Books : The Road (Oprah's Book Club)

Rating: - A Thought-Provoking Nightmare
In a world somehow burned to a crisp, a few people survive. A father and young son travel south along a partially-melted highway to escape the winter. They have no names; nothing has a name any longer. On the way, they encounter others trying to survive, often by preying on the helpless, even enslaving and eating some. The child wants to help some of the more unfortunate, but the father's focus is entirely on saving the boy and himself. He trusts no one, and hides from all human contact. Eventually, the father dies of TB, and the boy, left alone, shows himself to a band of travelers, expecting to be eaten. But instead they adopt him, and it is obvious that the group of good people will form the basis for a renewal of civilization.
The theme appears to be that good will always triumph over evil eventually.

Four Little Old Men: A (Mostly) True Tale from a Small Cajun Town

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Rating: - Skeptical but pleased
I didn't know exactly what to make of this book but I couldn't put it down. It was depressing and simple but somehow profound at the same time. I never would have picked it up based on its description but Oprah came through again.

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Rating: - Apocalyptic Love
Cormac McCarthy amazingly makes the relationship between father and son remarkably warm in the cold environs of post-apocalyptic United States - after the bomb or something similar has incinerated all of nature. The two main characters, each nameless and referred only as man and boy, allow us to watch their journey on the "Road" in the world we pray never to know.

The book is merely a chronological story of the daily long walks by the pair to the coast and then south - all the time seeking food and other needs for sustenance. All in a world of no sun. Eternal clouds. No stars. "The nights dead still and deader black. So cold." You might think: Why live? The father, understanding the inevitable end to this daily torture ". . . would raise his weeping eyes and see him [his son] standing there in the road looking back at him from some unimaginable future, glowing in the waste like a tabernacle." Unlike most other adults, the man has reason to live - to love and be loved. This ugly world has a beautiful story.

Fighting against all odds, in the moonscape left from the nuclear assault on man and nature, this book mixes two great movies' themes: "Two Women" and "Mad Max." Without sun, no food can be grown. Without light, temperatures plunge and winds sweep the lands. With the strange sunless weather patterns, the already burned trees fall like dominoes, expose the entire forestless continent to all winds, and leave all men prey to the badlands as most succumb if without masks or eye protection. It is not a jungle out there - all the flora is dead. It is hell. But, against these odds, the main characters fight on.

People become desperate in such desperate times. Children, the weakest, are freely eaten by the adults. Every day, following the inevitably black as ebony starless night, requires energy to walk on. Day or night, animal-like senses are needed to assure self preservation. In one conversation, the two discuss this never ending stress in obtaining preservation.

-If you're on the lookout all the time, does that mean that you're scared all the time?
-Well, I suppose you have to be scared enough to be on the lookout in the first place. To be cautious. Watchful.
-But the rest of the time you're not scared?
-Yeah. I don't know. Maybe you should always be on the lookout. If trouble comes when you least expect it then maybe the thing to do is to always expect it.
-Do you always expect it? Papa?
-I do. But sometimes I might forget to be one the lookout.

After having read the heavier and less personal "Blood Meridian" and seen the movie adaptation to "No Country For Old Men", I feared this book of the post apocalyptic world would be strewn with endless pages of blood, guts, exposed viscera and nauseatingly horrific accounts of violence. Surprisingly, it is not. Not that this book is void of shockingly violent behavior, or occasional scenes of putrid details. But, such accounts are not nearly as great as included in the other two works. And, on a personal note, that is appreciated.

This book moves incredibly quickly. The writing is clean, but skillfully done with strong words and Hemingwayesque minimalist style. McCarthy's success is not any surprise to any of his readers.

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Rating: - Not what I expected.
This one was a bit disappointing. I found myself more interested in learning of the cause of the apocalyptic event than the plight of the characters. Yes, I get that the disaster is supposed to be secondary to this story. Was the lack of punctuation supposed to be `edgy'? There were conversations between the `man and the boy' that spanned an entire page that consisted of two word sentences. The flashback component was a bit too vague to help with the character development. If you are considering this book because you like the author's style, then you will probably not be unhappy. If, however, you are looking for an actual complete post-apocalyptic novel, then check out `Free Flight', `Down to a Sunless Sea' and of course `Alas, Babylon'.

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Rating: - Total waste of time
When I realized that Cormack McCarthy also wrote No Country For Old Men, I knew I was in trouble since that was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Now I can add that The Road is one of the worst books I have ever read and that I obviously conclued that I need to avoid any title or movie associated with the author.
I don't care how the critics rave about him, he is vastly overrated.
The book was boring, unpleasant, had a weird ending, and was just kind of sickening.
Grim, dark, depressing, nauseating. Nuff for me from him.
Anne
NYC