The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Pages: 417
Genre: Fiction
Publication Date: 2006

Synopsis (From Google Books):

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-—and each other.

Review:

When I first started reading the The Road I had a feeling that I would not like it. It started out pretty slow and it took me awhile to get use to the format. I also had trouble with the fact that the two main characters were not given names. But in the end the book was good.

It is really hard to explain this book. McCarthy takes the reader on a end of the war journey where a father and his son (who seems to be pretty young between 8 or 10) are trying to travel to the south to escape the winter. They have to be careful because not everyone is peace loving and there is no food or clean water anywhere.

When I got into the story, the fact that McCarthy never gave the characters name made the book more personal. I was able to pictures the main characters in my mind and I started to relate to them. The relationship that the father and son shared was special and you could see the depth of love that the father felt.

Most books are written in chapter format. But McCarthy diverges from this style. Instead it is paragraph form. Each paragraph is a different event or point. I have never come across this style this before. McCarthy worked the style very well.

Pros: Style, Format, Characters

Cons: Slow Start

Overall Recommendation:

The Road would not be a story enjoyed by everyone. I think it was good. But I would only recommend it to certain people, whose reading preference I know.

Challenges:
The Pulitzer Project (5 out of 5 Books)

Library Challenge (17 out of 25 Books)

Rewards:

James Tait Black Memorial Prize (2006)

Pulitzer Prize (2007)

Times Magazine's Best Book of the Year (2006)

Other Reviews:

From My Bookshelf...

Passion from the Page

Grasping for the Wind

If you have a review of this book or any other book reviewed on my site. Post a link to that review in the comment section so, I can link back to you.