The Road by McCarthy Group Reading

[Scheherazade]

I could read only 10 pages or so but I am stricken by the dark mood already.

And find lack of commas rather distracting (and somewhat annoying).

[Abookinthebath]

I am reading it more quickly because of the lack of commas I think! It gets more depressing! But quite compelling imo....

[Abookinthebath]

Ok, managed to finish this, which is quite an achievement and an experience - my first ebook! Admittedly on my phone, so not the full fat kindle experience, but still.....

I'll not say too much until others have finished, but the writing just compelled me to read on and on, although I had to go back and re read a few times ,as at points it was confusing.

I found reading this as a father really soul searching - to think of myself in that position.....

I did like the line 'You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget'.

Anyway, I'll wait for anyone else to finish before I post spoilers! But I did have a lump in my throat at the end!

[blank|verse]

I've read The Road before and think it's brilliant. How McCarthy manipulates language, syntax and - although it might be annoying, Sche! - punctuation, to reflect and reinforce this post-apocalyptic world is one of the best things about it. It reads like a massive poem, really. Form and content, right?

So you might like to consider why and how McCarthy has stripped language to its bare bones, in the same way the world he describes has been stripped of life. Also, lots of sentences without finite verbs. Short sentences. Some not even sentences. Just phrases. This isn't a world in which things are working or in which the (few) people who inhabit it have the time, luxury or strength for speaking verbosely. It's very animalistic, guttural, grunting speech. Humanity is in decline, regression. It's a harrowingly beautiful book. Stick with it.

[breathtest]

I appreciate the way McCarthy focuses wholly on the experiences of the boy and his father, and we get no real clue as to why the world has become like this. We already know the possibilities and we don't need to know definitely what has happened, instead we see the characters dealing with it and surviving as best they can.

[Scheherazade]

... we don't need to know definitely what has happened, instead we see the characters dealing with it and surviving as best they can.

Finished reading last night and it was a compelling read. I agree with Breathest that it was a brilliant idea of the author not to concentrate on why the world has become what it has become but concentrate, instead, on the consequences and how people are dealing with it.

And how they do deal with it! It is easy to be critical but what would you do under similar circumstances? Also, I like the way the writer blurred the line between "good" and "bad"... Is any one of us claim to be good or bad at all times? The fact that not a single character in the book is given a name indicates the universality of the situation, I feel. It could be anyone... We might think now, while sitting in our warm houses, enjoying the luxuries of technology (computers, internet, wi-fi) but faced with a dilemma like this, can we say for sure that we will not opt to spit-roasting a baby?

I did like the line 'You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget'.

I like that sentence too.

So you might like to consider why and how McCarthy has stripped language to its bare bones, in the same way the world he describes has been stripped of life. Also, lots of sentences without finite verbs. Short sentences. Some not even sentences. Just phrases. This isn't a world in which things are working or in which the (few) people who inhabit it have the time, luxury or strength for speaking verbosely. It's very animalistic, guttural, grunting speech. Humanity is in decline, regression. It's a harrowingly beautiful book. Stick with it.

While reading the book, I was thinking why the author decided to get rid of most punctuation and I agree with you: it does indicate the slow decline of civilization. It is gradual (for example, the apostrophe is used inconsistently). It is also signaling the demise of "written culture" probably... It is mentioned that the boy has stopped worrying about his lessons for a while now. Even if some survived, will they be bothered to teach how to read and write to the new generation while their main concern is survival?

What do you make of this passage?

He lay wathing the boy at the fire. He wanted to be able to see. Look around you, he said. There is no prophet in the earth's long chronicle who's not honored here today. Whatever form you spoke of you were right.

[Abookinthebath]

What do you make of this passage?

He lay wathing the boy at the fire. He wanted to be able to see. Look around you, he said. There is no prophet in the earth's long chronicle who's not honored here today. Whatever form you spoke of you were right.

I re read this bit a couple of times and I still don't think I get it.
In context, this is the scene where the man is dying, if I remember rightly. I think, and this may be being overly simplistic, that The Man felt that he had done his duty and passed on his knowledge and morals to The Boy, right versus wrong, good versus evil etc. Throughout the book, there is also the mention of 'carrying the fire', which again I think alludes to The Boy being 'a prophet' of sorts, one of the few 'Good' people in an evil world. I think that The Boy was what The Man believed in, rather than any God as such.



I did like the stripped back writing style, and I have to say, looking at the posts above, this is why I joined the forum. Taken at a basic level (i.e. my level!) it appears just to be a clever (if slightly annoying) writing style.

But, when you consider the world McCarthy has created, the language and style really does 'fit in'.

I also like the way that they regularly come across items that we would consider 'valuable', however in this world of nothingness, the idea of materialistic value is virtually non existent, and these items are discarded without a second thought.

'Harrowing' is certainly the right word for this book, and I agree with Scher that if we stop and consider how people would survive in this post apocalyptic world, would reading and writing be of any concern to people just trying to exist?