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The Road - Cormac McCarthy - How are you getting on?
Sorry I couldn't pick a cheaper book for the run up to Christmas, but when I was asked to select one it took me about an hour to settle on something - too many choices. I've already read The Road which is why I put it forward because it's one of those books that has stayed with me in the way that classics past and classics yet to come do. I'll be reading it again soon and hope to join in the discussion.
ach Steve its under £5! dinnae worry. I thought it was gonna be £7 or something! :o)
Hated it. It was one of those books that didn't go anywhere and had no purpose. Just my humble opinion of course.
Yea the movie put me off, was too creepy and I didnt really think there was a plot or purpose to it either but I am tempted to give it a go cause books are always better.
Just to balance Shaun's opinion....I really liked it and will happily reread it as I planned on doing so anyway. I've forgotten most of it...but I do recall liking it.
Patti (Totally Bananas) wrote: "Just to balance Shaun's opinion....I really liked it and will happily reread it as I planned on doing so anyway. I've forgotten most of it...but I do recall liking it."
Lol. My advice is to use the 'Look inside' feature. The beginning will set the scene for the whole book and the style (or lack of) that it's written in.
Ooh good, a controversial book at last. I will read it on the plane.
Simon (Highwayman) wrote: "Ooh good, a controversial book at last. I will read it on the plane."Yea Steve thinks its too nice around here. He's trying to turn us into animals
Maybe Lord of the Flies would be a good choice, then. Lol
I studied that at school. And have never been able to read it since.
Lord of the Flies? so did I but I liked it... havent tried reading it again since though.
I loved this book. I will not go into detail yet - I'm busy with another book I love - the Group Book! but I shall get back here and do my stuff.
You've only got to look at the reviews on Amazon to see that The Road has controversy written all over it.Maybe that's why the cover is black - it's smeared with Marmite!
Oh so thats why its all sticky then! Urrgh, its all over my hands and keyboard now.
Will download the sample Steve and see how it goes.
Oh good idea Sarah!I keep forgetting about samples
I found it grim but so compelling and very hard to put down.
Ignite wrote: "I found it grim but so compelling and very hard to put down."I'm right with you there, Ignite. And I think the stripped back, simplicity of the writing style got that across really well. Too much prose would have got in the way with this kind of story, I think.
Samples are a great thing about the Kindle, aren't they? When I get mine (I know, I know) I imagine I'll read up until the sample runs out and then only buy if I want to carry on.
Oh, what a carry on! I rarely use samples. I'm a decisive woman!
Sounds like a book worth looking at... got to know what it's all about if I want to join the debate :)
I loved this book, have reviewed it and posted a blog about the theme: Splitting a theme from a well-known event and using it in your story http://bit.ly/pVS4JL. The point of the story is all in the theme. As Terry Gilliam said about films on BBCBreakfast today, "When people leave the theatre, there is no memory, because there is no idea (theme) behind the films, it is just a theme park ride with lots of explosions and chasing cars." That cannot be said of The Road, because the theme is a powerful one.
I downloaded the sample to give it a go because I have that much faith in you Mr Steve
George wrote: "I loved this book, have reviewed it and posted a blog about the theme: Splitting a theme from a well-known event and using it in your story http://bit.ly/pVS4JL. The point of the story is all in th..."That's a great post, George. Aspects of The Road remind me of Steinbeck's, Of Mice and Men and I think that's a little because of the writing style but mostly because they are both strongly theme driven. And theme is very hard to get right, often separating good books from great books. It's that invisible thread that sews the pages of a book together - never seen but very much felt.
Thanks Steve. I'm also a lover of Steinbeck and theme driven novels (I often refer to The Grapes of Wrath), and when a writer can get both theme and plot working well, I'm in novel heaven.
Cormac McCarthy is a real hit or a miss for me. Blood Meridian - fantastic. The Border trilogy: All the Pretty Horses - excellent. The Crossing: good. Cities of the Plain - yawn. He likes is characters to eat. Read these four books and you'll never want to look a burrito in the eye again. Anyhow - I thought The Road was a really gripping tale - until the end hmm...
I just started to read this again, and am already moved by this early father and son exchange. The boy speaks first."What would you do if I died?"
"If you died, I would want to die too."
"So you could be with me?
"Yes, so I could be with you."
"Okay?"
I found the writing simple in a way but very direct. That's a great example Steve.
I shall be starting the sample this evening when I get home from work. Its opened up on my kindle and everything. So will see how it goes and if i like it i shall download the whole thing :o) Only reason I am trying it at all is because you picked it Steve.
I recommended it to our village book club. They all read the blurb and refused to read it! I found it a fascinating story.
Its just the movie put me off, it was a bit blah... (and freaky)but I did say on the way home that the book might be better cause it would beable to describe the father/son relationship better. I assume thats what it is actually about which didnt really come across the best in the film (in my opinion)
just thinking Ignite, if you like it there is a good chance I will too! If Words to the Wise is anything to go by!
Well that's true - but Cormac Watsisname is no Cornelius Harker - he's not bad though!I didn't see the film so I have nothing but the book to judge by.
This is true Ignite, but secretly I am quite glad he is not another Cornelius Harker, one is enough!
I read the book before the film. Definitely the best way around as the film is actually better for having the book in your head first.
I'm feeling a little clever cloggy since I read this over a year ago and I'm looking forward to contributing without having to do any extra reading. (LOL)But to start - I was impressed by his determination to break nearly all of the rules of good syntax and grammar. No chapter headings. No quotation marks around reported speech. No active verb in many sentences. A general stripping down of language. The repeated use of the word 'grey'. All this an object lesson in how to convey in formal terms the desperation of the man and his son's existence. So far, so Pulitzer Prize.
What I didn't like was his use of the father-son relationship as a kind of emotional sledgehammer. I felt that was exploitative of the reader and the reason why, overall I would rate 'The Road' as very good but not great.
Best wishes
Seb
Jud (Krisztof) wrote: "You owe me £4.32 Steve"Geesh, that's not fair! Patti asked me to pick a book up to a fiver, don't blame me :o)
Anyway, what if you enjoy reading it? In which case you should be the one owing the money for putting you on to it.
You know, I was thinking that this really isn't the best of pre-Christmas reads, but perhaps the bleakness contained therein will serve as a good reminder of how fortunate we are that our lives are not like the lives of those character portrayed in the book.
I love your upbeat take on the world Steve!
Does it tell you at any point what happened that made the world the way it is? I'm enjoying the book so far, the way its written (as seb mentions) is so different it had me intrigued and i was quite4 excited reading teh sample so I did what my kindle told me to do and bought it... There is one bit from the movie that I remember and that I am dreading coming around in the book. I'm really nervous thinking about it already
Ignite wrote: "I love your upbeat take on the world Steve!"Sometimes you've just got to look for the things to smile about. They're not always easy to see, but they're there somewhere, and if you keep looking, sooner or later you'll find them.
I'm the same Steve - I sometimes think I don't take the serious things seriously enough. Life's too short.
I'm 57% through now. Got past the bit I was dreading and it was no where near as bad as it was in the movie so all is good. Glad I read it in the middle of the afternoon as well so it wont give me the heebie jeebies tonight
I'm only about a third of the way through on my re-read. I'm enjoying it as much as I did the first time around and being a bloke of course, I don't get the heebie jeebies. Mind you, I'm in my cabin and it just got dark outside...
who's that at the window Steve?What was that noise?
Ha, it was just my reflection. Now that was scary!
next time take a blanket with you Steve, nothing can get you if you are under your blanket
Oh, and a torch. You need to be under a blanket and have a torch then you are safe from everything except a nuclear bomb.
And your towel. You're always ok if you have your towel with you.
Exactly right, GL. No need for a torch if you have a lighted cover, Jud. ;)
How did it go? Reviews here. If you know how to tag spoilers then they can go here, otherwise please wait for the book discussion thread to open.
The Road