MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Discussion: "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

Ea · 11-01-2009, 05:55 AM

Two weeks ago, I promised to start a discussion about "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.

There will be spoilers

you have been warned

I almost didn't finish it on time, as I got entangled in a much longer book I wanted to finish first - and I was a bit afraid that "The Road" would be slow going, but it wasn't at all. It was easy to read and a good length - not too short, not too long.

For someone who writes with a such a minimalistic use of punctuation, the text flowed very well. I only noticed one comma

I noticed that he used apostrophe for contractions - except for 'not' contractions. I.e. dont, wouldnt, cant, etc. I wonder if there's some significance in this.

From the descriptions in the book, of the dead people and the landscape, I assume the catastrophe that's happened is a nuclear war. I remember reading books with this theme in the eighties, but I haven't come across this for years, and it was bit strange to be reading about it again. Perhaps it's just my own taste that has made me read something else.

I didn't feel much of an emotional attachment to the characters, but I rarely do. Their experience is quite horrendous, but it didn't grip me. I feel it difficult to have an opinion of whether this would be down to the book or if it's 'just me'. I'm not really sure what to think about this book. I have a detached, 'so-what', feeling about it.

The ending came off as a bit romantic to me - too perfect - a Hollywood ending. It was odd. I guess it's about hope, the survival of civilization even in very dark times - but I must admit I find "The Lord of the Rings" tells a story about hope in a much more effective way. A darker, negative ending would have had more of a punch.

What do you think about what relation the story has to the world of today - if any? Apart from being its own story, is this also a portrait of USA today?

Overall, I think I primarily enjoyed it for the prose. It was very easy just to go with the flow. It felt very inviting. The book I read previous to this, was Antonia Byatt's "The children's book", and her language is sort of dense and sensual, and a very different experience.

I've noticed "The Road" has been made into a film - with Viggo Mortensen as "the man". I haven't seen it, but since I've seen "Lord of the Rings" again very recently, I kept seeing Aragorn a "the man". It was a bit irritating

I rarely imagine in great detail when I read, especially not faces, so this was odd.

11-01-2009, 05:55 AM	#1
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	Discussion: "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy Two weeks ago, I promised to start a discussion about "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. There will be spoilers you have been warned I almost didn't finish it on time, as I got entangled in a much longer book I wanted to finish first - and I was a bit afraid that "The Road" would be slow going, but it wasn't at all. It was easy to read and a good length - not too short, not too long. For someone who writes with a such a minimalistic use of punctuation, the text flowed very well. I only noticed one comma I noticed that he used apostrophe for contractions - except for 'not' contractions. I.e. dont, wouldnt, cant, etc. I wonder if there's some significance in this. From the descriptions in the book, of the dead people and the landscape, I assume the catastrophe that's happened is a nuclear war. I remember reading books with this theme in the eighties, but I haven't come across this for years, and it was bit strange to be reading about it again. Perhaps it's just my own taste that has made me read something else. I didn't feel much of an emotional attachment to the characters, but I rarely do. Their experience is quite horrendous, but it didn't grip me. I feel it difficult to have an opinion of whether this would be down to the book or if it's 'just me'. I'm not really sure what to think about this book. I have a detached, 'so-what', feeling about it. The ending came off as a bit romantic to me - too perfect - a Hollywood ending. It was odd. I guess it's about hope, the survival of civilization even in very dark times - but I must admit I find "The Lord of the Rings" tells a story about hope in a much more effective way. A darker, negative ending would have had more of a punch. What do you think about what relation the story has to the world of today - if any? Apart from being its own story, is this also a portrait of USA today? Overall, I think I primarily enjoyed it for the prose. It was very easy just to go with the flow. It felt very inviting. The book I read previous to this, was Antonia Byatt's "The children's book", and her language is sort of dense and sensual, and a very different experience. I've noticed "The Road" has been made into a film - with Viggo Mortensen as "the man". I haven't seen it, but since I've seen "Lord of the Rings" again very recently, I kept seeing Aragorn a "the man". It was a bit irritating I rarely imagine in great detail when I read, especially not faces, so this was odd.