The Road in The Alternative Worlds

Aug 09, 2008 Sandi rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, pulitzer-prize-winners, post-apocalyptic-dystopian

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction and “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy is probably in a tie with “On the Beach” by Nevil Shute for the most depressing example of the genre ever written. It was so relentless that I was very surprised by the ending.

As I was reading, I kept hearing Spencer Tracy’s voice narrating in my head the way he narrated the voice-over in the movie version of “The Old Man and the Sea.” In fact, within a couple of pages, I noticed a great similarity between McCormac’s I have read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction and “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy is probably in a tie with “On the Beach” by Nevil Shute for the most depressing example of the genre ever written. It was so relentless that I was very surprised by the ending.

As I was reading, I kept hearing Spencer Tracy’s voice narrating in my head the way he narrated the voice-over in the movie version of “The Old Man and the Sea.” In fact, within a couple of pages, I noticed a great similarity between McCormac’s style in “The Road” and Hemingway’s signature style. If anything, he’s even sparer than Hemingway. His words and sentences aren’t just short, the punctuation is even leaner. He doesn’t use any apostrophes for contractions and he doesn’t use any quotation marks for dialogue. He doesn’t even have chapters, just very frequent page breaks. The characters have no names, just “the man” and “the boy”. Sometimes, they are referred to as father and son. Let me state flat-out that I hate Hemingway. I suffered through a couple of his short stories and “The Sun Also Rises” only because I had to as an English lit major. However, I think McCarthy’s writing in “The Road” is effective. It fits the story of a father and son just trying to stay alive on a barren, devastated planet.

I have to admit that I’m really torn on the ending. I can’t decide if it’s a cheat or not. It certainly was a twist and it raised more questions than it answered. I think it would have been more true to the narrative if it had ended differently. It almost seemed as if McCormac ran out of steam and just decided to end it. Despite the possibly flawed ending (and I’m still not sure it was flawed), I must shamelessly admit that it made me cry.

If you decide to read “The Road”, I highly recommend that you have a humorous book on hand to start reading as soon as you finish. You’re going to need some humor when you’re done.

I suppose I should also add my reasoning for only giving it three stars. While it does have a lot of critical acclaim and people really like this book, I didn't find it to be particularly creative. I've been down this road before in numerous post-apocalyptic books and films, many of which were done much better. I liked it, but I didn't love it and I definitely wasn't blown away by it. ...more

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Mar 14, 2009 Kara Babcock rated it it was ok

Shelves: from-library, science-fiction, post-apocalyptic, 2011-read, literary-pretentious, not-my-cup-of-tea

I knew Cormac McCarthy and I were going to have differences from the moment I opened The Road and discovered the dearth of quotation marks. Yes, I’m one of those readers, and this is going to be that type of review. Exits are located on both sides. For those of you who choose to remain on board, please fasten your seatbelts. In the event the review experiences a sudden loss in pressure, an oxygen mask will erupt from your computer in a disturbing fashion. If you have an infant, well, you only ge ...more

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Aug 28, 2008 Brad rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopian, to-read-again, speculative, pulitzer

There is little plot in The Road, and that is good; the story is tedious, repetitious and slow, and that too is good; the story is about two characters and the way they love each other, and this is very good; all the information you need about McCarthy's future world is there if you want to do the work, and doing the work is also good; when it comes down to it The Road is very good no matter the complaints you may read or hear to the contrary.

That is all I can say for now. I need to let The Road ...more

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Jun 19, 2009 Nicky rated it liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, post-apocalyptic

I don't know what to say about Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Given how much attention it seems to get, I'd hoped I'd fall head over heels in love with it, but it's not really that kind of book. It's very bleak, almost hopeless -- though not quite completely hopeless. The choice to disregard various conventions of novels -- punctuation, chaptering, naming characters -- was interesting. I wasn't convinced by it -- it made the book different in that sense, but I'm not sure the rest of it was that dif I don't know what to say about Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Given how much attention it seems to get, I'd hoped I'd fall head over heels in love with it, but it's not really that kind of book. It's very bleak, almost hopeless -- though not quite completely hopeless. The choice to disregard various conventions of novels -- punctuation, chaptering, naming characters -- was interesting. I wasn't convinced by it -- it made the book different in that sense, but I'm not sure the rest of it was that different. It's three hundred pages long, but a lot of that is the same thing over again -- walking, walking, walking, starving, meeting someone on the road, surviving, starving, invesigating a potential source of food, eating for a few days, starving, walking, walking...

You get the drift.

I did like it, in the sense that it felt gritty and real and you could almost taste the ash and the lack of hope. I found it interesting to see how it dealt with the way it discarded conventions. The reasons for that were obvious, but I'm not sure it got round all the disadvantages -- for example, not knowing who's saying what, and dialogue not being immediately obvious. Mind you, all the possible confusion might have been intended. It was easier to read than I'd anticipated.

It's a new, bleak kind of roadtrip novel, I guess. It's easy enough to read, and I think it could be accessible whether you're used to post-apocalyptic fiction or not. It won't make you feel great about the world, though.

There are two extracts I really liked:

Then they set out along the blacktop in the gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash, each the other's world entire.
(p. 4)

They lay listening. Can you do it? When the times comes? When the time comes there will be no time. Now is the time. Curse God and die. What if it doesnt fire? It has to fire. What if it doesnt fire? Could 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.
(p. 120)

And the quiet image, throughout the book but not foregrounded particularly, the image of them 'carrying the fire'. ...more

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Jul 10, 2008 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction_non_genre

I'm speechless. Possibly scarred. It was beautifully written, but there is no beauty in it, except for the love between the nameless father and son. Wrong book to finish at lunch, since now I have to speak to people and be cheerful. I really need to find an upbeat book to read next. ...more

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Sep 23, 2008 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sciencefiction, adultfiction

This is a bleak, spare story, with a love story at its heart - the love of a father for his child. Traveling together through what I'm guessing is nuclear winter, they scrounge for survival.
The plants are all dead, crumbling to ashes. The animals are all, save possibly for a dog, dead and gone. The only living things they see are other people, who are seen only as danger to the man. The boy still is hopeful of finding other "good guys".
The book is a harrowing glimpse of a possible future, yet ...more

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Sep 29, 2008 Brooke rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, science-fiction

Given its Oprah and Pulitzer status, this is supposed to be a very profound book, but I just wasn't feeling it. Above all else, I think it's because my mind kept wandering to the movie Children of Men, which was also a post-apocalyptic hopeless-situation-with-a-tiny-glimmer-of-hope sort of story that was simply beautiful and left me in awe. Compared to it, The Road is just dismal and repetitious. I was glad it was under 300 pages, since at the halfway point I was already just DONE with the walki ...more

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Jan 29, 2009 The Crimson Fucker rated it really liked it

I’m having a hard time rating this book… well not rating it is just that the book is a solid 4 but the problem is that I gave Suttree a 4 too and I enjoyed that one a lot more that what I enjoyed this one… and the other problem is that I gave blood meridian a 3 and no country for old men a 3 too and I feel like this is a lot better than 3 stars but not yet a 5… so this is my plan I’ma down grade no country for old men to 1 star and blood meridian to 2 stars… and I’ma upgrade suttree to 5. That w ...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Ryandake rated it did not like it

this book makes me wish there were a negative-star rating.

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Jul 03, 2010 Tatjana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fiction-speculative, fiction-dystopian

Could NOT stop reading this book. Page after page of the bleak, exhausting imagery. I love the sparse writing style of Cormac McCarthy. This book was the cream of the crop!

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Feb 04, 2011 Suz rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, award-winner, post-apocalyptic, because-it-s-a-movie, gritty

I really thought I hated this book at first, or was going to hate this book, but it sucked me in. The imagery and prose were absolutely heart rending.

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