The Road
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is the most difficult book I’ve ever read. Sparse and cruel in both its story and prose style. The basic story is about a father and son who are walking south in a post-apocalyptic landscape. The details of that apocalypse are vague and don’t really matter. The story is about the father and son.
The story is gut wrenching, and at the same time beautiful in its telling. Cormac McCarthy has stripped away every piece of useless punctuation he could until all that was left was absolutely unstrippable.
Can you do it? When the time comes? When the time comes there will be no time. Now is the time. Curse God and die. What if it doesnt fire? It was to fire. What if it doesnt fire? Can you crush that beloved skull with a rock? Is there such a being within you of which you know nothing? Can there be? Hold him in your arms. Just so. The soul is quick. Pull him toward you. Kiss him. Quickly.
Having a son about the same age as the protagonist makes this an incredibly difficult book to read. This isn’t the kind of book you can’t put down; it’s the kind of book you HAVE to put down. It’s exhausting. I can manage about ten pages before I get completely overwhelmed and depressed.
That’s good writing.
Written by Mike Monteiro on March 10, 2007 | 
2 comments so far. Add yours below.
Gord Fynes says:
I finally finished this book over the weekend. Also, having a young son like yourself, I found myself having the most intense nightmares about him.
Next up, you should try Jose Saramago's Blindness. There's a book to reeeeally freak you out.
May 27, 2007 8:32 PM
DKS says:
I agree that the parallels between Blindness and The Road are evident. As far as Saramago goes, though, I much prefer the tenderness and touch he shows in The Cave -- and I think that McCarthy's much better suited to the kind of novel that is The Road -- and "wrenching" is the word --not just in the gut, but wrenching on every possible level and in every possible way.
September 14, 2007 6:36 AM