Pajiba

You know...I really disliked this book. And I usually am gung ho for the post-apocalyptic novel.

The style was overwhelmingly difficult for me to get past (and yes, I know, societal deconstruction will necessarily lead to the disintegration of language, I get that). The character of the father was a cipher, and the son seem to waver in age between under 5 and well into his pre-teens. There's an incredible amount of poorly placed deus ex machina throughout.

Sorry to be the naysayer, but I wish I hadn't wasted my $9. The hype is just that.

I'd say I enjoyed it, but to really "enjoy" it, I think you have to be quite sick. Instead, I'll just say I appreciated it for what it is, and I did have a somewhat significant emotional response to it.

I would agree though with don'thitme: perhaps it was when Oprah threw in her two cents, but this book has benefited from a tremendous amount of hype that I am still not sure is necessarily deserved. I went ahead and interpreted the ending in a very different way than is written above though, so perhaps my skepticism is rooted in my pessimism.

I would agree it's worth reading though, if only to see what all the fuss is/was about and weigh in yourself.

I'm currently reading it. I'm halfway trough. I'm not from the states and the hype surrounding the release passed me by (Oprahs Book Club?! Yuck.)
I read "No Country for Old Men" and was interested into "The Road" for i wanted to read a bit more from McCarthy. Also, i always like the theme and setting of a post-apocalyptic world. "No Country for Old Men" left me thinking about it way after i finished the book mainly because of its atmosphere and characters, but also because there were some parts of the book (mainly towards the end) i didn't really like. Or at least didn't expect. But it kept my head busy after i put down the book and that's what counts, in my opinion. There's just too many mindless, forgettable entertainment out there. Anyway, i got the feeling that it will be similar with "The Road". It is haunting and in my opinion worth reading. As with "No Country" i might end up having my thoughts about it and not all of them will be positive. But so far i did not regret.

I love all things post-apocalyptic, novels, movies, comics, video games, television shows, you name it. I love all kinds of apocalypses, biblical, nuclear, plague, zombie, all of them.

My sister read "The Road". She loved it. As soon as she mentioned the words "set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland", I was convinced I must own that book. I was a bit embrassed by the Oprah sticker recommending the book, but so be it.

I tried reading it, but I only got about 10 pages before I was just bored. Maybe I will give it another go, but I just couldn't get into it. I think it has something to do with his style. Not sure.

I am pretty much the worst ex-English major ever.

My grandma actually put my thoughts about this perfectly when she was telling me about what she thought: "I'm glad I read it, but I'm glad it wasn't any longer."

Ultimately, yes, a haunting horror story of a book that literally had me thinking about the implications of an apocalypse for months after I read it (and probably still today), but I finished the book and went, "unh hunh... so what?"

I listened to the audio recording of the book, and it was amazing. I was driving my car to far-off places just so I could hear more. I recommend to anyone who has trouble reading unconventional prose to listen to it or read it aloud, it is a great way to absorb his prose. I find myself thinking about this book, even though I read it months ago. Really, it's the definition of haunting.

While I admire and, at times, emulate McCarthy's style, he can be a little repetitive to the point where the last 50 pages are skimmed...you get it, like when Hamlet dies the play is over.

McCarthy writes beautifully and is a must read, the border trilogy is fantastic, but it is taxing and even monotonous at times. Kind of like that song "Mmm-mmm" by Crash Test Dummies.

I've been debating this with people all summer. I couldn't put the book down but I attribute this more to the suspense than the merits of the writing. And let's face it, writing a thoroughly suspenseful novel is something even the most lowbrow writer can do well. I found the story focused too much on the details of survival, and was wholly plot-driven. Don'thitme is right, the coincidences and close calls became the focus of the book for me, and the relationship between the two males was just gaggy-perfect. If this movie ever gets made into a film you can BET Steven Spielberg will be slavering to get his hands on it. And it'll probably star Haley Joel-Osmont and The Rock.

As for the writing, I found it pretentious and affected.

Jennifer,
I enjoyed reading yet another review of yours for its frankness and thorough scouring. I appreciae that you included a passage of McCarty's prose which is indeed hypnotic. As you state, there are no new stories--not a revelation--it's always been about the telling.

Eva

Jennifer,
I enjoyed reading yet another review of yours for its frankness and thorough scouring. I appreciae that you included a passage of McCarty's prose which is indeed hypnotic. As you state, there are no new stories--not a revelation--it's always been about the telling.

Eva

I must admit I am not a big McCarthy fan, and not because of his style. I dislike his characters which are essential for me. However, I did buy this book, and it is creeping to the head of the line, even though I demoted it once or twice to forestall the reading. Now, I think I will promote it and read it next. Thanks for an enticing review!

something of a girl boner for Cormac McCarthy

If that lasts for more than four hours, you should seek medical attention.

The Road is a masterpiece by one of the finest artists working in literature, though it is not something to pick up for light entertainment. Like most great works, it really needs no defense from naysayers, but if I have any credibility with any of my acquaintances here, I will spend it to recommend this novel. The Road is an important work of literature with a unique and powerful voice that addresses fundamental human nature and one possible future for our species if we don't get our act together. While I don't have children, McCarthy still drove home for me the desperate juxtaposition of black despair and hopelessness with the spontaneous altruism of parenthood and the human will to survive and shield one's children from even the most impossible odds.

McCarthy does use unusual prose techniques and an anonymous narrative voice that takes a bit of getting use to. These tools are hardly gimmicks, however, and did not strike me as pretentious or affected at all. McCarthy utilizes these methods to provide a particular voice for the protagonist -- the narrative reminded me strongly of the uninflected recitation of a Holocaust survivor, straightforward and even objectively dull, while subjectively riveting and horrifying.

McCarthy also uses this style to maintain some distance between the protagonist and the reader to avoid having the book turn into an adventure yarn. For those disappointed because it was sold to them as "post-apocalyptic," that is a fair but unfortunate criticism. I don't think McCarthy ever intended that this be taken in the genre of World War Z or I Am Legend, though it shares some characteristics of the latter. The Road is written much more in the genre of Alas, Babylon, though more spare and anonymous.

For anyone who has not read this book, the odds are very good that you will find something important in it and possibly something enlightening about yourself by your reaction to it. Be advised, however, that "haunting" is the right word. It took me weeks to shake the dark mood this book left me in. I'm not proud to say that I hid it from my wife after I finished it, as she's an avid reader but tends to take these things pretty hard.

I loved McCarthy's writing, it felt so naked and raw that it became almost lyrical. Of course, I felt as if he were continually whacking me in the head with a hardcover copy of the book while reading it, but his language was so gorgeous that it made it easy to get through the horror that was the plot. I can't wait to read something else by him.

You can now add "pro-censorship" to your villanous traits, socalled.

No, seriously. I can get behind you recommending it to people who haven't read it; I would do the same. But I remain unchanged in my reaction to it and my feeling that McCarthy is just trying too hard. Of course that's totally subjective - what else could it be?

Yeah, AM, it's just not for some folks -- obviously some thoughtful and wise heads in the critical world didn't like it either. That said, of all the books I've read in the past ten years, this is the one for which I can unreservedly say "Give it a chance; the odds substantially favor it being meaningful to you."

I surely won't say "You just don't get it" or "It's great and if you say otherwise you're a poopy-head." (You are a poopy-head for other reasons, as you are well aware.) There are plenty of people who don't like Dickens; they're not idiots, and they're not "wrong" -- he's just not for them, even though he was a genius.

If this movie ever gets made into a film you can BET Steven Spielberg will be slavering to get his hands on it. And it'll probably star Haley Joel-Osmont and The Rock.

Bwuh. That prediction is loathesome-yet-likely, though I think Spielberg will see The Rock as too entertainer-y to help with Oscar nominations. Think Tom Hanks in uber-serious mode. In fact, I'll give even odds that Tom Hanks will play the lead in this if it gets greenlighted for a film.

Here's what I'd like to see: directed by Danny Boyle, starring Chris Cooper and the younger boy from Weeds, though he'll be too old for the part by then.

My opinion on the age of the boy in the novel is that he's in his pre-teens (somewhere between 11 and 13) but sounds younger at times because the only interactions he has are with his father. Without a society around them, his speech patterns are stunted and their constant journey keeps him too mentally exhausted to evince the kind of curiosity or rebellion you'd usually see in a child that age.

I read the book and appreciated it, but I'm not sure it's one I'd pick up to read again. I'm glad I took it out of my University's library instead of buying it. I'll look into some of McCarthy's other works though, because "The Road" is the first book of his that I've read.

OOOOOooooooooh!!! Chris Cooper! Brilliant.

Unfortunately I find all child actors somewhat creepy.

This book is already in line for a movie to be directed by Darren Aronofsky.

As much as I like Aronofsky, I cannot fathom this book being made into a movie. This book is a love poem, it is not character or plot driven. I think the movie will be a disaster.

This was my first McCarthy novel then came All the Pretty Horses which was brilliant and shortly thereafter I was on to Blood Meridian which is perhaps my favorite novel of all time. The Road is fantastic. McCarthy is incredible.

Down with the comma.

I think the movie will be a disaster.

Second that, along with your other sentiments. Aronofsky's work on Requiem for a Dream indicates that he has the right sensibility for the project, i.e., he won't shy away from something unrelentingly dark and tragic, but some artistic expressions just don't translate well to cinema. I'll hold out hope that he can craft something that succeeds on its own merit -- a loose translation to another medium could succeed as a new, separate work.

Genny, that sounds about right to me. I think at some point in the novel the father refers to having been wandering together close to 10 years. This is a child that has been raised by one parent with no other social contact or conventions of any kind, just a life of flight, want and fear. You'd be lucky not to have a feral animal on your hands.

I recently finished The Road, and when I put the book down for the final time, I was primarily amazed that McCarthy had so easily engaged my interest with such a long, sad tale. McCarthy forces us to plumb the depths of our own optimism, of our own needs, in order to summon the strength to continue reading after countless failures on the part of the protagonists.

Ajax, I do understand the boredom, as the characters' journey is long and ponderous and often full of defeat and sorrow, of personal suffering and intimate tragedy that serve as dots on the map of the novel's larger landscape of hopelessness and pain and loss and chaos. Many times I wondered if my own need to reach the next tidbit of recognizeable humanity was the only force that kept me reading.

Oh, and for the commenter who remarked on the age of the boy- I agree that many of his statements were incongruous with those of a young child (which I originally assumed the character to be). However, I think the ambiguity surrounding the boy's age was a product of the chaotic, post-apocalyptic world. Without the traditional coming-of-age milestones that civilized society references in its definitions of age and adulthood, the boy's expressions naturally span what seems to us a wide age range. I think =). McCarthy also clearly wants the boy to represent the success, and possibly salvation, of humanity, and as such I believe that McCarthy portrays him as both adaptable and timeless, a brilliant product of modern evolution and eternal love and humanity.

In summation, I have nothing that will render my commentary cohesive, so I'll just hush and finish reading the reviews.

What is this I see? A movie version? There's no plot! There's no character development! I can't see this translating well to a visual medium.

What do you mean there's no plot??? The WHOLE thing is plot. There's too MUCH plot, if you ask me.

I do see what you mean- man struggling to maintain his integrity against unimaginable odds, for the ENTIRE FILM. I guess my comment that the "narrative" lacks a traditional plotline lies in the fact that there's very little legitimate climax and resolution. The problem against which the protagonists must struggle is obvious enough, but the entirety of the novel is the struggle, and I have a hard time seeing that being well paced n the screen.

AM- I see what you mean, but I guess the fact that the problem, a lynch pin of any traditional plot, is the entirety of the novel. As with all plots, the protagonist must struggle, but the struggle is very nearly the beginning and the end of the "narrative," and I can't see this being well paced on the screen.

Woops, the site told me that my comment couldn't be posted, so I rewrote an abbreviate version and, voila, I have two posts. The moderator may choose her/his preference and delete the other =)

Blech, sorry but this was an overhyped piece of dreck. I forced myself to keep reading after about the 20 page mark. They almost die. They don't die. They almost die. They don't die. They almost die. They don't die. I finished it and I was glad it was done.

I can't believe I actually *bought* it. I'm selling it to Half-Price Books this weekend.

I think the plotting problem is of the "run-hide-run-hide-run-hide" variety, to borrow and tweak a phrase from Dustin's comments on the film version of The Return of the King, which becca posits as "no plot" and AM characterizes as "plot-heavy." That works in the novel because it's heavily punctuated by the rich interior monologue of the narrator, including critical flashbacks and exposition, as well as the poetry of setting the surroundings.

That's a tricky cinematic proposition, one that is almost never accomplished when adapting dense literary source material. There's a reason that screenplay of A Confederacy of Dunces has been floating around Hollywood for twenty years.

Beautifully written, but ultimately unpleasant, with no resolution and no real point. I disagree that the novel ends on a positive point; one has no way of knowing if the ending is positive or not, and given the tone of the rest of the novel, I would tend to think it was not. I love McCarthy, and I loved "No Country For Old Men," but this one is not worth the accolades.

Hey, I'm actually reading this book right now, what a coincidence! So far, I'm in love with McCarthy's style. It's so bleak and disastrous and yet completely wonderful at the same time. I'm pulling for those two! I'll comment more when I'm finished. Thank you, Pajiba! THIS is why I love you so!

I read this on the plane from Boston to San Diego over the summer and hated it. I might read it again, though, it seems like it would grow on me with a second reading.

It really doesn't seem that hard to write the way that McCarthy does, though. Keep your sentences either very short or very long, don't use commas, and throw in a few 25-cent adjectives occasionally, and people will call you a genius.

I'm sorry, but this book bored the everliving shit out of me. Stark, sparse prose is my thing, it's how I write and what I like to read, but this was just flat out boring. I kept waiting for the "big thing" that must have won over reviewers world-wide, or even the small-but-steadily-growing-things-that-eventually-won-the-reader over, but they never happened.

Snoretastic.

its really upsetting that this book bores people. i guess i just cant see that view of it, and i really dont understand the folks that absolutely despise, but i guess saying its "an acquired taste" is about as close as you can get to explaining the mccarthy hate. although some of you just seem like you think youre cool for hating on someone so many people love...not going to name names...anyways, i thought it was absolutely beautiful and i reread it as soon as i finished it. who gives a shit of oprah picked it for book club? maybe that means that oprah is finally getting taste? of course, nothing will beat blood meridian for pure "holy shit can you really write like that, yes you can" prose...but i personally think the border trilogy is the best trilogy in the history of literature. cormac mccarthy is awesome.

as for the film version, i believe viggo mortensen is signed on as the father, which is just fantastic if you ask me. and i heard something about the director of the proposition directing it, which again would be perfect.

to anyone who did not like this book: i would not like you. let's continue to live in separate spheres for eternity. thank you and good night forever.

What's with the hate? Does my not liking the book make it somehow less enjoyable for you? What a silly attitude to take in an open debate about the merits of a work of art. I'm not threatened by your opinion and I don't see why you should be threatened by mine.

Many times I wondered if my own need to reach the next tidbit of recognizeable humanity was the only force that kept me reading.

becca, this is what i have found too...not only with this novel, but in watching Children of Men this week and on a lesser suspenseful note, Lost as well. It's too much to take all at once and I felt I needed a breather-when the protagonists are not in immediate peril and we can give a big sigh of relief for five minutes.

It is a beautiful book but hard and it is drawn out...it's that aspect of needing some semblance of humanity that kept me going, and i think the ending addresses that without some over the top ridiculous discovery of nirvana at the end. I would fear this is where Hollywood would take it. Robbie Coltrane will come out of the woods and scoop them up and take them back to his Hagridesque hut and give them soup, healing all and restoring humanity.

So if I didn't like this book, I just must be a hateful person? Or I'm just being petty and spiteful?

Nah, I simply didn't.like.it. Period. I highly doubt it's a judgement on my taste--taste is extremely subjective. I don't take it as a judgement on the taste of those who DO like it, so kindly give those who didn't the same consideration, wouldja?

I'll just say this:

Cormac McCarthy is an acquired taste, but more along the lines of a far more esoteric dish than a potato chip sandwich.

I'm thinking escargot, certain varieties of sushi, turtle soup, auflauf, haggis, blowfish -- all fine dishes, but definitely food one must work up to enjoying, especially if one's palate is accustomed solely to a diet of meat and potatoes and salad greens.

I read it in May, just before all the wildfires ravaged northern Florida and Georgia - for two or three days I woke to ash covering my car and heavy smoke in the air (and I live in SW FL). At first I thought Oprah had really outdone herself in marketing her latest selection...
The timing was pretty creepy and had me clutching loved ones and cans of peaches to my bosom.