Neil's Book Review: "The Road"
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. (There is a movie in post-production about this book starring Viggo Mortenson, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Robert Duvall as well as many others.)
Some unnamed catastrophe has turned the world into a burnt-out cinder, inhabited by very few people and most likely no animal life at all. The sky is always covered by gray clouds, that look to be made up of ash, dust and toxic particulates. No longer are there 4 seasons, there are only levels of cold and wet. Gangs of cannibals roam the roads and stay in what few houses remain intact throughout the woods.
Through the remains of what used to be America, a worn-down father and his young son attempt to flee the oncoming winter and head towards the southern coast only using back roads to try and avoid as many of the gangs as possible. Along their journey they continuously come across dead bodies where after a while they are looked upon almost like the burned out trees along the various roads.
The boy and his father hope to avoid the hooligans, reach a warmer climate, and possibly locate some part of the nation that still has civilized life. They have only what they can scavenge to eat, and the rags they wear and the heat of their own bodies are all the shelter they have. The man/father has a pistol with only a few bullets and that is their only defense other than running and hiding. The father pushes a shopping cart filled with blankets, cans of food and a few other assets, like jars of lamp oil or gasoline siphoned from the tanks of abandoned vehicles—the cart is equipped with a bicycle mirror so that they will not be surprised from behind.
Through encounters with other survivors , some good, mostly bad, the father and son are both sustained by their will to live, and most of all by their love for each other. They struggle through mountains, find their way through dangerous roads and forests that have been reduced to ash, and bear the cold and rain. While passing through various charred ghost towns and rummaging through abandoned markets for anything edible, preferably something canned and preserved, the pair battle to remain hopeful. Through out the book, it becomes apparent that the boy and the man don't even know what they are looking for but they continue to search. The father teaches the boy what ever he can, when ever he can to prepare the boy for when the time comes that he will have to be on his own.
I would recommend this book to anyone and I cant wait to watch the movie!
Some unnamed catastrophe has turned the world into a burnt-out cinder, inhabited by very few people and most likely no animal life at all. The sky is always covered by gray clouds, that look to be made up of ash, dust and toxic particulates. No longer are there 4 seasons, there are only levels of cold and wet. Gangs of cannibals roam the roads and stay in what few houses remain intact throughout the woods.
Through the remains of what used to be America, a worn-down father and his young son attempt to flee the oncoming winter and head towards the southern coast only using back roads to try and avoid as many of the gangs as possible. Along their journey they continuously come across dead bodies where after a while they are looked upon almost like the burned out trees along the various roads.
The boy and his father hope to avoid the hooligans, reach a warmer climate, and possibly locate some part of the nation that still has civilized life. They have only what they can scavenge to eat, and the rags they wear and the heat of their own bodies are all the shelter they have. The man/father has a pistol with only a few bullets and that is their only defense other than running and hiding. The father pushes a shopping cart filled with blankets, cans of food and a few other assets, like jars of lamp oil or gasoline siphoned from the tanks of abandoned vehicles—the cart is equipped with a bicycle mirror so that they will not be surprised from behind.
Through encounters with other survivors , some good, mostly bad, the father and son are both sustained by their will to live, and most of all by their love for each other. They struggle through mountains, find their way through dangerous roads and forests that have been reduced to ash, and bear the cold and rain. While passing through various charred ghost towns and rummaging through abandoned markets for anything edible, preferably something canned and preserved, the pair battle to remain hopeful. Through out the book, it becomes apparent that the boy and the man don't even know what they are looking for but they continue to search. The father teaches the boy what ever he can, when ever he can to prepare the boy for when the time comes that he will have to be on his own.
I would recommend this book to anyone and I cant wait to watch the movie!
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