Comments on: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

By: greg fahn

greg fahn — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:45:28 +0000

could not put this book down. first cormac mccarthy book i have read and i plan to read others! reminded me of books that were mandatory reading in high school, but that i could not appreciate at the time,(hard to pick up) ie “a seperate peace”; “lord of the flies”; “the pearl”; etc. 25 yrs after graduating high school these are the one’s that still stick with me, in fact i have gone back and started rereading them again! they are better as an adult. this is one of those books. you can only empathize with the father’s situation if you are one yourself, the love you have for your child is that powerful.

By: Kenneth Alton Burke

Kenneth Alton Burke — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:05:02 +0000

Likely many of those who’ve presented comments over the past couple of years didn’t come of literary/dramatic age in the era of Jean Paul Satre, Samuel Beckett, Edward Albee, or Franz Kafka from an even earlier era. While McCarthy isn’t attempting to channel their voices into his writing, The Road pays homage to his existentialist outlook in a purer form than his other oft referenced novels. The reading is astringent, true enough, yet it remains true to the hard straight path (road) he and numerous writers before him chose to follow. What’s more, the end of this story — the man’s death from the effects of the past — leads directly into a muted sunrise for the boy when he (purposely) encounters the man who wears the “grey and yellow ski parka” whose “mouth worked imperfectly, and when he smiled”. Don’t worry, be happy, enjoy this literary trip.

By: mark Groubert

mark Groubert — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:24:20 +0000

I can’t wait til the world ends so I don’t have to use punctuation any more.

By: SuziQ

SuziQ — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:58:43 +0000

I read the book last night in one sitting. (Late at night with no one around except the cat- brave gal I am!) It is a powerful book, no two ways about it. Now I’ve just read many, many reviews, 95% of which are glowing. The other 5% hate it and call Cormac McCarthy a bore.

At first I was disturbed at the total collapse of the rules of grammar and English. Strunk & White would be appalled. The more I read, the more I realized McCarthy did this to make a point. That point, as I see it, is that all the “rules” of the world and society had collapsed. Disappeared. In a post-apocalyptic world the only rule is survival. By dispensing with quote marks, etc., McCarthy illustrates the world as bleak and sparse. On purpose.

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:01:08 +0000

Read it a couple of weeks ago in two days. Gave it to my son; he read it in a few days. Told my brother about it – he finished it in a single night. His comment, left as a voice mail, sums it up best. “About The Road. Wow. What did you just have me read? Call me, let’s talk.” And it’s not like we don’t talk all the time.

I cried like a baby at the end. My son, tough guy that he is, did as well. We both said it is sad beyond words. My brother, otoh, didn’t. He found it uplifting. The devotion, the stripped-of-everything-extraneous model of a good father. I see his point, and he’s right. The Man is the essential father. A demonstration in words of what can be. The story is sad, but that’s the way of the world, of life, even without the end of the world being upon us. (What’s the saying? “Life is veil of tears?”) The story is also uplifting, nothing so blunt as ‘a call’ to be good, but a reflection of the capability of good.

Not a writer, so have no thoughts on his style (though it worked for me, us, in that we all found it beautiful to read), but my opinion is that McCarthy has written about the essence of good in humans. And for some reason that makes me want to burst into tears.

By: Roslyn

Roslyn — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:53:50 +0000

McCarthy is one of this country’s best writers authoring nine novels!

What kind of word is authoring???

By: Maggie

Maggie — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:37:52 +0000

To quote “The big Chill”: Sometimes you just have to let art flow all over you. This book is a little masterpiece.

By: Zoe

Zoe — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:43:50 +0000

For me this was not an easy book to read, but on reflection it is brilliant. It actually physically affected me, as in it sickened me to the core the terrible way they had to live their life. It describes a living hell for existence, and tapped into a deep fear of that. When humanity is either non existent or something to run away from that is terrifying. It made me feel a renewed surge of love and gratitude for other human beings and all the positive things we can do to help each other.

Its very well written and draws you in and you do believe its real.
I wanted it to be a happier ending but kind of knew all along that it wouldn’t be as it wasn’t that kind of book!

Maybe the boy could survive and have a life worth living? hard to imagine. but why do stories always have to have happy endings anyway?

It certainly affected me and touched me for quite a long time afterwards.

I think the genius of this book is that you kind of physically feel it, its certainly different to anything else I’ve ever read.
This definitely touched a different emotional part of me, I think because its on such a huge scale, we are talking about the end of the world here, and yet we only care cos its seen through the eyes of two people.

By: Troy

Troy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:31:33 +0000

Its rare for me to be so affected by a book. After finishing ‘The Road’ I felt physically and mentally exhausted. As if I trudged along in the desolation with them. Truly moving. This type of literature is definitley not for the Harry Potter crowd. Dark and inverted. Wonderfully depressing, if that makes any sense. The relationship between father and son set against such a ghastly backdrop only proves to deepen the emotion. This is one beautiful piece of literature. As for the punctuation and style of writing, once you find McCarthy’s rythm this book flows wonderfully.

By: tom

tom — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:45:11 +0000

Loved the book – but a few questions…
Why were they going to the coast? Is the answer because that is where life first started – the primordial soup? The thinking that life could flourish there once again? What did the road symbolize? Life itself?

By: Yellocow

Yellocow — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:20:13 +0000

Interesting book.
A bit boring because it is kinda repetitive.

But this book was a very good philosophical book about family values and makes us think about what we live for and make us question ourselves about our values. Also, i think the author did not intend to make this a well structured and well written but to really pass on his message.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:01:22 +0000

Totally stunned by The Road. Thankfully some of commentors here AREN’T on the Booker Prize committee. For those posters who found the grammatical constructs difficult to understand, I’m sorry but the way that McCarthy can portray such depth with so few words is breathtaking writing. Punctuation not required. Perhaps you should stick with Harry Potter or the Twilight series.

I agree with everything Damir and Ryan et al said. If only Cormac McCarthy had written the Bible, it’s be a darn sight shorter and hell of lot more interesting and profound.

By: Graham

Graham — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:15:34 +0000

Just finished this book and cannot praise it highly enough. Was in tears by the end (something that has never happened to me reading any other book). As a father of two young sons and someone who has faced (succesfully so far)the spectre of cancer last year the connection between father and son was overwhelming at times for me and forced me to revisit those feelings I had a year previous when I was sick (feelings I had probably suppressed at the time, not wanting to upset my family anymore than they already were). The bond between father and son, despite everything which is happening to them, transcends everything else around them and the father lives on in his child even after he is dead. Read this book and realise what is really important in our lives – our children, family and friends.

By: Damir

Damir — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:12:47 +0000

I wouldn’t get too upset if there are those that don’t like it or don’t get it. Not for everyone. there were times when I wasn’t ready for something only to come back to it years later and finally get it. Me I loved it. Offputting was the conversation between the man and the wife and a little bit too much Waiting for Godot with ELY, that seemed out of place to me. I did not find the punctuation a problem at all. Each paragraph is like a nugget of gold. Each page packs a wollop. It drains you. It made me think about my own relationship with my children.
I like what Jason posted earlier about how the Road taps into the man’s psyche…such visceral emotions, such deep profound moments that are shared between a father and his son. All the bleakness and horror and hopelessness that engulfs these characters and the world they live in and yet…there is hope isn’t there

By: morgan

morgan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:43:49 +0000

this book made me cry soo hard!

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:38:42 +0000

Back again after a few re-reads. This novel is a masterpiece, a post-modern fable. McCarthy’s previous novels contain passages of such lyrical “rightness” that they shine off the page as though lit from within. His gift is the ability to create landmark paragraphs that ring absolutely “true”; the attentive reader will always return to them simply because they are “perfect” writing. In “The Road”, with its unrelentingly, uncompromisingly stark physical and emotional landscape, such lyrically intense passages can have a brutalising effect on the reader that could perhaps be a little too much for some to take. McCarthy has such a complete mastery of language that he takes no prisoners when he launches an assault upon his audience. His aim in “The Road” is to show the reader the very best of humanity by contrasting it with the very worst and doing it in the most amoral, depraved and desperate setting imaginable. Downside? Well, people are gonna baulk. Upside? Once the reader properly engages with the work, he cannot fail to undertake a profound emotional journey along with the protagonists. As for punctuation … phooey … Cormac can do as he likes. But then again, I’m biased; I’d happily be Ol’ Cormac’s dog …

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:58:53 +0000

Back again after re-reading it in anticipation of the movie.

Some of the comments here are odd … criticizing an author’s style is disrespectful? Since when? All is fair game when a reader reviews a book … storytelling and style go hand in hand. If a reader finds that the story, characters, and terse writing resonate with them, that’s great. Others will be put off by the bleakness and/or the quirky style. Few will be neutral. I think the book comes across better after a second or third read … not less chilling, but the subtleties of the characters and their relationships are more apparent.

However, I do wish he’d stick to proper punctuation!

By: jimmy

jimmy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:58:05 +0000

i had to read this book for an english assignment. My teacher gave a rough description of the book and at first i thought i wouldnt like it….i was wrong. I found the book to be inspiring and make me rethink of what is important in the world we live in. This is my first McCarthy novel and i hope i enjoy the rest of them as much as i did the first

By: HunterBear71

HunterBear71 — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:26:07 +0000

McCarthy is our greatest living author. I am really shocked to discover that people exist that read the book but didn’t think it was masterful. Some of these critics demonstrate through their comments that they are primarily concerned with sentence construction. Others appear to understand the brilliant use of language, but can’t fathom the beauty and hope that the story reveals. I feel sorry for the readers who didn’t understand the emotions that McCarthy conjures. These poor souls are living a purely animal existence. The Road is biblical in its power and depth. I cried like a baby at the end. They were sad but joyful tears.

By: mohanlal

mohanlal — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:17:40 +0000

I haven’t read the book yet, but I just saw the trailer of the movie starring Viggo Mortenson. I was blown away and can’t wait to see it. Which makes me wonder whether it would be a good idea to read the book first. I mean, what if that makes me enjoy the movie less? But then if I saw the movie first and read the book later, would I be able to fully enjoy the book?

Dilemma, dilemma.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:51:02 +0000

This was my first McCarthy but won’t be my last. I agree with John of Sparta (way back) that it’s the best fiction of the new millenium. Others have compared McCarthy with Melville; I would put him in the same class, without question. I reckon that centuries from now, (if we still have literature), people will still marvel at McCarthy’s mastery of language. There aren’t that many writers who, like McCarthy, would construct a sentence from a single word, but doing so demonstrates one thing without question. Economy. What some people commenting here don’t seem to understand is that in writing, the number of words counts less than which ones are used and where they’re placed in relation to each other. The spaces between words are there to be inhabited by both the imagination and the emotions of the reader. McCarthy is a superb craftsman and demonstrates a profound understanding of this relationship between author, language and audience.

I have since read and enjoyed tremendously “All the Pretty Horses” and “Blood Meridian” and now have “Cities of the Plain” and “The Crossing” lined up. If you found “The Road” challenging, try “Blood Meridian”. That will be to McCarthy as “Moby Dick” is to Melville.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:38:05 +0000

This is certainly one of the best books I have ever read. I just finished and already look forward to reading it again… tonight!

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:48:00 +0000

Completely mesmerizing. I raced through this book and couldn’t put it down. I’m bored by a lot of current fiction … much of it feels precise but bloodless to me. But this book was beautiful in its ugliness. I don’t know how else to say it. When I finished I wept. Days later, it still haunts me.

By: Aran

Aran — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:12:59 +0000

I was there. It’s as if you walk side by side with the boy and his father, weakening as the story goes by. coughing together with the father, asking yourself as time goes by, what is hope?

The lack of words in this book give it its true power – silence. Cormac’s ability to fill the readers with emptiness bring us the the right tools for handeling Mccarthy’s world.

I wish to thank cormac unike and simple writing.

By: Erin

Erin — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 05:04:49 +0000

LOVED this book. It was written not with words, but with the paint of an expert artist. an abstract book that leaves the reader to fill in the blanks with his own imaginings of this dark and bleak world of despair.

Absolutely touching, and heartbreaking at the same time. The love and dedication of a father for his son is beautifully illustrated by the author. They were the only things in the “world entire” that kept eachother going, and in the end, the father would always be with the son, in his heart. (tears)

By: torii

torii — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:21:25 +0000

One of the worst books I have ever read. its a great story line, but i prefer to read books in engish. The road uses words and puts a period at the end. its not a sentence!! Tools, hammers, nails. is not a sentence, it makes no sense. this book is also insanely frekin boring. theres no point to it, by the point the man and the boy are at, i definetly would have commited suicide by then. nothing happens. they just walk, sometimes they find people, sometimes they find things they need, but most of the time they suffer. who wants to read about suffering w/o any hope at all? not me. it makes me depressed. so if u do like this book, i just hope you dont think itll end like that, because that would suck. terribly. < that is another example of a not a sentence sentence in the road.

book is horrible i would say don’t waste your time reading it because then u might want to relearn how to form a sentence!

By: brittney

brittney — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:46:38 +0000

love this book

By: Pawhuska

Pawhuska — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:39:21 +0000

Those who are weak don’t fight.
Those who are stronger might fight for an hour.
Those who are stronger still might fight for many years.
The strongest fight their whole life.
They are the indispensable ones. – B. Brecht

This is a powerful and compelling book of despair, hunger, good and bad, hope and foremost love – as the key to survival in life. Why do we go one despite impossible odds and the dark aspects of life? We do it for love for others and ourselves. I have never read a more moving story of love between a father and son! It moved me to tears! By the way, I think the mother also showed her love – and gave the ultimate sacrifice – her life – so that the father and son could concentrate on themselves, their survival and there lives. In the end, there would be enough bullets for the two who are left. The mother was strong enough to give her life for them – out of love! The father (and mother) gave everything for their son and instilled hope and the “fire” in him. What greater legacy can there be for a child? The father (and mother) gave everything for their son and instilled hope and the “fire” in him. What greater legacy can there be for a child? In the memory and the “talks” with his father, his parents achieved immortality and the ultimate affection – the remembrance and a place in the heart of the boy.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:21:03 +0000

I read The Road in 2 days and could not stop thinking about it in between. The pacing of the novel is perfect, how McCarthy can paint such a beautifully descriptive scene and maintain an urgency to everything the father and son do is beyond me. There are moments you want to stop and stare at the world he has created, beautiful in its dark, cold, searing blanket of ash, but you move on down “The Road” knowing that movement is your only chance for survival. Few books, videogames, movies, etc can create such a sense of tension and sustain it throughout. McCarthy is a modern marvel of fiction. For those above that did not like the book, I challenge you to go back to page 108 (right before they break the lock and enter the dank basement filled with “captives”) and re-read that scene and the 2 that follow, ending with the son’s “We won’t ever eat anyone will we? Because we’re the good guys right?” If after reading it again that scene doesn’t affect you then you have every right to dismiss the book, but personally, it haunts me and this was the first book I read that I truly wished I could read in the dark, blank cold of night without light. Can’t wait to read it again.

By: vita

vita — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 01:48:31 +0000

hey made it to the coast, the promised land, but the father died because he sinned in his lapsed morality, yet he died with hope in his heart for his son, his salvation. The boy was rewarded with a new hop via the new family.