The Road (novel)

[WillsBabe]

I've just finished this book. Like a lot of people, I read it in only a few sittings. It's several hours since I finished the final page and it's still lingering with me, the themes, and imagery and the characters. Even though they were nameless and their dialogue semi-reported, these characters are still very real to me.

The imagery and the struggle of the novel were made more vivid for me because I read it during a couple of horrendous days in which I tried and failed to make it home from one end of the country to the other in which arctic conditions brought the travel network to a standstill.

I have the dvd of the film lying on my coffee table, and like the films of all wonderful pieces of literature, I am reticent to see it.

So, any other lovers of The Road out there?

 

[cultcross]

Haven't read it, but may well do on this recommendation!

 

[Skellington]

Haven't read it but did see the film once on DVD. It works as a very good mood piece. The acting is really good, with Viggo on top form.

 

[23skidoo]

The book was recommended to me by a friend thusly:

"By the end, the book will smell like rotten flesh."

And he was right. This was definitely one of the more vivid post-apocalyptic books I've read, and also compares favorably to the works of William Burroughs. It also caused me to reevaluate Oprah's Book Club because this, along with Middlesex and a couple of other books featured in the last few years, are definitely NOT the type of books that fit the stereotype that (rightly or wrongly) was created surrounding the book club. That stereotype being that most of the books were "chick books" aimed at people who tended to read stuff like Fried Green Tomatoes. As I say, whether correct or not, that's the stereotype - I remember one well-known author whose name I forget was mortified to learn he'd been named to Oprah's club and demanded to be removed. I don't know what came of that.

To be fair to Oprah, the same stereotype exists for book clubs in general. You're more likely to see such groups examine, say, Life of Pi than The Naked Lunch. Or some SF novel by Robert Heinlein or Poul Anderson, for that matter.

Back to The Road, it was a good book to read, but I definitely have no desire to read it again. It was pretty intimidating, physically. And I actually have no desire to see the film, either, because I'm of the opinion that this is one of those books that just can't be translated into film properly. I know people have also said that about stuff like Lord of the Rings, but in this case I'm not even curious to see how it turned out.

I've tried reading other McCarthy books since then, such as Blood Meridian, but I just haven't been able to get into them.

Alex

 

[Gaith]

Haven't read it, no desire to, but the movie did inspire my favorite IMDB user review ever:

Spoiler: Read that review

When my husband and I went to see this movie, we chose it purely because a) it wasn't one of the ridiculous movies already out, and b) it got a good rating on Rotten Tomatoes. At the snack counter, a poster proclaimed, "One of the most uplifting and optimistic movies of the year!"

After watching that movie, we concluded that the poster reviewer either was completely high, wandered into the wrong theater by mistake, or thinks that Schindler's List was a wacky comedy. The Road has to be one of the most depressing, pointless, excruciating movies you could ever see. It will make you want to go home and stick your head in the oven.

The first 7 hours of the movie contain an endless slog through a desolate landscape bereft of plant and animal life. Only bugs and humans remain, somehow. Everything else on Earth has been burnt or smashed by some unacknowledged Doomsday Event. The director leaves it up to the audience to somehow figure out what kind of reasonable scientific explanation could account for anyone surviving for any amount of time after all the oxygen-producing plant life plus everything else in the food chain between bugs and people bit the dust. Apparently it happens through the magic of Dole Pineapple Chunks, the search for which takes up another 4 hours of movie.

Once you get inured to this laugh riot, you eventually start to disassociate from the main characters. The Boy in the book is supposed to be 6 or 7. In the movie, though, he looks to be about 10 or 11, but seems to still act 6 or 7. He comes across as a total feeb and you start to wonder how a kid born on the cusp of a complete apocalypse manages to have such poor coping skills. The Kid was supposed to have been running into dead bodies and cannibals practically every day of his life so you'd think he'd be over it after 9-10 years, but no, he manages to seem traumatized at every instance.

Dad doesn't help things out much as he spends his days talking to the kid like he's three and tucking him in and carrying him around every chance he gets. I'm sure that'll help grow hair on his chest, Dad! It's nice to see that no matter how shitty the world gets, there's always a parent willing to overshelter their kid from the reality of their situation.

Dad also seems to make poor survival decisions. The poorest decision comes when the two find a friggin' BOMB SHELTER FILLED WITH FOOD AND WARM BEDS, but after a couple days they need to abandon it because they heard somebody walking around up top. Apparently this is the only bomb shelter in existence that didn't come with a lock on the hatch, and everyone knows how easy it is for a starving bum to breach a cement bunker with a steel trap door on it. It's much easier to pile a bunch of crap in an old push wagon and hit the road again to defend it in the open air against every marauder and sneak thief that walks by, while you slowly die from exposure.

But one can't point fingers at such glaring plot holes, because This Is Such A Serious, Award-Winning Oscar Contender! You can tell this movie is an Oscar contender because the kid cries real tears and there are at least a couple scenes where the audience gets treated to a rear view of Viggo's naked ass and nutsack. Everyone knows that if Viggo is letting you see his junk, he's very much into his role and you should respect his process by taking his nuts very seriously like he does.

There's a scene somewhere in the middle where The Mom (Charlize Theron) decides to end it by walking out into the freezing winter in her sleep shirt to die in the woods, because she can't take it anymore. By the end of the movie, you'll be wishing you'd walked out in the middle too.

There was one very uplifting part to our experience, though: After leaving the theater, my husband found a five dollar bill on the ground. That cheered us up immensely. There is life after this movie!

 

[Skellington]

Haven't read it, no desire to, but the movie did inspire my favorite IMDB user review ever:

Spoiler: Read that review

When my husband and I went to see this movie, we chose it purely because a) it wasn't one of the ridiculous movies already out, and b) it got a good rating on Rotten Tomatoes. At the snack counter, a poster proclaimed, "One of the most uplifting and optimistic movies of the year!"

After watching that movie, we concluded that the poster reviewer either was completely high, wandered into the wrong theater by mistake, or thinks that Schindler's List was a wacky comedy. The Road has to be one of the most depressing, pointless, excruciating movies you could ever see. It will make you want to go home and stick your head in the oven.

The first 7 hours of the movie contain an endless slog through a desolate landscape bereft of plant and animal life. Only bugs and humans remain, somehow. Everything else on Earth has been burnt or smashed by some unacknowledged Doomsday Event. The director leaves it up to the audience to somehow figure out what kind of reasonable scientific explanation could account for anyone surviving for any amount of time after all the oxygen-producing plant life plus everything else in the food chain between bugs and people bit the dust. Apparently it happens through the magic of Dole Pineapple Chunks, the search for which takes up another 4 hours of movie.

Once you get inured to this laugh riot, you eventually start to disassociate from the main characters. The Boy in the book is supposed to be 6 or 7. In the movie, though, he looks to be about 10 or 11, but seems to still act 6 or 7. He comes across as a total feeb and you start to wonder how a kid born on the cusp of a complete apocalypse manages to have such poor coping skills. The Kid was supposed to have been running into dead bodies and cannibals practically every day of his life so you'd think he'd be over it after 9-10 years, but no, he manages to seem traumatized at every instance.

Dad doesn't help things out much as he spends his days talking to the kid like he's three and tucking him in and carrying him around every chance he gets. I'm sure that'll help grow hair on his chest, Dad! It's nice to see that no matter how shitty the world gets, there's always a parent willing to overshelter their kid from the reality of their situation.

Dad also seems to make poor survival decisions. The poorest decision comes when the two find a friggin' BOMB SHELTER FILLED WITH FOOD AND WARM BEDS, but after a couple days they need to abandon it because they heard somebody walking around up top. Apparently this is the only bomb shelter in existence that didn't come with a lock on the hatch, and everyone knows how easy it is for a starving bum to breach a cement bunker with a steel trap door on it. It's much easier to pile a bunch of crap in an old push wagon and hit the road again to defend it in the open air against every marauder and sneak thief that walks by, while you slowly die from exposure.

But one can't point fingers at such glaring plot holes, because This Is Such A Serious, Award-Winning Oscar Contender! You can tell this movie is an Oscar contender because the kid cries real tears and there are at least a couple scenes where the audience gets treated to a rear view of Viggo's naked ass and nutsack. Everyone knows that if Viggo is letting you see his junk, he's very much into his role and you should respect his process by taking his nuts very seriously like he does.

There's a scene somewhere in the middle where The Mom (Charlize Theron) decides to end it by walking out into the freezing winter in her sleep shirt to die in the woods, because she can't take it anymore. By the end of the movie, you'll be wishing you'd walked out in the middle too.

There was one very uplifting part to our experience, though: After leaving the theater, my husband found a five dollar bill on the ground. That cheered us up immensely. There is life after this movie!

Thank you for that! Would love to see her review of Battlestar Galactica if she's seen it (, which I doubt, if such candyfloss as The Road is deemed disheartening).

 

[WillsBabe]

Haven't read it, but may well do on this recommendation!

I hope you do. I think you'd find a lot in it.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I have it sitting on the shelf unread, I bought it after seeing the film. I'm unsure how the film compares to the book but I would say so long as you're not the type of person who is easily depressed the film is well worth seeing.

 

[WillsBabe]

I have it sitting on the shelf unread, I bought it after seeing the film. I'm unsure how the film compares to the book but I would say so long as you're not the type of person who is easily depressed the film is well worth seeing.

I am easily depressed as it 'appens! But the novel did not depress me at all, so I'm not sure the film will. I'm just worried that the emotions and images I have in my head from the novel will be replaced by the film. It's happened to me before and I don't want it to happen again. It was enough that I sort of had Viggo Mortensen in my head while reading the book. I'm sure that I will watch the film at some point.

Bob, I hope you'll read the book, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I have it sitting on the shelf unread, I bought it after seeing the film. I'm unsure how the film compares to the book but I would say so long as you're not the type of person who is easily depressed the film is well worth seeing.

I am easily depressed as it 'appens! But the novel did not depress me at all, so I'm not sure the film will. I'm just worried that the emotions and images I have in my head from the novel will be replaced by the film. It's happened to me before and I don't want it to happen again. It was enough that I sort of had Viggo Mortensen in my head while reading the book. I'm sure that I will watch the film at some point.

Bob, I hope you'll read the book, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I didn't really find the film depressing either, but I know it's the kinda thing a lot of people label "too depressing" so I thought I'd throw that warning in there.
I definitely will. I'm currently reading Let The Right One In and I've started the Harry Potter books again. I'll try and get round to it when I finish Let The Right One In.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I loved the book. It left a very strong impression on me; very powerfully emotional. I haven't seen the film adaptation, and I'm not sure I want to (it seems an odd book to try to translate effectively to film, but that's just me).

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Tried to read it. The writing style made me want to strangle the author. There's creative use of language and then there's just being fucking obnoxious. This was the latter.

Clearly, my opinion is in the minority.

 

[PsychoPere]

^ McCarth's style certainly is "unique," to say the least. It took me a while to get used to it, but I'm quite glad I stuck with it. I consider The Road to be one of the best novels I've ever read. I purchased Blood Meridian shortly after finishing it, but I have yet to start reading that one.

 

[Gaith]

Haven't read it, no desire to, but the movie did inspire my favorite IMDB user review ever:

Spoiler: Read that review

When my husband and I went to see this movie, we chose it purely because a) it wasn't one of the ridiculous movies already out, and b) it got a good rating on Rotten Tomatoes. At the snack counter, a poster proclaimed, "One of the most uplifting and optimistic movies of the year!"

After watching that movie, we concluded that the poster reviewer either was completely high, wandered into the wrong theater by mistake, or thinks that Schindler's List was a wacky comedy. The Road has to be one of the most depressing, pointless, excruciating movies you could ever see. It will make you want to go home and stick your head in the oven.

The first 7 hours of the movie contain an endless slog through a desolate landscape bereft of plant and animal life. Only bugs and humans remain, somehow. Everything else on Earth has been burnt or smashed by some unacknowledged Doomsday Event. The director leaves it up to the audience to somehow figure out what kind of reasonable scientific explanation could account for anyone surviving for any amount of time after all the oxygen-producing plant life plus everything else in the food chain between bugs and people bit the dust. Apparently it happens through the magic of Dole Pineapple Chunks, the search for which takes up another 4 hours of movie.

Once you get inured to this laugh riot, you eventually start to disassociate from the main characters. The Boy in the book is supposed to be 6 or 7. In the movie, though, he looks to be about 10 or 11, but seems to still act 6 or 7. He comes across as a total feeb and you start to wonder how a kid born on the cusp of a complete apocalypse manages to have such poor coping skills. The Kid was supposed to have been running into dead bodies and cannibals practically every day of his life so you'd think he'd be over it after 9-10 years, but no, he manages to seem traumatized at every instance.

Dad doesn't help things out much as he spends his days talking to the kid like he's three and tucking him in and carrying him around every chance he gets. I'm sure that'll help grow hair on his chest, Dad! It's nice to see that no matter how shitty the world gets, there's always a parent willing to overshelter their kid from the reality of their situation.

Dad also seems to make poor survival decisions. The poorest decision comes when the two find a friggin' BOMB SHELTER FILLED WITH FOOD AND WARM BEDS, but after a couple days they need to abandon it because they heard somebody walking around up top. Apparently this is the only bomb shelter in existence that didn't come with a lock on the hatch, and everyone knows how easy it is for a starving bum to breach a cement bunker with a steel trap door on it. It's much easier to pile a bunch of crap in an old push wagon and hit the road again to defend it in the open air against every marauder and sneak thief that walks by, while you slowly die from exposure.

But one can't point fingers at such glaring plot holes, because This Is Such A Serious, Award-Winning Oscar Contender! You can tell this movie is an Oscar contender because the kid cries real tears and there are at least a couple scenes where the audience gets treated to a rear view of Viggo's naked ass and nutsack. Everyone knows that if Viggo is letting you see his junk, he's very much into his role and you should respect his process by taking his nuts very seriously like he does.

There's a scene somewhere in the middle where The Mom (Charlize Theron) decides to end it by walking out into the freezing winter in her sleep shirt to die in the woods, because she can't take it anymore. By the end of the movie, you'll be wishing you'd walked out in the middle too.

There was one very uplifting part to our experience, though: After leaving the theater, my husband found a five dollar bill on the ground. That cheered us up immensely. There is life after this movie!

Thank you for that! Would love to see her review of Battlestar Galactica if she's seen it

My pleasure! Although, to nitpick, it could've been written by a guy.

 

[WillsBabe]

Clearly, my opinion is in the minority.

I know what you mean about idiosyncratic use of language, though. I tried reading Roddy Doyle once and his use of dialogue drove me up the wall.

 

[IndyJones]

I loved the book. It left a very strong impression on me; very powerfully emotional. I haven't seen the film adaptation, and I'm not sure I want to (it seems an odd book to try to translate effectively to film, but that's just me).

I totally understand this.

I read it. I enjoyed it. And I have to desire to re-read, watch the movie, or to read any of McCarthey's books.

 

[Gecko of Gorn]

....I purchased Blood Meridian shortly after finishing it, but I have yet to start reading that one.

I envy you for having the opportunity to read it for the first time.

Take your time with it and savour each page.

It's the most incredible book that I've ever read.

 

[cultcross]

Clearly, my opinion is in the minority.

I know what you mean about idiosyncratic use of language, though. I tried reading Roddy Doyle once and his use of dialogue drove me up the wall.

I had this experience with Wolf Hall. The author is just obsessed with pronouns, whole conversations between two male characters use only 'he' throughout, not a name in sight, which meant I kept having to stop, go back, and count lines to figure out who was saying what. I gave up on that book about half way through. But it is 100% personal taste, because the Mrs loved it.

 

[WillsBabe]

^ You'd have the personal pronoun situation with The Road, to the honest since there are no names mentioned there, either. But I think it adds to the narrative.

 

[the G-man]

So, basically, the plot is "Man tries stay alive in post apocalyptic society, while staying on the run from cannibalistic freaks"?

Hmm...that sound's familiar....except this time he's got a kid instead of a German Shepherd.