Survival for the sake of surviving. What is the point? I really find myself asking this question after reading this book.
Let me preface by saying that this book is not for the faint of heart. There are some downright gruesome pictures painted in this novel. It all adds greatly to the story, and is in no way gratuitous, but can at times be all together cringe inducing.
The story is about a nameless man and his son in a post apocalyptic world. The story never really reveals what caused the state of the world. There are glimpses of what it may have been, but ultimately the cause of mankind's demise is left up to the reader. While this can be frustrating, it mirrors our own unease as to how the world might end.
Once I started reading Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" I could not put it down. I read it in one day, cover to cover. There are no chapters, and the writing style almost feels like that of a personal journal. Passages are often short paragraphs and the entire novel is broken up into small blocks of time. I wasn't once bored with the novel. I found myself wanting to know more, wanting to know what was going to happen. I assumed that the man and boy would not survive. The author does leave room for hope in the end, although the situations never are, and never will be ideal.
I loved the struggle the boy has throughout the book with good vs. evil. He is always wondering at what point does he become the bad guy. Even though the entire time I was wanting to shout at him that he was a good guy, some of the things they had to do to survive, were nothing if not evil.
I also kept wondering why they didn't just end it. End the lifelong struggle. The boy was born post Apocalypse, having known nothing of the world before it ended. He father teaches him about carrying the fire, pushing on and not letting up on the drive to survive. I couldn't help but wonder what the struggle was worth. There was nothing to look forward to, no long term goals, nothing more than one moment after the next. To me, that is not a life, it is merely and existence.
Read this book. Then read it again.
Posted by Holly
Posts
3 comments:
I loved this book. I don't know anyone that has not read it in one sitting. The movie was scheduled to be out in February of this year but I heard it was shelved. I sure hope not.
I honestly cannot imagine it as a movie. I think it would lose a lot in translation. The world which is created is very specific to the reader. Anyone who has read it has a clear picture of the world at that moment, and It would be difficult to portray it in a way that satisfied people.
Love the review. The movie stars Viggo Mortensen (of LOTR fame), but I've not heard too much about the production. Not sure how it would translate on the screen....I think the subject matter is too dark, even for Hollywood.
I would have enjoyed this book more, I think, had I not heard all the "hype"...invariably, I end up a bit disappointed, even when a book is excellent like this was.
Post a Comment