I bought Cormac McCarthy's latest opus The Road not because Oprah recently added it to the Oprah Book Cult, but because one of the smartest bloggers I know suggested it.All of the comments I've heard about the story are true. It is dismal, and tragic and bleak. In fact, saying this story is bleak is like saying the Pope is a little bit Catholic. It's like calling Larry Moore "mature" (had to get a Larry Moore dig in there).
This is a raw cheerless book. And yet somehow, after consuming it in about a day and a half (I do have a job unfortunately) I wasn't depressed at all. In fact, quite the opposite.
In case you haven't heard about it yet, the story follows the struggles of an unnamed man and his young son as they trudge through a post-apocalyptic America on their way to the coast and what they hope will be a better life. Along the way, they face threats from starvation, freezing, sickness and (gulp) cannibals.
It seemed to me McCarthy was attempting to strip away everything but the essence of existence. He peeled off the unnecessary layers of luxury, money, success, power, religion (though not necessarily spirituality) and cheap sentimentality in an attempt to discuss the core issues of why we are here.
Reflective of this philosophy, the writing is sparse, like the landscape it is describing. Anything unessential has been left out -- even to the point of eliminating some punctuation and parts of sentences.
This is all to illustrate that there is one thing important in this story: The relationship between the man and his son. In the world that McCarthy has conjured, there is no reason to go on living other than their love for each other. They are "each other's world entire" as McCarthy writes.
And this is the hope and beauty of the story set in an altogether ugly world. That at the heart of everything, taking away all of that which we think is important, in the end love is what will sustain us.
There was much symbolism around the nature of God, good and evil, and all manner of ethical questions that smarter people than I will get into.
But for me, the book wasn't depressing. In fact, when I finished the final pages my only thought was that I wanted to pick up my 4-year-old daughter and give her a long hug.
And that's what I did.
Rating: Highly recommended
PS - I was remiss in omitting these excellent and insightful posts about The Road by other of the smartest bloggers I know:
- Joel from Cup o' Joel: The Road
- Randall Sherman at Musings from the Hinterland: Creation "Myths" Meet Creation Reality: Some Thoughts On Cormac McCarthy's The Road
I'm not gonna lie. I was hoping that one of the "smartest bloggers" was me.
ReplyDelete(Sigh.)
Thanks for stopping by and leaving the fine comment on that long-ago post (kind of makes me wonder what else people have posted on older posts that, because I'm not receiving e-mail notifications of comments, I simply don't know about). I'm also glad to know that some little something I said caused you to find this fine novel. I think it really is a return to form for McCarthy, but--as I'm sure I've said many a time--typically he's much, much darker than in The Road
ReplyDeleteAnd it won a Pulitzer today.
ReplyDeleteDude, your links are all hosed up!
ReplyDeleteI clicked on "one of the smartest bloggers I know" and it did NOT take me to my profile.
Just thought you should know so you can get that corrected.
Joel and XO, you're two of the other smartest bloggers I know.
ReplyDeleteJohn B., I didn't really expect my comment to be seen by many, late as I am to the conversation. But thanks for stopping by to comment here.
HIB, thanks for the update. I hadn't seen that news. Let me know if you want to borrow my copy.
emawkc, I saw it only because I happened to check Technorati tonight. But I've just added a Recent Comments hack on my blog which will show new comments on older posts, and yours is presently at the top of the list. I hope it'll bring others by your place.
ReplyDeleteI was just joking, actually, but thanks for the shout-out!
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for the plug. I came over from John's for the "Paris" post but missed this one until today. The Road is one of those few books that I could read over and over. The simplicity as you describe belies the depth of the ideas in it. Astounding work, actually.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
Thanks for stopping buy Randall. I will absolutely give this book a second read.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, it's only a matter of time before this becomes a feature movie. It would be very easy to make, and if done correctly, very powerful.