The Road

THE ROAD
by Cormac McCarthy

 Award: Pulitzer Winner 2007

 Nomination: National Book Critics Circle Finalist 2006

 Date Read: April 17, 2008

 This is the first work I had ever read by Cormac McCarthy and oh, boy, was I in for a treat. I have to wonder what soul-crushing experiences have to occur to someone to come up with the ideas for his novels. 

 The Road is by far the most despairing and bereft of the three novels I have read by McCarthy. This novel is the story of a father and son, notably unnamed, and their journey through a ravaged world that has befallen some unknown disaster. The father and son are everything to each other - "each the other's world entire." The Road is a heartbreaking exploration of the best and worst that humanity has to offer.

 The one take-away that has always haunted me about this novel is the  mother's surrender to despair. She is unwilling and unable to see through the commitment she has to her husband and son. While I read this novel prior to becoming a parent, I still felt her suicide was an act of utter selfishness and was stunned that she would leave the fate of her child to only one parent. Ah, the choices of humanity.

 Another uplifting and inspiring novel by Cormac McCarthy.

 Looking Forward: All The Pretty Horses

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