Review:- Cormac McCarthy – “The Road”

Publ: 2006
My own copy
ISBN: 978-0-330-44754-6
Genre: General Fiction, Science Fiction;
Pages: 307p
Read because it has already become a classic
Rating: ***** **

What led you to pick up this book?
I decided it was about time I read this Pulitzer Prize winning novel.

Describe the plot without giving anything away.
A searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece. I must be the last person to read this bookm so perhaps a review of thr plot s fairly irrelevant. In brief, 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. They 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.
The problem is that I found the book so depressing that I can’t give it more than 7 stars whilst recognising the brilliance of the plot and the style.

What did you think of the characters and style?
Exccellent.

What did you like most about the book?
I’m not sure it is a book one can ‘like’ in any sense of the word. Admire, enjoy (in a strange way) and find thrilling but like – No.

Was there anything you didn't like about the book?
The whole concept of a post-apocalyptic world is the stuff of nightmares and I would like to see if McCarthy could put his skills into a different genre.

Thoughts on the book jacket / cover.
I can’t mention this average jacket without complaining, yet again, about the b*****y Oprah sticker!

Would I recommend it?
Yesl It’s a book one should read – but don’t expect to enjoy it.

Cormac McCarthy (born Charles McCarthy - July 20, 1933) is an American novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels in the Southern Gothic, western, and post-apocalyptic genres, and has also written plays and screenplays. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road, and his 2005 novel No Country for Old Men was adapted as a 2007 film of the same name, which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. He received a National Book Award in 1992 for All the Pretty Horses.