The Road - by Cormac McCarthy
The Road is the first novel that I have read by Cormac McCarthy. It will not be the last.
The story revolves around a man and his son traveling through a post-apocalyptic world. There is little backstory and the reader knows next to nothing of these characters’ lives before the nuclear winter that has killed off virtually all animal and plant life. The Man and the Boy, for we have no other names to call them, are constantly on the move with hunger and fear as their only other companions.
In this world, that is all but biologically dead, their only sources of food are canned goods and other non-perishables. However, such items are rare and seem almost anachronistically out of place in this gray and cold primitive world into which the author has dropped us. Of course, the roving bands of cannibals have opted for a more eclectic menu from which to choose.
In a world that is forever shrouded from the sun, the one ray of light is that of the love between the man and the boy. The only good the man sees in the world is wholly encompassed in his son. All that he does, including choosing to live, is done solely for the boy. It is this relationship that most keeps the reader vested in the story.
It takes a little time to become accustomed to McCarthy’s style of writing. The incomplete sentences and apostropheless contractions got under the skin of the English major in me at times but the book lover in me came to appreciate it. The truncated grammar actually plays a role in relaying the spartan world in which the story unfolds.
My only qualm with the novel is that on numerous occasions McCarthy uses a rather obscure vocabulary. Even the most well read of readers will find themselves reaching for the dictionary a distracting number of times throughout the book.
Over the years I have read numerous post-apocalyptic and end-of-world novels and have frankly become bored with them. Had this book not been the recipient of the Pulitzer I likely never would have read it. I am glad I did. We have all read books of which we remember little and we have all read books that stand out in our minds over time. I believe this is one of the latter.
“Eclectic menu” is an understatement. I really enjoyed the book as well. The broken sentences rubbed me the wrong way too but when McCarthy got descriptive, it was very powerful writing.
I look forward to checking on your site from time to time. Looking good!