The Road in Around the Year in 52 Books

Feb 11, 2011 Lacey Louwagie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sciencefiction, apocalyptic-postapocalyptic

A friend who's reading opinion I greatly trust once warned me that this was one of the most depressing books he'd ever read. My mom followed up that sentiment when she said, "You just keep wondering if anything GOOD is going to happen to these people." Although I love post-apocalyptic fiction, I'm not a big fan of overly depressing books (which, I admit, may seem like a paradox, but I once read that post-apocalyptic fiction is, by its very nature, hopeful, since it always posits that, even in th A friend who's reading opinion I greatly trust once warned me that this was one of the most depressing books he'd ever read. My mom followed up that sentiment when she said, "You just keep wondering if anything GOOD is going to happen to these people." Although I love post-apocalyptic fiction, I'm not a big fan of overly depressing books (which, I admit, may seem like a paradox, but I once read that post-apocalyptic fiction is, by its very nature, hopeful, since it always posits that, even in the event of an apocalypse, life will go on.) So, I was reluctant to get started on this even though I've had it in my digital library for months.

Seeing an intriguing preview for the movie with my fiance finally motivated me to read the book. And because I'd been forewarned about doom and gloom, I found the book to actually be LESS depressing than I expected. Although, don't get me wrong -- Cormac's view of humanity's response to an apocalypse is incredibly bleak, and some of the haunting images in this book will stay with me forever. But the desolate landscape serves to highlight the pocket of warmth, love, and integrity that exists between the main character and his son, all without ever being overdone or sappy. I did find myself questioning the man's decision to keep himself and his son alive in such a hopeless world (the boy's mother felt it was more merciful for the whole family to die on their own terms), and I really wanted there to be something redeeming that would make that decision worthwhile. I'm not sure I exactly got it, at least, not in as satisfying a way as in other post-apocalyptic books, such as "Life as We Knew It" by Susan Beth Pfeffer (which did convince me that one should try to "hold on till the end" b/c things COULD get better.)

A few things bugged me about this book -- I didn't like how "fluid" the sense of time was; I wanted a better idea of how long ago the man's flashbacks were from, and how long he and his son had been living the way they're living throughout the book. At first, it felt like a fairly new lifestyle, but there was mention later in the book about having kept it up for at least a year. I also didn't like that there was no hint about what caused the apocalypse, which was in the recent enough past that the father surely would have remembered it, and I didn't find it believable that he would seemingly discuss everything with his son *except* that. Yes, I know I'm getting hung up on details at the expense of the true meaning of the story, which is about father-son love and perseverance -- but what can I say? I'm a detail-oriented girl. ...more

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Jul 02, 2008 laurie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2008

I read this book at the beach. This is not a beach read. I am therefore an idiot, and also apparently not into relaxing on vacation. Seriously, I woke up at 7 a.m. the last day we were there, images packing my brain, needing to get this finished, already.

Now, every time I see a shopping cart, I feel compelled to pack it full of all of my possessions and cover it with a tarp so I can survive when the post-apocalyptic fire and dust storms hit. Also, I have a new appreciation for my shower. Damn y ...more

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Oct 21, 2019 Hilary rated it liked it

Shelves: recognized_literary_merit, sci-fi_fantasy, little-free-library

This was one of those books that was really hard to rate because I thought it was well written and evocative ... and I did NOT enjoy reading it. This was a tough book to get through, especially if you have kids! I wanted to know more, not necessarily about the apocalyptic event that had changed the world, but about how and where the man and the boy had survived up until the beginning of the story. Were they living in one place on a store of goods that ran out? Did they have a bad encounter with ...more

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Aug 06, 2007 Jaime rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2007, scifi-postapocolyptic-dystopian

I didn’t think I was going to like this, but once I got used to McCarthy’s style of prose I was hopelessly hooked. You find yourself wondering if you should feel worse for the man who knows what he’s lost, or the boy who will never know what could have been. You never find out quite what has caused the world to be this way. And the story ends in a way I never expected.

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