Book review: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

The purpose of a story is to be an axe that breaks up the ice within us

-Franz Kafka

I have a hard time reading fiction because often writers try way too hard to make their fiction seem real, or love their words so much they get in the way of telling the story.  I'm more of a Hemingway fan (particularly Old Man and The Sea) fan than, say, Updike.  I prefer Beckett to Neil Simon. I find potency and empowerment in seemingly dark tales, because when things are really dark, it's easier to...