Snapshot Book Review: The Road

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was extremely well written. For a novel in which virtually nothing happens to further a plot that leads basically from misery to death concerning two characters with almost no backstory, I was actually rather impressed. These reasons--lack of driving plot, lack of conclusive ending, lack of backstory explaining who the characters are or how the world that exists in such ruin came to be--are why I did not like this novel. But that is my personal preference. In spite of those preferences, I must say that tMcCarthy's writing is sparse and yet nearly lyrical in its stark simplicity. Ruin, destruction, destitution, and hopelessness permeate book, and yet the perseverance and loyalty of the father and son traveling through this world gives the reader an odd sense of futile and yet gratifying hope and satisfaction. The Road shows the beauty and preciousness of life and the enduring nature of love in spite of a devastating past and bleak future.


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