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The Road (book)

209 Ratings: 2.7
Cormac McCarthy's epic about a father and son who must survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

   The Road is a 2006 novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. It is a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months, across a landscape blasted by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed … see full wiki

Author: Cormac McCarthy
Genre: Horror, Apocalypse, Science Fiction
Publisher: Knopf, Vintage
Date Published: (September 26, 2006)
56 reviews about The Road (book)
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review by . March 10, 2011
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a grim novel about surviving a post apocalyptic World and the relationship between a father and son. How the World ended is never mentioned but the fact that it has and the dire situation the main characters are put in is the driving force of the book. The father throughout the story line is always encouraging his son to never lose hope and to keep the fire burning that swells inside of them. Will they be able to survive in a dead World? What will they do just to live …
review by . November 17, 2010
Whew! THE ROAD is a draining, exhausting, bleak, gut-wrenching, bleak, fast-paced, bleak novel. Did I mention it was BLEAK?     The book is 279 pages and they fly by. I think I read the book in 4 hours...I could hardly make myself put it down. I wouldn't say I "enjoyed" reading it...but it was thoroughly gripping, as spare and uncompromising a novel as you would ever want to read.     It tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world, where the sun is never seen …
review by . February 27, 2011
posted in SF Signal
I recently finished Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD, a highly praised and award-winning novel that was made into a film that spent all of maybe two hours in theaters. It is also a novel that was appropriated by SF fandom as either "yet another SF novel not marketed as SF because publishers are afraid of the label" or "yet another mainstream author who just doesn't get it trying to write science fiction". My personal conclusion is - The Road is neither. Perhaps an analogy …
review by . November 18, 2010
Whew! THE ROAD is a draining, exhausting, bleak, gut-wrenching, bleak, fast-paced, bleak novel. Did I mention it was BLEAK?     The book is 279 pages and they fly by. I think I read the book in 4 hours...I could hardly make myself put it down. I wouldn't say I "enjoyed" reading it...but it was thoroughly gripping, as spare and uncompromising a novel as you would ever want to read.     It tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world, where the sun is never seen …
review by . July 04, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
There's something timeless and persistent about the dystopian novel.   Whether it's Orwell's 1984, Huxley's Brave New World, or Zamyatin's We, stories detailing the consequences of losing all we know and fearing that what we've dreamed will never come to pass are a powerful lure for the popular imagination.  Humans are resilient creatures, and we take a special interest in tales which paint a picture of human fortitude in the face of daunting circumstances, …
review by . July 14, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
   A friend loaned me this book just before the movie came out.  He told me that it was gut-wrenching, but I don't think he could have prepared me for just how incredibly bleak this book really is.    Of course I read this book as fiction.  I didn't look for any kind of meaning or try to analyze it very much.  My friend is an English and Philosophy major, so I figure he got away more out of this than I did.   I read this book during the winter.  …
Quick Tip by . October 22, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
It will pull you through an emotional wringer, mess you up, wring you out, stomp on you, rewash and rewring ... read it. Understand it is an emotional journey that goes to beautiful extremes.
review by . July 02, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
This was probably one of the darkest and potentially depressing books I've ever read, yet the prose is so beautiful that it did not have that effect on me. I found some passages so absolutely beautiful, I had to re-read them several times just to savor them. The story takes place in a dark, burned, post-apocalyptic world and follows the lives of a father and son who are trying to stay alive, find food, and keep moving. Exactly how this apocalypse happened remains untold. Years afterward, the …
review by . June 20, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
It's hard to imagine our world devoid of sun, vibrant color, or plants of any kind. Yet The Road does conjur up these almost lifeless images and takes readers on a journey through such a landscape: gray, cold, hard, and wearying.  Life does exist, however, even in an environment as non-supportive as Cormac McCarthy has penned: a father and son.      The father and son are at the heart of this story, and their walk through a bleak, …
review by . September 30, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Pros: Plot, control, authentic father, young son discussions.      Cons: Nothing.      The Bottom Line: Not the McCarthy to start with for a newbie, but a good read all the same.      Edited to correct some embarrassing grammatical mistakes      Imagine after the Fifth Symphony, Beethoven (whose hearing at that point allowed him to play the piano like the master he had always been) wrote a very simple, 4 minute piece …
review by . July 06, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
The Road is by no means a happy book, although the companionship and support displayed between a man and young boy is heartfelt and inspiring. With the bleakest outlook on survival and no food, these two are ever running, ever hiding from other's who would steal their provisions.       At times, the simplest can of pears brings more joy to the character's lives than a large sum of money would bring to most people today. The hardships endured by a young boy and the …
review by . June 30, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Seeing the previews for the film version of The Road made me want to check out the book prior to seeing the movie. The book is basically about a father and son on a quest to survive a post-apocalyptic world assumingly in the future (although I have heard some critics say the wasteland may be a metaphor for something else, which I don’t understand). With his wife dead and his world falling apart, the father must lead his son to the coast in hopes to find a better life. I was totally blown away …
review by . May 19, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
        This book will certainly keep your attention; however, it lacks the sort of compelling literary language that bonds a reader to a book. It could be argued that the mundane, elementary language and simple structure aligns nicely with the bleakness of the plot but after awhile I grew bored. Not to say this isn't a great book, but I cannot understand all of the hype. It is simply another good survival/post-apocalyptic novel rooted around a character study of the human …
Quick Tip by . July 27, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Read the book, and don't skip it for the movie. The movie is a convincing adaptation, but lacks the poetry and voice of the original.
Quick Tip by . July 17, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
If you are given to depression or easily saddened, do not even touch this book. The writing style is sharp and clean like Hemingway but the content is nothing but dismal melancholy.
Quick Tip by . July 16, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Depressing, but delightfully so. McCarthy's bleak narrative is engrossing and heartbreaking
Quick Tip by . July 15, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
I haven't read anything else by Cormac McCarthy, but I absolutely fell in love with this book. It is incredibly haunting and beautiful.
Quick Tip by . July 13, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
One of the absolute best books from an excellent writer. I've recommended this to many people, and I've only heard praise, never complaints from those who read it.
Quick Tip by . July 06, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Great book. Read it before you see the movie- it adds a lot of depth. I couldn't put this book down.
Quick Tip by . July 04, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Well written but depressing
Quick Tip by . July 02, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Depressing but engaging. Reminded me a bit of "Blindness".
Quick Tip by . July 01, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Great book, tthe way that McCarthy writes it keeps you engaged. Hard to put down.
Quick Tip by . June 25, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Probably McCarthy's most accessible book.
review by . June 25, 2010
The Road is a heartfelt story of a father and son--two of the few survivors on earth. All throughout the story, they are starving and barely hanging on. I loved this novel and even cried in it--it is one that makes a person think about what the future might possibly hold and about human nature. One question that often came up as I was reading it was "what would I do if I was in their position?" Would I turn to cannibalism, as many of the other survivors had? Would I become evil and …
Quick Tip by . June 23, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Disturbing, riveting and thought-provoking. This book kept me up several nights after I had finished it.
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