Reply
God yeah I know that problem!
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When I’m feeling too good, I like to read The Road while listening to The Sunset Tree.
arkonbeys last blog post..update
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