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Just finished the Road

I found a copy at my local library book sale, and have found copies floating around at book shops and antique malls, super cheap. I think I paid about a quarter for my copy at the library sale. Great shape too.
 
I enjoyed it. Going into detail about the nature of the disaster would be the kiss of death, as it is for most science fiction. Once you have to explain improbable situations, it leads the reader down a rabbit hole of eye-rolling justifications, rationales and scientific gobbledygook, obscuring what should be a story about a father passing on his humanity to his progeny.

As it was, the world depicted had more than enough construction, letting the reader's imagination fill in the hows and whys.
 
:::grasping chest::: Elizabeth! I'm comin' to join you Honey! With a nod of agreement to Shecky on my face!!!

There is hope for us yet. Oh my god... :D
 
plain and simple.. Cormac Mccarthy is a great author. The book did leave me saddened at the end with a bitter taste in my mouth but I was soo frustrated at the end with the death of his father. Its been about a year since i read " The Road" and I still get kind of discouraged and angry about the ending. I guess "The Road" made a prety big impact on me that still twinges me a bit when I think about it
 
My copy has:

"And they lived happily ever after until the end of their days."









ok, it is in pencil..but, wth....
 
The only thing I think that could cause a situation like the book has would be a nuclear winter!


RickJ
 
McCarthy presents a difficult read, with his lack of punctuation and capitalization emphasizing the fact. No Country and The Road are
flat out brilliant imo, but Blood was practically incomprehensible,
at least to me.
 
I read the book years back. In my oh so humble opinion, it was a badly written book, and has not improved over time.
To me it was obvious, that the author, though highly thought of by 'critics', has zero knowledge of kids, guns, survival or science.
 
Mannlicher said:
I read the book years back. In my oh so humble opinion, it was a badly written book, and has not improved over time.
To me it was obvious, that the author, though highly thought of by 'critics', has zero knowledge of kids, guns, survival or science.
Click to expand...

Uh, yeah, all of three years ago it was written! You make it sounds like it was written "way back when."

People just hate things for whatever reason, but I can't really agree with what you have cited :D
 
Don Rearic said:
Uh, yeah, all of three years ago it was written! You make it sounds like it was written "way back when."

People just hate things for whatever reason, but I can't really agree with what you have cited :D
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but I think he was referring to Blood Meridian, which was published back in 1985. Kinda "way back when". :D
 
To clairfy - I don't hate the book, though I won't ever re read it.

My grump is that this won possibly the most prestigous (?) award for a book released that year..

To my taste I simply cannot believe that this was any where near the best book the host of highly talented American writers produced that year

Others obviously have different views
 
RickJ said:
The only thing I think that could cause a situation like the book has would be a nuclear winter!


RickJ
Click to expand...


I was thinking astroid strike. The destruction seems too complete and there is no hint of radiation.

I read The Road a couple of years ago shortly after the birth of my daughter. It was not pleasant to read, but it had a profound effect on me, which is the mark of a good book - not mere entertainment.



The thing that got me was the moral impossibility of the father's situation. The sensible thing is to use the last two bullets to end their lives, much as the wife/mother seems to have done. Yet, who could destroy one's own child, the only good thing left in the world? But to keep him alive is to subject him to horror and misery - an impossible dilemma.

The other thing is how the survivalist at the end takes in the boy. That's great in the short term, but the world is still a blasted carcass and it seems like humanity will be utterly extinct within a decade or two.

To me the business about the fish suggests that life on Earth will go on in some form, but without people. People will be going the way of the dinosaurs.


I am a McArthy fan but I have been unable to bring myself to reread The Road. I have reread Blood Meridian, and that is saying something (given how horrific, violent and disturbing BM is).
 
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My son had to read The Road and I am Legend for high school and write papers on them. Then I read them both and really enjoyed them. It was interesting how important the tarp was to survival in the first book.
 
Cormack McCarthy is a great writer. Blood Meridian is a brutal book that is a dense read (as in sort of difficult) compared to most fiction due to his style of writing but I couldn't put it down. He also did "All the pretty horses" etc.... The road was like Marry Poppins compared to Blood Meridian.
 
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