I picked up Cormac McCarthy's new novel The Road and could not put it down. I can't remember the last time I read a novel in one sitting. It is dark, haunting, and brutal, just like all his fiction, and beautiful, just like all his fiction. When the world is destroyed by nuclear weapons and all is ash, humanity becomes simply a quest for survival. McCarthy has always been good at raw human nature, and so this scenario is ideal for him, and I think it yielded a masterpiece. The message is simple: life, in and of itself, is valuable. Even in an insane scenario, it is worth fighting for. It is the breath of God. The last two paragraphs are pure poetry, and worth the price of the book. But you should earn the right to read them by reading the rest of the novel first.
1 comment:
You introduced me to McCarthy back in American Lit in '01 - Jess and I did the presentation on Cities of the Plain with a campfire of candles.
I got my husband The Road for Christmas, but I may get to it before he does. (He has somehow determined that he must read every published word of Kafka before moving on with his life.) With your glowing recommendation, it may move from his pile to the top of mine. At any rate, I'm glad I stumbled onto your blog.
Mary (Meeks, then.)
Post a Comment