Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 2273
 Haunting.... July 28, 2010
Bobby T (South Riding, VA)
This book was simply haunting. It captured my attention, sucked me in, and did not let go until it was finished. I was literally shaking during parts of this book and I completely attached myself to the Father and Son during their quest for survival.
WONDERFUL book!!!
Impressive July 27, 2010
CJM - (London, UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Man and boy struggle along a harsh and surprising obstacle course and gain our sympathy.
Is it possible for a book to be perfect? July 27, 2010
David Heafey (Boston, MA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is not a happy book. This is not a story where you walk away feeling warm and fuzzy. Rather, you may feel, as I did, frightened.
The Road, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by one of America's greatest talents, is an unnerving, bleak, and dark tale of a father and son trudging through a post apocalyptic vision of our world. To call a post apocalyptic tale bleak, unnerving, and dark is somewhat obvious, but McCarthy explores the subject with a skill that borders on perfection. The realism with which he portrays the characters and the world around them is nothing short of stunning. There is no flash; there is no glamor; and there is little hope. It all seems very real.
The key to understanding this story's arc is to get past all of the pain and the gruesomeness surrounding the father and the boy. The story is about hope and an infinite love between a father and son, so infinite that the father endures endless suffering to insure his son survives.
McCarthy's writing, as I stated above, is nothing short of astounding. This is a short book with far less on the page than one may be accustomed to, but it has far more impact. 1 page is equivalent to 5 in another story; McCarthy uses vocabulary, meter and punctuation masterfully to bring his point across. His words are chosen carefully to evoke a certain emotion. This book borders on prose, so thick and dense that you may need a break after just a few pages, a break to contemplate and digest what you've just read.
In a world where most readers have short attention spans and need to be led through the story, McCarthy gives us a shining example of what writing should be: a masterpiece that lingers with you for a very, very long time.
 A Glimpse into a Bleak World Where Love Keeps a Father and Son Together, Surviving July 26, 2010
Steven (Colorado, USA)
The Road is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Cormac McCarthy (author of No Country for Old Men, The Orchard Keeper, amongst others) which depicts post-apocalyptic survival.
A father and his adolescent son are trekking south after an unknown (to the reader) catastrophic event. The world is barren, cold, unforgiving. The duo hope that by traveling south along a desolate highway to the shores they will find warmth and 'good people'. A majority of this book is spent following the footsteps of the father and son, reading about the horrors they witness along the way, and there are plenty.
McCarthy's melancholic prose serves well for the most part, however many passages start to feel repetitive. You are often reading about how cold it is, the ashes, the hunger and he fills in the gaps with short, repetitive dialog between the father and son, plundering or running/hiding from the 'bad people'. At times it felt like McCarthy had to force this into a full-length novel.
In the end, I can't help but feel that McCarthy worked to pen the most depressing scenario plotted by the most disturbing circumstances only to depress the readers and make them feel 'moved' by the work. I'm no stranger to depressing books, however often times when I'm finished reading these books I have a lot to think about. This is by no means a terrible book, it did pull at my heart-strings, but when it comes down to it there wasn't much for me to think about after finishing this book other than "Man, that was effed up!".
 The Road by Cormac McCarthy July 25, 2010
Linda Woodard (Texas)
It was so sad but the author did a great job of tying it all in. I would recommend it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 2273
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