The Road by Joe Penhall, Cormac McCarthy

The Road

by Joe Penhall and Cormac McCarthy

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A searing, post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son's fight to survive, this "tale of survival and the miracle of goodness only adds to McCarthy's stature as a living master. It's gripping, frightening and, ultimately, beautiful" (San Francisco Chronicle). From the bestselling author of The Passenger

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

Look for Cormac McCarthy's latest bestselling novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris.

Reviewed by Michael @ Knowledge Lost on

4 of 5 stars

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When it comes to books, I try to read the book before seeing the movie. There have been many occasions where I saw the movie first; often it does make it harder to enjoy the book (American Psycho and Psycho) but I try not to let that effect my rating. When it came to The Road things were a little different; sure the story is almost exactly like the movie, but we book was far more superior. The writing was splendid, full of darkness and making this wonderfully bleak and even brutal.

The Road is a story of a Father and Son travelling south in order to survive the winter in a post-apocalyptic world of ash. It’s a beautiful tale of survival; no just from the gangs or “Bad Guys” but also from constantly starving or freezing. While I’m not sure what happened to the world, all it says is “The clocks stopped at 1:17. A long shear of light and then a series of low concussions.” I suspect it was a nuclear holocaust.

The Road is a wonderful read, but be forward this isn’t a fast paced, action packed Post- apocalyptic book, this is a story of a survival. My only main problem with this book is the fact that the father is never seems to get angry with his son, even if he loses the gun or leaves the gas on, he never seemed to get upset about the situation. I just feel that a normal human would react to a situation like that

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 24 March, 2011: Finished reading
  • 24 March, 2011: Reviewed