In a barren, ashen landscape that was once the United States of America, a weary man and his young son are traveling south in search of the ocean. They scavenge for food and shelter, and they must constantly avoid marauding bands of fellow survivors who would prey on them. The one thing that sustains them on their way is their ferocious love for each other. THE ROAD is the story of their heartbreaking journey.

Every now and then, when we need reminding, a great writer shows us one possible future for our species if we continue on the path to self-destruction. In 1957, Nevil Shute gave us ON THE BEACH, and now, 50 years later, Cormac McCarthy has given us an eloquent new version of the same cautionary tale. We didn't listen then. Perhaps we can learn something now.

I have rarely been so moved by a work of literature. To call this the most important novel of 2006 is an understatement. Read it and weep. Read it and be uplifted. Just read it--before it's too late.

This is a very unsettling look into a future world where the missiles have been launched and civilization as been crushed. Cities and wildlands have been incinerated, almost all forms of wildlife destroyed. The world turned into a living hell of dark gray ash. The road through this world is traveled by a man and his son as they try and escape to the sea. The journey is about more than just their survival, its about good and evil, and the meaning of existence. McCarthy is a heck of a writer, but he always leaves me wondering and he does that with this book. Like there is more to the story, I just don't get it. The book is very disturbing and its not a book I would read again, but I recommend you read it once. I also recommend Across the High Lonesome a book about the modern American west that I purchased after hearing it recommended by Larry McMurtry.Across the High Lonesome

A quick and easy read. McCarthy's descriptive passages are engaging, giving me a running vocabulary list of 13 new words to look up.
I find myself thinking about this story long after I set the book down. Give yourself a large chunk of time to devour this one because the story is gripping and hard not to just read in one sitting. The ending really drives home the definition of faith, inner voices and ultimately primordial love. Enjoy!

Talk about expecting so little and receiving so much. This hasn't been this good since "ANCHORS AWEIGHT"!!!!

This is a futuristic novel where the world has been reduced to ashes and ruins. We don't find out how this happened but the bleakness becomes a contrast for the love between a father and son as they struggle to survive. The novel shows that even after so much is taken from human life, love can still give strength and the will to survive. THE ROAD is Cormac McCarthy's most compassionate book.

It has the small straight-forward prose style of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. The entire story revolves around the unnamed father-son figures. Some may find the novel tedious in parts with repeating sequences of monotonous struggle. However, the repetition is necessary as it reinforces the reality of their struggle, which is grinding and brings an important theme of the novel into focus: How much can you take away from human life before you lose your humanity? Can love overcome this regression to a barbaric state?

The love between the father and son makes this a wonderful book. Another book that I also loved reading is Nexus: A Neo Novel, which is a story of love, empathy and compassion with many psychological and spiritual insights woven into a compelling narrative.