Because Sarah P. asked me to, here goes a book review. I apologize for format and such since I’ve never done a professional book review. Here are my thoughts on the book (warning: spoilers):
In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, two central characters, “The man” and “The boy,” are followed as they attempt to survive in a post-apocalyptic United States. The story does not give background as to when the “event” happened or how long they have been on “The Road” but it seems to have been awhile. The mother has long since committed suicide and the family is just two: the man and his boy.
The father/son dynamic is what was so touching to me in this novel. The man would stop at nothing to protect his son, making sure he had first choice at whatever food and clothing they found along the way, and protecting him from cannibals and other bad people. The story takes place in nuclear winter and the location is undisclosed. The man and boy are constantly discussing that they are traveling South because it is warmer. They meet very few people on their journey but those who cross their paths are mostly dangerous.
The question of whether or not God exists is a common, yet subtle theme. I feel that the man does truly want to believe that God exists, yet the circumstances surrounding their survival conflict him. He sees so much good in the boy and finds it difficult to not believe in God when there is an almost-perfect young man in front of him. However, he also struggles to understand why God would let something like this happen to such a good and innocent child. Don’t we all ask questions such as these, even today? In the end, the story portrays redemption as the child does find people who “carry the fire” (good people) right after his Papa dies. He goes with them and that’s the end of the story.
McCarthy’s writing style takes some getting used to and there are no chapters. But it works. He has the authority to leave out apostrophes and write in sentence fragments. I had no problems understanding what he was trying to say. I thought it was cleverly written and just for convenience-sake, being able to stop every few paragraphs without interrupting the story too much was a huge plus for me.
Overall, I really loved this book. The man had so much character and his love for his son is what got him through each day. The boy was so clever and loving and compassionate. It makes one wonder how they would handle a global disaster such as this. I sure hope nothing like this happens in my lifetime.
*Feel free to ask questions if I didn’t address something in the book.
Good review Lele. I loved the book as well. Only thing I would suggest or am interested in hearing is what it represents to you.
I don’t care what a lit teacher thinks, but I do like to know what other people, normal readers think. What is “the road” that is in the book? What does it represent to you? What do the man and the boy each represent? The world in general?
Old man McArthy is one deep soul. I don’t know what he was intending but it is a book that really makes one think.
Honestly, I’m horrible at trying to figure out “meaning” and allegories and such. But I did feel like the book represented the human condition. Good verses Evil. Ultimately Good exists in the face of Evil, even if it’s outnumbered. And that some humans will stop at nothing to survive; some will do abide by the unwritten morale code and some will commit heinous acts to further their lifespan. “The Road” in my opinion is the path of life (I’m making it sound simplistic and obvious). It’s which way we choose to go that matters: Good or Evil? That’s the best I could come up with…
Good review. I agree that this is a novel of the ultimate and eternal battle between Good and Evil. McCarthy suggests that good and evil lie within humans, but I think he is also concerned with Good and Evil as external forces in the universe. I don’t recall a specific encounter with Satan–and I don’t think it really can be boiled down to an allegory of any sort. But God is definitely a matter of concern. Whether you can locate the acts of God in the book is a debatable matter–and might make for an interesting debate, indeed. But BELIEF in God is central question–whether it is necessary or possible for humans to believe–and I think he gives an answer at the end of the novel. All along he promises to kill his son if he cannot live to protect him, but in the end, he can’t do it. In a cynical view, you could say that the father failed to keep his promise because of a lack of courage, and I think it’s important to consider that possibility. But the constant hopefulness of the boy in the face of the WORST of humanity–and I don’t think you could get worse than this book if you tried!–and the hopeful ending of the book favor the search for and belief in good. To kill the boy would have been surrender to despair–the route his mother takes–and a denial of hope and good. The people who find the boy, and we might assume all the people who “carry the fire” not only believe in good but also believe in GOD. When confronted with such evidence of evil in humanity, it seems that the only way to maintain any faith in good is to believe in God–a consistent source of good independent of humanity.
Sarah, I don’t recall an encounter with Satan either…I think the “bad” humans were satanic enough to represent the devil himself. I agree with all that you said. I should have known you’d be able to express it better than I; you’re an old pro by now.
Oh, no, I’m not saying anything better than you–just contributing to the conversation. That’s why I asked you about it–I knew you would have interesting things to say.
Aw, thanks, girl. Back at ya! We need to do this more often. What are you reading right now? Anything interesting? I’m trying to finish The Book Thief but just don’t have time to sit down and read right now.
At the moment, I’m up to my eyeballs in dissertation, but here’s a list of books I’m working with right now and would love to discuss if you are interested in reading them:
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (really long but very good–about a missionary family in Africa)
Saving Grace by Lee Smith (about snake-handlers)
The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds (about a girl in a reclusive Pentecostal-type community who gets pregnant–this might be the quickest read)
The Color Purple by Alice Walker (um..it’s hard to say in a few words what this is about) (there’s a really good movie)
Mama Day by Gloria Naylor (about lots of voo-doo/hoo-doo)
Beloved by Toni Morrison (about the ghost of a dead baby who haunts her mother) (there’s a movie but I don’t like it)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (about some people who pray to a statue of Mary) (and there’s a decent movie)
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (about a woman who has sex with a monk) (there’s a Lifetime movie)
Pardon my over-simplified characterizations of the books! They all have a religious bent because my diss is about religion. Well, about fiction that uses religion. I better learn a better way to say what my diss is about! I would call those by Walker, Morrison, Naylor, and Kingsolver some of the very best novels in American literature.
Now I feel like writing a movie review of Bees. If I do I’ll post it on Facebook.
(If we didn’t live so far apart I’d say we should go see the movie of The Road together)
Oooh, thanks! I’ll have to check those out. And I’d love to see a movie review.