Oprah's Book Club, No. 57

by Random House

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Best known for his Border Trilogy, hailed in the San Francisco Chronicle as "an American classic to stand with the finest literary achievements of the century," Cormac McCarthy has written ten rich and often brutal novels, including the bestselling No Country for Old Men, and The Road. Profoundly dark, told in spare, searing prose, The Road is a post-apocalyptic masterpiece, one of the best books we've read this year, but in case you need a second (and expert) opinion, we asked Dennis Lehane, author of equally rich, occasionally bleak and brutal novels, to read it and give us his take. Read his glowing review below. --Daphne Durham

Guest Reviewer: Dennis Lehane

Dennis Lehane, master of the hard-boiled thriller, generated a cult following with his series about private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, wowed readers with the intense and gut-wrenching Mystic River, blew fans all away with the mind-bending Shutter Island, and switches gears with... see complete book description

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tina d says

I've already given this book a glowing review. However, I must add this: has Cormac McCarthy ever met a woman is his life? Ninety-nine percent of the book was a tour de force, but the one scene with a woman - the wife - was abonimable. "Death is my lover."???? Give me a break. Women don't talk like that. The entire scene felt like it was written by an amateur. First draft. Terrible.

The rest of the novel was brilliant.

posted Tuesday, February 12 2008

(read tina d’s review)

incognegro says

I could not put this book down. Great story, leaving just enough open
for me to fill in the blanks and let my minds eye roam.

posted Wednesday, January 30 2008

rosy says

OK. Some of the writing is admirable--evocative and suitably bleak--and some of the father-son moments are sweet and more are heartwrenching. But should a novel have more purpose than just that? What am I missing? To me, this could be simply an (excellently wrought) writing exercise involving one particular--very gruesome--scenario.

posted Monday, December 31 2007

(read rosy’s review)

viola w says

This book is being filmed by Ridley Scott. The Coen Brothers movie No Country for Old Men has been released in America but not yet here in Australia. The reviews say it is also bleak. All the Pretty Horses made in 2000 by Billy Bob Thornton was like No Country set along the border of USA & Mexico...back to his novels It's hard to say why he chooses to leave out punctuation marks, but it definitely draws our attention to his work. A satire on Cormac's style is Cormac McCarthy: No Place for Old Copy-editors by Christopher Butler see http://wordwing.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=3
I have enjoyed the novels so far and especially this "On The Road" taking Jack Kerouac etc to a new place in the short styled paragraphs which make you fill in the gaps with your imagination very mesmerising and creepy who is out in the grey ash and will they take the father or the young boy...the excitement at finding food and the sensuality of taste and a clean bath made for great reading !

posted Monday, December 17 2007

jeckert says

I wonder how you can review a book, without having finished it?

posted Saturday, September 8 2007

(This is a response to a previous comment)

(jeckert’s previously rated this books 1 stars, read review)

abhattac5 says

Cormac McCarthy just gets better and better. It has been fun to read his evolution from "All the Pretty Horses" and "No Country for Old Men." A truly deserved Pulitzer. The most interesting and compelling reads I've had in a while. This book will stay with you for days after you're done. Well worth it, and bravo on a simply brilliant novel....

posted Saturday, September 8 2007