This is one of the most haunting books I've ever read. A father and his 4-year old son struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic future and I mean struggle. One of the biggest problems with the genre is that when society disappears all the necessities of life are left nicely sitting around for anyone to pick up and enjoy without much work or concern. The Road puts all that to rest with its trifecta of misery: the main characters are in a near constant state of hunger, cold, and fear. We're never told how America ended up in the state it's in though clues suggest Regardless of how, the devastation is complete. The sky is a perpetual gray. There are no birds, no fish, no living trees or grass, no insects. The landscape is populated by the few remaining people and the unchecked fires ravaging the country and littering the atmosphere with ash. There is a message of hope in The Road, though a somewhat bipolar one. The father has taught his son about right and wrong ("the fire" as they call it), lessons - his son often reminds him - he is quick to ignore to insure their own survival. He also (understandably) struggles with crushing doubt and a son that often exposes the situations they're in for exactly what they are. The only real flaw in the book are the strange editing choices. Contractions are often, but not always, left without an apostrophe, a switch that can be distracting. Speech is also left without quotation marks which, while adding to the dream-like atmosphere of the story, makes differentiating spoken words and narration difficult at several places.
I love Cormac McCarthy's way with dialog. I wish I could really do a McCarthy impression justice: This ole fella had tole me about the book 'The Road.' Damned if the very next day, me and Jimenez is lookin through the old libary and I see it on the shelf. Reckon I'm readin this here book. No you ain't neither, he says. How come? I seen it first. Damned fool, I say, you caint read no how. Don't matter. I seen it first.
I found it haunting, though uplifting. The scenes and horrors along the way definitely kept you anxious for the end, fearing whatever fate would befall the pair. While McCarthy's editing style took a little bit to get used to, it expertly set the proper tone.
I hate McCarthy's lack of punctuation, but the story itself was good. I looked at a couple of his other books and he writes the same way all the time, apparently. I thought the ending of The Road was a bit of a copout.
The problem is that some stories just shouldn't have happy endings. (Not that I'd call this ending happy, per se). This story should have been one of them if ever there was one.
I haven't read the book but sense an existential metaphor in it. How should you act when you live in a world where you're doomed? (Because, realize it or not, you already do.)
It is a tremendous book. Whoever mentioned its 'dream like quality' is spot on. I remember reading it and genuinely feeling a bit spaced out when I put it down. That was of course mixed in with the all pervading sense of terror and disgust. He keeps it all short (although not terribly sweet) with any possible fat on the story removed. I'll be interested to see what the film makes of it. I predict: - glammed up chase sequences - a soaring orchestral score which will be used to 'great' effect in the final scene.
I would say a director who really "got" the book could make a masterpiece - I'm not entierly sure that any studio would let most directors go to market with a movie that really reflected the book though.
