Sometimes you know it is time to read a book you should have already read. And, I decided that it was time to read ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy. I do enjoy a post-apocalyptic story – which is not something that I would have said a few years ago.
I really enjoyed this book, which always sounds like a strange phrase to say about a book that has a little darkness to it, but this is an incredibly well-constructed story. And the man and boy who you travel down the road with are two wonderful characters – and it is quite a pleasure to spend some time with these two characters, even if it is not the most perfect of situations.
It takes quite some skill to base a book pretty much only around two characters and keep you engaged from beginning to end – and I was. Following them on their journey is quite intimate, as it is them against the world. You feel their bond, their love and all their emotions as they travel along the road. When they feel heartbreak, you feel heartbreak, and when they have moments of joy, you have moments and joy, and that really adds to the reading experience. As I won’t give spoilers, I will say that there was a moment where the actions of the boy moved me to tears, the kindness he showed towards someone less fortunate than himself despite the suffering he was going through was just a beautiful moment.
This may be a book that can be viewed as a little grim, and it is certainly not a completely uplifting read. but it is a very good one. There are chinks of light in the story where you see the best in human nature, although you do see a dark world ahead of us. And we may never really know why, but my interpretation is that this is a world that has been created by man, and this book could be read as a warning to us about the damage we could be doing to the planet and its people.
There is a little bit of an open ending to this book, and I really like that maybe you can make your own decision about what happen next. And that always means that a book that stays with you as you find that you return to its ideas every now and then, and can occasionally just creep up on you, and you are thinking about it again – and that, to me, is a sign of a good book.
I am blown away by the talent of Cormac McCarthy as an author, just from this book, so I would certainly like to read more when I can. I think ‘No Country for Old Men’ could be the next on the list. If people ask me for recommendations then ‘The Road’ is going to be a go-to recommendation, as it is just a really quite wonderful book.