The Road

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read a lot of McCarthy's southwestern books, but this was my favorite of his works. He can write a sentence that goes on for paragraphs without losing the reader (I don't recommend anyone else try it). This book was so disturbing, and yet so poignant and beautiful it took my breath away. It's grim, and gritty, and dark, depressing... I literally had to stop reading a few times when it got so intense that it overwhelmed me. Surprising to say that about a book in which nothing at all happens except for walking down a post-apocalypic road (or post nuclear fallout?). There are scenes that made me want to vomit, and scream, and shudder for days. I still remember this book with amazing clarity even though I read it several years ago.

Despite the bleak atmosphere, the book is one of the most well-crafted and well-written I've read in a long, long, long time (yes, it does require three 'longs'). The imagery and setting are so clear that I felt like I was IN the book, that world, that cold and bleak nothingness that fills the book with such pervasive gloom. I can't begin to explain how affecting this book is. It is definitely not for the faint of heart, but I can't think of one guy I know who wouldn't love this book (and some girls, too, of course, although it's a very masculine read). It is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. And I've read a lot.

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