The Road by Cormac McCarthyrating: 3 of 5 stars
The Book that Changed People’s Lives
Consider, if you will, the following:
Blogs of People Who Loved The Road
Conduit
dewey
Gautami
Comments Inspired by The Road
“I had this book sitting untouched for several weeks , once I opened the book a whole new scary world opened up to me. My thoughts are still running wild after having finished the book. My heart still aches. No other book has left such an impact in my soul as this one. This book is very thought provoking, and dismal but leaves the reader with a glimpse of hope.”
Reviews of The Road
"[B]eyond the inherent technical difficulties of concocting the unthinkable, McCarthy has rendered a greater and more subtle story that makes The Road riveting." Boston Globe
"[O]nly now, with his devastating 10th novel, has [McCarthy] found the landscape perfectly matched to his cosmically bleak vision....[E]xtraordinarily lovely and sad...[a] masterpiece... (Grade: A)" Entertainment Weekl
"The setup may be simple, but the writing throughout is magnificent....McCarthy may have created a world where things are reduced to their essence, but he continually surprises by finding a way to strip them further." Chicago Sun-Times
And finally,
A synopsis from an ardent admirer of The Road (the editor, I think):
"A man and his young son traverse a blasted American landscape, covered with "the ashes of the late world." The man can still remember the time before. The boy knows only this time. There is nothing for them but survival — they are "each other's world entire" — and the precious last vestiges of their own humanity. At once brutal and tender, despairing and rashly hopeful, spare of language and profoundly moving, The Road is a fierce and haunting meditation on the tenuous divide between civilization and savagery, and the essential, sometimes terrifying power of filial love. It is a masterpiece."
Well.
On to my own review:
I found this book ridiculously boring. Before you accuse me of being a brainless action-addict, know that one of my favorite books is Moby Dick, and that I could read endlessly about the whiteness of the whale. I’m also a fantasy/sci fi/speculative fiction nerd, so the possible future McCarthy paints doesn’t frighten me.
I finished this book because it won a Pulitzer. I kept thinking I would discover the reason it did. After finishing it, I’m pretty skeptical about the qualifications of the Pulitzer committee. It's akin to Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance, set in the book of Revelation in the Bible. Yawn.
But let me be honest. I haven’t given it much thought since. I can’t remember much except that the commas and apostrophes must have been on a Punctuation Guild strike, and that fully stocked bunkers after the apocalypse are awfully convenient.
My point is, there may be much of literary value to The Road, but I don’t really care what it is. Trust me, for a truly fantastic story about a dystopian future, do yourself a favor and read instead Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.
OTHER REVIEWERS: Nymeth from Things Mean A Lot
6 comments: