The Road

The last place I look for my book recommendations is on the Oprah Book Club. But, after a heartfelt review from a friend of mine, I read The Road, by Cormac McCarthy.

As BoMR (Both of My Readers) know, I am an atheist and as I began this book, it smelled suspiciously of a parable. In fact, there was something “biblical” in the writing. So, I was very guarded while reading it which may have taken some of the magic away. But once I let go of my defensiveness, this book grabbed me by the throat and ripped my heart from my chest.

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world the cause of which is never determined. But clearly almost all life has been destroyed and the landscape can only be described in the oft-used word as ashen. We follow the travels of two survivors, a father and son, as they head south in search of warmer climates. The two are never named, which is a perfect trick to allow the reader to insert themselves into the roles.

During their travels, they encounter lots of nothing interspersed with scenes of intensely disturbing images. But these two trudge on with nothing but a shopping cart filled with their worldly possessions. We are constantly faced with the bleakness of their situation. They move forward but at no point are we confident that it will serve any purpose. In fact, the man is very aware the day may come that he will need to take his son’s life in place of continuing.

The constant dirge of the bleak landscape is threaded with the boy’s humanity. We are lead to believe that this boy wasn’t even alive before the world ended, but he still retains a nearly innate goodness.

I can’t tell if this book should be called science fiction, because I believe it would water down all-too-real scenario.

Though, there is some religious imagery and there is a feeling that the boy appears almost to be “the Chosen One”, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in having their hearts chewed on and spat out.

Have you had a chance to read this book? What did you think of it?