The Road

ExArkie · #1 10-16-2008, 08:42 PM

I just finished a book called, "The Road," by Cormac McCarthy. I read a lot and it has been some time since I read a book that moved me as much as this one did - one caution - this book is NOT for the faint of heart and the easily upset!

Has anyone here read it? I just saw in last Sunday's paper that they are making it into a movie - do not go to that one for light entertainment!

This book tells the story of a father and son - the wife/mother has already "disappeared" when the book begins. It is several years after an unnamed disaster - probably a nuclear war. Very few humans are left and the sun has not shown since the disaster. EVERYTHING living is dead with the exception of a very few people. The father is trying to get his son and himself to the southern US coastal area where he thinks the cold will not be so severe and they MAY be able to survive. Not pleasant; but, a really engrossing story of a man's devotion to a child.

Roux · #2 10-17-2008, 05:40 PM

I read The Road several months ago and could not put it down. It was upsetting but I was so drawn in to what was going to happen next. My daughter also read it and I asked her how they could do justice to it in the movie. Since I am a Viggo Mortenson fan I will definitely go see it, depressing tho it may be.
Speaking of Cormac McCarthy's books made into movies, All the Pretty Horses was disappointing, but No Country for Old Men was excellent.

ExArkie · #3 10-17-2008, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roux

I read The Road several months ago and could not put it down. It was upsetting but I was so drawn in to what was going to happen next. My daughter also read it and I asked her how they could do justice to it in the movie. Since I am a Viggo Mortenson fan I will definitely go see it, depressing tho it may be.
Speaking of Cormac McCarthy's books made into movies, All the Pretty Horses was disappointing, but No Country for Old Men was excellent.

In the book - did the Mother commit suicide or just run away? I know why she did it - she knew the man could not take care of her and the boy, too - so, she made the sacrifice. I can relate to that. Great book, IMHO!!

And at the end, do you think these people who took the boy had found a place where they could survive? Or, do you think they were ALL doomed at the end?

Roux · #4 10-17-2008, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExArkie

In the book - did the Mother commit suicide or just run away? I know why she did it - she knew the man could not take care of her and the boy, too - so, she made the sacrifice. I can relate to that. Great book, IMHO!!

And at the end, do you think these people who took the boy had found a place where they could survive? Or, do you think they were ALL doomed at the end?

I felt the mother took her own life. Sorry to say I also felt the boy wouldn't make it either. Maybe I'll go back and read it again, this time to savor it more and maybe pick up something I missed.

ExArkie · #5 10-18-2008, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roux

I felt the mother took her own life. Sorry to say I also felt the boy wouldn't make it either. Maybe I'll go back and read it again, this time to savor it more and maybe pick up something I missed.

Yes, go back and read the last few pages. I feel the boy is given just a grain of a chance to live - if you call that living!! Of course, without the sun, there is little or no chance of anyone surviving - however, on another page, the Man seems to suggest that the light is slowly getting brighter. Very disturbing, cautionary tale, IMHO!

ExArkie · #6 12-17-2008, 08:50 PM

This book is now out in paperback! I was at Barnes and Noble today and there it was! Great book - Read it twice and I'm still thinking about it!! Movie should be out soon.