The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Hi,

I am reading 'The Road' and there are many things that I don't understand.
first of all, what does the title signifies?
It's the journey to somewhere, isn't it?

secondly, what is a characteristic of the boy?
why he always say "ok" with his father?

by the way, I like the book but I don't know how to interpret it...

I recenty bought the book but have not had the chance to read it yet. Hopefully soon. ;)

His father was teaching him how to survive on his own...you know, how to survive until he found other people that would make him ok...Its a message of hope... The father was going to die, or at least worried that it might happen before they found any others... The boy says ok to show that he knows this. I was mixed on the book.

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Originally Posted by B-Mental

His father was teaching him how to survive on his own...you know, how to survive until he found other people that would make him ok...Its a message of hope... The father was going to die, or at least worried that it might happen before they found any others... The boy says ok to show that he knows this. I was mixed on the book.

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You've read the book, B-M. What did you thnk?

I was so puzzled after reading the book. Everything about it was just awesome, I mean, I completely forgot about the post-apocalyptic part because the relationship between the father and son was so entrancing. BUT, the ending just threw me off; it partly ruined the book for me (I don't want to spoil it, so I'm gonna be vague). I thought there was something bigger brewing up (through all that foreshadowing)...
This was my first reading anything of McCarthy, so it might be that this is his style of writing and I maybe didn't get it.

The book reads well, but I wasn't onboard for the story. I guess he just leaves everything so vague that I kept thinking why are they doing this...Oh, I'd never do that... It is slightly overrated in my opinion.

Exactly, I thought he was being vague to show that something, overall, ties all those events (you can't call them events) together. Bits and pieces that the narrator said was very good, but I thought those were pointing to something in the future (or past)...

I'm reading it next month hopefully. The friend that I'm borrowing the book from said the same remark as B-Mental's. She told me that the book is vague, and makes you think hard in order to understand what the author means. I read a few parts of it, and to tell you the truth I didn't quite understand what was written...but I'm gonna give it a shot next month. Hopefully it's not as difficult as I heard.

It's not too hard, I hope you understand it more than I did...
good luck!

I had to read this book for school and it's really dark but it was good. Yes, the title signifies a journey, also because if I remember correctly the boy and his father would follow the road south.

The boy says 'okay' a lot to show acceptance. He knows that there's not much he can do. This world is all he knows - the father lived before things turned apocalyptic but the son hasn't.

Let me know if you have more questions. It wasn't my favorite book by any means but we did spend a couple weeks on it and I had to write an essay on it (though it wasn't my best work lol) so I may be able to help you with some preliminary questions to jump start your thinking. Just let me know!

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Originally Posted by Nossa

I'm reading it next month hopefully. The friend that I'm borrowing the book from said the same remark as B-Mental's. She told me that the book is vague, and makes you think hard in order to understand what the author means. I read a few parts of it, and to tell you the truth I didn't quite understand what was written...but I'm gonna give it a shot next month. Hopefully it's not as difficult as I heard.

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I won't have time next month. But shortly thereafter I intend to read it. You know the book club forum is doing books by nationalities this year, and I believe the US is one of the months. Perhaps we can vote for The Road when the US comes around in the book club this year.

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Originally Posted by Virgil

I won't have time next month. But shortly thereafter I intend to read it. You know the book club forum is doing books by nationalities this year, and I believe the US is one of the months. Perhaps we can vote for The Road when the US comes around in the book club this year.

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Great idea!!! I can postpone reading the book till we get to vote for it in the book club, or at least till you get the time to read it and we can have a discussion thread! :D

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Originally Posted by livelaughlove

I had to read this book for school and it's really dark but it was good. Yes, the title signifies a journey, also because if I remember correctly the boy and his father would follow the road south.

The boy says 'okay' a lot to show acceptance. He knows that there's not much he can do. This world is all he knows - the father lived before things turned apocalyptic but the son hasn't.

Let me know if you have more questions. It wasn't my favorite book by any means but we did spend a couple weeks on it and I had to write an essay on it (though it wasn't my best work lol) so I may be able to help you with some preliminary questions to jump start your thinking. Just let me know!

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Hopefully we'll have a discussion on the book, either in the book club, or in a separate thread. Maybe you can participate with us and share your thoughts on the book with us :)

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Originally Posted by Nossa

Great idea!!! I can postpone reading the book till we get to vote for it in the book club, or at least till you get the time to read it and we can have a discussion thread! :D

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Great! I don't know the order of the countries, so we'll either do it on our own or be part of the book forum. :)

I read the book, finally after reading about 10 pages and then setting it aside for a few months. By the end of the book, I was just in awe. I absolutely loved the book. However, the ending nearly ruined the book for me as well.

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Originally Posted by hearmeoutx

I read the book, finally after reading about 10 pages and then setting it aside for a few months. By the end of the book, I was just in awe. I absolutely loved the book. However, the ending nearly ruined the book for me as well.

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Well then, please don't tell us the ending. :)