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Post by scrith on Apr 1, 2007 19:12:46 GMT -5
Has anyone here read this book? It reminds me, a little bit, of Stalker. Post apocalyptic, without a need (or effort) to explain what came before, only of what is going on now for the characters who are living after some catastrophic, life-changing event on Earth.
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Post by kingfisher on Jul 29, 2007 13:35:13 GMT -5
Yes, I have read it, and it is an absolutely fantastic read. After I finished I immediately went back to the start and read it again.
Would you care to share anything that immediately jumped out while you read it?
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blue
Trespasser
The Snail
Posts: 32 
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Post by blue on Jul 30, 2007 12:03:41 GMT -5
And, in the meantime, while waiting for scrith, why don’t you give us your own impressions? What was it in it that made you read it again immediately?
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Post by kingfisher on Aug 2, 2007 9:51:52 GMT -5
Books like "The Road" are a rarity. When I experience books like this it is like coming across a spring in the desert. Sometimes you are so thirsty your mind switches off and you just need to slake your thirst. After you are quenched, you drink again with a greater appreciation.
I really wouldn't know how to do it justice without spoiling some of the narrative. While I read the book I had no prior knowledge about where it was going to go and to what end. That slowed me down to the rate of comprehension of the protagonists (a man, and his young son, born just two days after the cataclyism).
The language is sparse, no word seems wasted. You just watch the world unfold like the road of the title. It has moments of terror and desolation. But I trusted Mccarthy to guide me through the landscape and not disappoint me. He didn't.
I have passed it on to 2 people since I read it and they had similar experiences with it.
I would echo the sentiments of scrith, it is like Stalker. One of the great stories that have always been with us, and are best experienced when entrusted with a person capable of bringing it through.
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blue
Trespasser
The Snail
Posts: 32
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Post by blue on Aug 4, 2007 10:39:24 GMT -5
I very well recognise the feeling of finding a spring in the desert. And we are lucky that there are actually any springs there.  I think I'll give The Road a try. |
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Post by kingfisher on Aug 7, 2007 5:04:19 GMT -5
;D Be sure to let us know what you think Blue
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blue
Trespasser
The Snail
Posts: 32
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Post by blue on Dec 30, 2007 9:55:37 GMT -5
I read The Road. It is a depressing story, but at the same time it makes interesting reading. I don't connect it with Stalker since here 'the Zone' is completely dead, while in Stalker it is alive, in one way or another. It is also that The Road is about sheer physical survival, without a spiritual dimension.
On foot through devastated landscapes... The message of the book is, I think, that we should never give up carrying the fire. We must always carry the fire.
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Post by kingfisher on Jan 9, 2009 7:14:22 GMT -5
Hi Blue,
I am inclined to agree with you on everything but the lack of spiritual dimension. It is there (carrying the fire) but it is something in short supply and scavenged from a wreck.
My opinion of Cormac Mccarthy's writing has changed somewhat over the past few months. I'm no longer sure it is a good thing. There is something close to the zeitgeist within but these are troubled times and I am not sure how close to that I want to be anymore. I would venture that exploring the wreck is better than offering trite answers to the big problems, but this is no substitute for faith and hope.
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Post by Pauk on Mar 22, 2011 21:12:32 GMT -5
The ending destroys the book for me. As for spiritual dimensions, they are similar because they're both ersatz, both created in absence of anything else or presence of what one can't deal with. It's different with Picnic though, where it's more primeval.
The film with Viggo Mortensen left me daydreaming about a full-sci-fi version of the Strugatsky's story...
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