Books

The Road

Sick guy walks his son through a nasty world. 

McCarthy is exquisitely economical in his storytelling. We never learn the origin of the apocalypse, we never have to grind through routine establishing scenes, and I don’t recall the word suicide appearing at all, despite the centrality of the concept to the characters. 

He’s also impeccably balanced. If I were to rattle off a synopsis, you’d say “well, that’s just gut punch after ruthless gut punch!” But it doesn’t feel that way when you’re reading it, because the father’s love for the boy imbues every scene with meaning and his conscience keeps the horror at arm’s length. 

What would be a boring parade of grotesques in a less capable writer’s hands becomes a spellbinding odyssey in McCarthy’s. 

I was late to this book because I treat popularity and Pulitzers as counter signal on modern books. But this book deserves them. It has staying power. Everyone should read it. 

Five stars, an instant classic.

Probably 15 years since I read the book, shortly before the movie came out. 

Both were excellent in my recollection.