Cormac McCarthy: The Road

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Liked It

10 of 11 members found this review helpful.

Rated 5 stars

“The Road by Cormac McCarthy is one of those books that once you finish it, you toss it down and say "Okay, gonna kill myself now!" It is also riveting, engaging, and beautifully written, so it's worth it.

The hook is pretty simple: A man and his son (both unnamed for the duration of the book) are following a road West in the wake of some world searing apocalypse (also unnamed and tantalizingly undiscussed). Things are bleak. Really bleak, with the land bereft of nearly all plant and...”

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Didn’t Like It

2 of 7 members found this review helpful.

Rated 1 stars

“I really did not care for this book but I could see them making a movie out of it. I felt the whole story was pointless. I suppose it is about the human desire to survive. I did not like it but would like to know what other people thought of it.”

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Rated 4.060599 stars

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Rated 0 stars

Newest Comments

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winterdreams86 said:

“A bit different in its writing style from other works of popular fiction, but surprisingly profound. It shows the reader the importance of the relationship between the father and his son and the evil that humans are capable of (murder, torture, rape, stealing, etc.) but also how we're capable of unconditional love even in the absolute worst of circumstances - even at the end of civilization and the world as we know it.”

posted 2 weeks ago

bob b said:

“I liked the minimilist style. I must admit, however, that I didnt notice the punctuation deletions and missing apostrophes until I was on about page 50. The interaction with other nameless characters was somewhat syncopated, which added to the tension, therefore, throwing you slightly off-balance. Although it was a depressing read for me, the fact that the family that takes the boy in at the end could be representative of the reader, made the ending more conclusive and less dystopoic.”

posted Friday, May 8 2009

kerstyn b said:

“The Road is a book that really makes you think and challlenges the mind. With my first encounter of the book I put it down after 50 books and didn't pick it up for awhile after that. I wasn't impressed at all, because first of all I didn't know what was going on and second of all I had no interest. I hadn't realized what effect and power that this book had until I had discussed it more in a Socratic Seminar that I was involved with. Cormac McCarthy really hit it on the spot with the relationship between the man and his son. Their relationship is so strong and really kept the book interesting, especially with the dialogue that he used. His use of no punctuation and wrong punctuation really showed the emphasis of them talking and connecting. The narration really played a huge role also, because it was like he had voice in the book, while he was telling the story.

One of the biggest connections that I had to The Road was how it could possibly what our world has coming for itself. Fahrenheit 451 really was the beginning and this puts the icing on the cake. Fahrenheit 451 shows how the world becomes so technology based and really ruins the world. Everyone in the civilization runs off of each other and no one is ahead of another. They watch television all the time and burn books, because books bring nothing to the table for them. Eventually the city gets burned up and Guy Montag has to keep the fire going to recivilize and bring the world to a better place. Well in my opinion The Road is just the aftermath of Fahrenheit 451, the post-apocalyptic era occurs because of man's fighting to be the best. The civilization kills itself, because of the determination to be the best. As sad as it is, this is where the human civilization is headed now.”

posted Wednesday, February 25 2009

hannah g said:

“i have nooo idea what this book is about and i just wanted to know from a person who has read it and say if its good or bad”

posted Wednesday, February 11 2009 ( | view 1 reply )

karli s said:

“I have found within the past month that the books that are the hardest to read in the beginning are often most likely to leave a lasting inmpression; that is simly why I will continue reading this book. The road is so confusing and hard to begin reading, especially the first couple pages. Cormac McCarthy writes in this style that choppier than most books, leaving me begging for more of certain snips. Who is he? Where are they at? And why is everything so "bare"? These are the kinds of questions that are bugging me more than anything, but that's why this also makes me believe that it'll end up being an amazing story. ”

posted Sunday, February 1 2009 ( | view 1 reply )