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2 of 2 members found this review helpful.Simply the best
“You have to realize how absolutely superlative this book is.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-11-02.
McCarthy has created his own literary rules, stripped the language, taken away the paragraphs, the chapters, the commas, the apostrophes, even many of the verbs, and left ... simply ... words. He names no one, not even the main characters--they're simply "the man" and "the boy."
McCarthy may be one of the few writers in modern America who can get away with this and succeed. His writing slows you down. To read it you can't hurry. You'll miss its depth.
The Road is not a pretty story. It will leave images in your head for days. But it's so well worth reading.
When all is desolate in the world, you still have love, and that love reflects the spirit of God. That's what this book is about. ” -
1 of 2 members found this review helpful.
A metaphor for our unavoidably dismal future - 5 stars
“As discussed. this novel sets forth man's existence following his inevitable destruction of the planet via nuclear holocaust (likely a metaphor for man made global warming).
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-30.
The themes in The Road often discussed are: love of other over self, Man vs Nature, Man vs Man, Man vs Himself. Of import, however, I took from this book the conflict between the man and his son (e.g. at one point the man thinks that if this relationship existed in a normal world, his son would have withdrawn from him already due to the man's infirmaries). This is an amazing insight in my view and but one of many textures about the relationship between the two.
Beyond the literary analysis however, is the stark warning The Road presents and the last paragraph of the book sums it up succinctly. Once we ruin the planet, it can't be set right ever again.
This is a dark read for sure, but a necessary one. It is as important a book as Night by Wiesel. The "good guys" staved of that disastrous future, but where are they in The Road? Where are they NOW? Not in Washington, not at the pulpit, not in front of the tube...
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2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
The road.
“A lot of people have had some issues with the way this book was written but I thought that was what made it stand apart from others and really added to the feeling of the book. Neither of the main characters have names, quotes are never used, and most scenes are very quick and only a few paragraphs with short sentences. That format really helped convey how bleak, cold, and dying the word had become. Instead of just describing how desolate the world had become McCarthy really conveys this through his writing style and it really helped connect me more with the book.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-28. -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Good book.
“First things first. The way the author wrote this takes some getting used to. He doesn't use any quotation marks and nobody has a name so it gets difficult to follow at parts. There were a few times when I had to go back and reread a section to make sure I knew what was going on. It's a very bleak story but there is some hope in there too. It follows a man and his son in a post-apocalyptic world where they are trying to reach the coast. They have to go through bad weather not to mention bad people to get there and it makes for a pretty depressing read at times. They never tell you how the world got the way it did so it's up to you to decipher that.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-28.
It took me a while to really get into this book but in the end I was sad to see it end. I am interested to see the movie and how this translates onto the big screen. I would tell someone to read a few pages of the book first to see if you can get used to the writing style otherwise you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. Great story though.” -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Amazing Book!
“This book is amazing so little dialog yet it is gripping and heart-wrenching, I did picture Viggo as the man, but I am not happy with the trailer for the movie adaptation, the book never tells us what created such a dystopic world and the trailer shows a made up nuclear event and characters that are not in the book.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-25.
I highly recommend this book! ”
