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Anyone read "The Road" ?

racegunner

racegunner

Joined
Aug 28, 2000
Messages
454
I'm about 3/4 through the book, "The Road." I was wondering how many who frequent this forum have read it. Has it changed any of your notions of survival, food storage, equipment or how you might prepare for some unfortunate event like hurricane or extended power outage (like weeks or longer).
I have to say I find the book completely depressing so far. I'm not sure I'll be enthusiastic to see the movie later this month...
 
I read the book, and enjoyed it as much as I could- considering the subject matter. It's one big bummer of a story, that's for sure.

After reading it, I went out and bought a bunch of ammo- because the guy in the story has only one bullet throughout most of the book, and that would suck. It also turned me on to the possibilities of a good tarp, so I went and picked up one of those as well.

The movie should be intense. Here's hoping they don't lame it up, per the usual Hollywood formula. Although we all know they will.
 
I thought The Road was a great survival read, but more because of the story line and that is very well written than any educational tidbits it contained. I hope the movie is as good as the book (they usually aren't).
 
I didn't care for it, as far as literature is concerned. It also breezes over a few natural impossibilities. Kind of implies bugging-in to be a better idea than wandering, in my mind.
 
I've read it and loved it. I am a junkie for this style of story. I am very hopeful for the movie but will remain realistic as to how Hollywood changes good material.
It did make me think to go out to bolster and rotate the rations.
Just to add, it's written style lends well to the bleakness of the story. Although it is denounced by others, imagination is a must while reading a story like this. If you require proper puctuation and are an English critic, you may prefer the dictionary.
 
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Great book, if the movie sticks to it closely, they may sell Prozac at the concession stands.
 
The Road is a decent piece of extremely bleak doomsday fiction. It fails to become a truly good book, however, because of the gimmicky, disjointed way in which it was written. I would have a lot more respect for the author if he just wrote a compelling story in English, rather than contriving some less-than-conventional style. That's the "ee cummings" shortcut to affected profundity and it is always annoying. It cheapens would could have been something really great.

I can't read books like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress for the same reason.
 
I liked it. just read it a few weeks ago. I enjoyed the psyche to survive parts of it. sure it was written disjointed but it was still a decent read.

+1 on the prozac!
 
Just wait until you get to the end. Thats the type of person you'll find on this forum.

Incidentally, most cannibalistic societies around the world call human meal 'long pig'. If the only available meat tastes like bacon, count me in. (JK)
 
I have the book, but since my son was born in 2006 I find it harder and harder to read these sorta books.
 
Am I the only one that started working on non-firearm weapons skills after that. Guns are great but there might come a time when unless you know how to make gunpowder from scratch and have the chemicals locally then it's back to medieval weapons like swords and spears and bows and arrows and crossbows.
 
Cyblade said:
Am I the only one that started working on non-firearm weapons skills after that. Guns are great but there might come a time when unless you know how to make gunpowder from scratch and have the chemicals locally then it's back to medieval weapons like swords and spears and bows and arrows and crossbows.
Click to expand...

One of the many reasons I am getting back to archery.
 
A good read. Though, as others have said, mostly bleak. The ending is satisfying.
 
I'm in college and we had to read this for an English class, its a good book overall and I really liked it. Its written by the same guy that did the movie No Country for Old Men, its like he wrote in his depressive area of his life and what not. As a survival type novel its pretty good and they do very well at making do with what they have. I prefer Garry Paulson's book Hatchet more than The Road as a general survival type novel but it still is a very good read. It is difficult for some to read because of the way its written and the fact that it starts and dose not give much detail to what exactly happened. Though I actually wrote a paper in the class theorizing what could and could not have happened to create the affects on the setting. The movie is alot different from the book as it appears from the trailer.
 
The book is not about survival per se, it is about the relationship of humans with other humans. The relationship of the main character and his wife, his son, other humans, and the will to live.

I think if you read it as doomsday literature, you will not like it, there are certainly more ruckus reads than The Road - but if you read it as a tale of human interplay - I think it is one of the best books I have read in a long time.

TF
 
I have read it and felt it was a good story. It was the type of story that I read in bits and pieces over a weeks time as the pace of the story changed rather than a cover to cover reading. I was really impressed with certain bits or scenes in the book, vivid and really fleshed out in my mind. Other bits seemed there just to move the story along and were very flat to me. In the movie trailers I have seen, some of the more colorful bits of the book are shown and I am hoping that is not the highlight reel of the movie. Time will tell...
 
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