Despite my 8:30pm bedtime of late and what I am now referring to as my constant companion – Barfy, I managed to finish a book this week! I started reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy during my lunch breaks at work (which PS Cormac – there are too many C’s in your name). I pretty much always eat lunch alone at the café/bakery downstairs from my office. I like the break from work and I always bring a book so no one bothers me while I eat. In the beginning, The Road was just a necessary lunch prop. But after a week of reading a few pages here and there while shoveling in sandwiches, I found myself hooked. It took almost half the book, but all of a sudden, I needed to read the rest – immediately.Don’t get me wrong- this book is Depressing (and that capital D is there for a reason). In fact, it may be the biggest downer of a book EVER. But the story is so laced with love and humanity! The story is very simple – a man and his son who are never given real names are travelling “the road” south somewhere on the east coast after some horrible event has destroyed the world and most of humanity. They never say what actually happened (which bugged) but you get the impression that after this mystery cataclysmic event, the people who didn’t die turned against each other in desperation.
It’s hard to describe why this book is good, but it truly is. Granted I’m pregnant, but I found myself crying multiple times during the book and anyone who knows me will tell you that I am NOT a crier. The love between the man and his son is just so truthful. I think I read somewhere that the author dedicated the book to his son, so I suppose the writing comes from somewhere real. And you can tell.
On a related note – did anyone ever read a book called something like Z for Zacharia? I feel that I read a book like this in middle school that was also a post-apocalyptic story but can’t remember anything else about it…
BAAAHH! I just Googled The Road so I could find an image to post with this review and noticed that it was an Oprah's book club book! The trend (unknowingly) continues...
3 comments:
This does creep up on you, doesn't it? I cried many times, at the father and his son's struggle, the blind man they meet, the cannibalism...
Aside from being an Oprah pick, I don't know if you know they're filming this with Virgo Mortensen and Charlize Theron? I hope they make a passable adaption, as I loved the book.
Like yourself, I read Z for Zachariah by Robert O'Brien at school.It's similar to The Road in that it's the diary of a young girl (Ann)who is one of the few survivors of a nuclear war. As in so many dystopias, it shows the best and worst of humanity, and only presents slim hope at its end. Worth re-reading if you don't remember it.
I cried my way through this book as well. It was beautiful and haunting at the same time.
I read this book at my husband's insistance and I think I'm the only one, ever, who didn't get it. My husband raves about this one and we both wrote reviews on my blog.
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