Cormac McCarthy: The Road

[jbooks]

I just recently bought this book. A friend of mine recommended it to me, i hope its as good as every one says!!!

[eyez0nme]

No, it's whack.

[Libra6Poe]

Everyone is asking about this book.
Oh Aragon...

[Hartman3216]

Originally Posted by Blender345

I saw a copy of "The Road" and bought it yesterday. Online it says it is a (movie tie-in). This worries me because it makes me think that this book is changed from the original to fit the movie storyline. So is the book with the movie pictures on it the same as the original or is this a newer version made to tie in better with the movie? Any help is appreciated.

Yeah I picked up that version the other day and I would imagine its not the same as others have read and replied. I had no problems with the vocabulary used in the book and I don't concider myself to have a large vocabulary. I still enjoyed the book very much and look forward to not only seeing the movie, but reading more McCarthey books.

[jbooks]

I finished this book. It was an incredible disappointment. I cant believe so many people liked this book? Did i miss something?

[hyraxia]

jbooks - I'm with you on this, it was so dull! It's probably heresy to suggest that Stephen King's The Stand was far superior!

[SFG75]

The very structure of the writing in this book is what makes it unique to some and quite frustrating to others. The lack of quotes and the dialogue about simple things like a coke can used to convey meaning can be quite maddening in its simplicity. The reason why I love the book is that it is indicative of our present circumstance. There are very real threats to our well being. We don't know what calamity befell the characters in The Road, but we don't know what our own will be and that is how we are similar to them. The husband in the story created his own meaning, that being hope in the place of a more realistic one. The boy is curious about what his should be, which is why he asks all of the questions that he does. To me, the mother was the perfect nihilist, having given up completely and taking her own life. Post-modern tendencies are strong with this one.

[dude]

I posted this on my facebook page. Could be some mild spoilers, so be advised.

This is my first Cormac McCarthy novel and has made me a fan. However, from what little I explained to someone who has read several of his books and not this one, it's very different in terms of his descriptive style. The Road is written in a very unconventional format with the pages being fragmented into multi-spaced paragraphs and no definable chapters. Like a few other authors I've read, he used virtually no punctuation and no quotation marks around the dialog. The description is very dry and segmented at times in the form of very short sentences. It's different and mildly refreshing but after already having read books by Kent Haruf and Hubert Selby Jr, it's not new or innovative. If anything, it shows that you don't have to follow the strict rules of literature to write a compelling novel.

Before saying anything else, know that I saw the movie first which I think is absolutely fantastic and heartbreakingly depressing. The book probably could have evoked similar feelings had I not already known what was going to happen, but not at the same magnitude. The book is too curt and devoid of personality for you to really have any feelings for anyone. It reads like someone calling play-by-play of a sports game; calling it as they see it with sparse moments of lucid descriptions.

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where brute force is a way of life. A father and son barely stave off starvation as they make their way along the road heading south all the while struggling to fend off and avoid the ruthless barbarity of the other starving and ultra-desperate survivors. With no animals and no crops, cannibalism is the norm and people will resort to even the most unthinkable ends to survive. There is a certain scene that was left out of the movie and probably rightfully so.

Because of the nature of the style of the book, there were several scenes brought to life in the movie that were infinitely more powerful than they were in the book. Be it the original score or the acting in general, the movie actually shows you what you couldn't see in the book because of the sometimes bland or even non-existent description. The book is hard and rigid and lifeless as no one has a face or a name. In fact, it's almost like it was written as a perfect screenplay for a director to bring to life. Take the scene with the old man on the side of the road and compare it to the adaptation in the movie and there just is no comparison.

I liked this book a lot, but it suffered from a lack of descriptive dialog. The dialog always moved too fast leaving too much to the imagination when it comes to facial expressions or tone of voice. I need to see the horror on the father's face when they go into that basement; I need to hear the desperation in the thieve's voice who stole their cart and see the pain on his face when they leave him on the side of the road. I saw and heard all of that in the movie and none of it in the book.

Good book and very good author, but I need not be more impressed by the movie.