The Road by Cormac McCarthy

[Indian Boy]

I think you are all overanalyzing the title of the book and the boy's "ok's". In my opinion the book is a simple story about a father and son trying to survive in a dark post apocalyptic time. The real idea behind the story is a father's love for his child, and his concern that the boy would not be able to survive if something were to happen to him. This builds the interest in the story b/c we are always wondering what would happen if the father dies.

I'm somewhat perplexed why everyone has a hard time with the title, 'The Road'. The entire story is based on the father and son following the road. So what's the problem with saying, "Oh I get, the road symbolizes the actual road." ???

the boy's Ok's. I think it's just because the kid is young and naive and that's how he answers. It's simple and it works.

[TheFifthElement]

the boy's Ok's. I think it's just because the kid is young and naive and that's how he answers. It's simple and it works.

I don't think youth and naivity account for it. By rights the boy is probably less naive than children of the same age in current society. But the boy was born post-apocalypse and in the post-apocalyptic world economy, sparsity is everything. The boy's answers are sparse and economical because that's all he knows and all he will ever know. There's no room for fancy talk, everything is stripped bare including language. It's all about survival, living by the bare minimum.

It's one of the things I especially like about The Road compared to the other McCarthy novels I've read. The language is less lyrical, more repetitive, more sparse but so is the world he describes, I think that's the point. The language reflects the theme.

[mpeachhead]

I agree. The Road is the most accessible of any of McCarthy's novels. The prose is sparse and economical just like the landscape. Some say the novel is depressing, but the metaphor of the father and boy "carrying the fire" is one of the most beautiful themes I've ever encountered. In addition, I love the scene where the man discovers the sextant in the wrecked sailboat. He describes it as a thing of beauty. It's a relic, perfectly preserved from the world of man.

That novel is filled with unspeakable violence and depravity but peppered with moments of sheer beauty.

[ennison]

"No Country For Old Men" is the most "accessible" of his books having been obviously written with the aim of being taken up by the film makers, which it was.
Is there violence in McCarthy's novels? Well obviously, yes but his vision of the world includes acceptance both of the violence inherent in the human condition and in American history. Outsiders looking into America are very aware of a divided and incredibly violent society in a way that many Americans living in peaceful communities in a continental-sized nation are probably completely oblivious of. The frontier life of 17th to 19th century America has left its mark on the modern American psyche. McCarthy is an intelligent and I'd say awestruck observer of that. Does he overwrite? To some extent but the later books are very paired down in terms of language. He takes ordinary people seriously. That's one thing I like about him.

[Dark Muse]

I have heard a great deal about McCarthy, and heard it speculated that he will become a modern classic, I have also heard that his books tend to be quite bleak and dark which had stirred my intrigue. Than I saw the previews for the movie The Road, and was able to borrow a copy of the book from my sister, and so I set myself to reading the book before seeing the movie.

I have to say it really is quite an easy and fast read, as well as being rather engaging. I really enjoy the narrative style of the book, there is a minimalist quality to it, that works quite well with the story. Considering the nature of the story, he does quite well in keeping it from really seeming to drag. To write a story wear really nothing actually happens, and still keep it interesting would be quite the task.

One of the things I find most interesting about the story is the way in which the main characters a man and his son, are never named and throughout the story are referred to simply as "the man" and "the boy" I think doing this serves two different purposes. For one thing it speaks of the loss of identity, in a world that itself has been erased of its identity, and is cast in nothing but the constant grayness, the things of which a person uses to define themselves have disappeared and the importance of some idea of individual self no longer truly matters.

This idea of "who is anybody" anymore is one that does recur through the story. There is one rather interesting scene in which the man fails to recognize his own reflection in a mirror.

The other reason for this lack of assigning a specific identity upon the characters is the way in which it becomes than, that it could be any man, any boy, anyone. The reader can attach their own personal identities upon the characters.

Another interesting facet of the story is the way in which it is not explained just how what happened came to happen (at least not from the point in which I am at) The reason why is rendered insignificant, all the matters is that it did happen. I think this is another way of trying to make the story more personalized. By refusing to propose any particular ideology or theories in what led up to this bleak state of the world, no one can than feel isolated from the event. Each individual can interpret their own personal causes or reasons for why it happened, so no one is removed from the story by being given a scenario that is in contrast to what they believe.

[Eryk]

Another interesting facet of the story is the way in which it is not explained just how what happened came to happen

Nuclear war is the most likely cause.

The clocks stopped at 1:17. A long shear of light and then a series of low concussions.

Brilliant flash of light, and a burst of electromagnetic radiation from nuclear explosions damaging electrical systems. Severely cold weather and reduced sunlight from large amounts of smoke and soot ejected into the stratosphere. Another possibility is a comet or asteroid ("impact winter") but when asked about this McCarthy said that we'd probably destroy ourselves before that happens.

What a book. Bleak, sometimes horrifying, but mostly bleak with lots of suspense, and then the ending... I don't want to say anything to give it away, but I was very moved.

[Dark Muse]

Yes, there are perhaps clues about what happened, but still I think it is significant that it is not plainly spelled out, and the suggestions offered within could be interpreted in various different ways depending upon what an individual believes.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I must break the tide of applause that this book has received and say that I didn't like it. It is true that I did not devote enough time to it (which seems to be the thing recently) but I just disliked his narrative style so much that it turned me off almost immediately.

[Eryk]

I must break the tide of applause that this book has received and say that I didn't like it. It is true that I did not devote enough time to it (which seems to be the thing recently) but I just disliked his narrative style so much that it turned me off almost immediately.

I don't like his eccentric punctuation, dialogue, the sparse Hemingwayesque prose with Thomas Wolfe flourishes. Other than that I loved it.

I've read No Country for Old Men and now this, and I might be done with McCarthy now. But I have to say that The Road was one vivid and affecting piece of storytelling, for me.

[Modest Proposal]

I read a--very rare, considering the author--interview with McCarthy and he mentioned some scientific explanations for the apocalypse. He mentioned some Santa Fe scientific group that he frequents and talking with the scientists about several logical explanations. He seemed not too concerned with the 'reason' the earth was destroyed, but more concerned with the relationships in the wake. More importantly, he was CONSPICUOUSLY reluctant to suggest it was the clichéd 'nuclear war' or 'global warming' that tend to seem politically ham-fisted.

[Dark Muse]

I don't like his eccentric punctuation, dialogue, the sparse Hemingwayesque prose with Thomas Wolfe flourishes. Other than that I loved it.

Haha considering I am actually a fan of Hemingway and his prose and writing style, that is probably one of the things that I do enjoy so much about this book.

[Virgil]

The book was a lit net book club one month last year and was discussed fairly extensively here: http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=36194. I think there may be another thread on the book as well.

One of the things I find most interesting about the story is the way in which the main characters a man and his son, are never named and throughout the story are referred to simply as "the man" and "the boy" I think doing this serves two different purposes. For one thing it speaks of the loss of identity, in a world that itself has been erased of its identity, and is cast in nothing but the constant grayness, the things of which a person uses to define themselves have disappeared and the importance of some idea of individual self no longer truly matters.

This idea of "who is anybody" anymore is one that does recur through the story. There is one rather interesting scene in which the man fails to recognize his own reflection in a mirror.

The other reason for this lack of assigning a specific identity upon the characters is the way in which it becomes than, that it could be any man, any boy, anyone. The reader can attach their own personal identities upon the characters.

I think that is quite insightful. I think the notion of identity and what remains of our identity given the circumstances is important to the novel. I think the circumstances reduce humanity to bare animal existence, and at that point all identity is secondary.

Oh the movie is fionally comng out this month. I'm not much of a movie goer, but I definitely intend to see it.

[Dark Muse]

I think that is quite insightful. I think the notion of identity and what remains of our identity given the circumstances is important to the novel. I think the circumstances reduce humanity to bare animal existence, and at that point all identity is secondary.

I am a big fan of the 20th century literature that focuses so much around the ideas of identity angst which was born up out of the war. I think that is one of the things that I enjoy about The Road, there are aspects of it which remind me of that.

[Virgil]

I'm a fan of that identity angst as well.

[Pryderi Agni]

The trailers for the movie has made my hungry for the book. Guess I'll read it one of these days. Good premise, though.