|
| The Road (Oprah's Book Club) | 
 enlarge | Author: Cormac Mccarthy
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: CDN$ 21.00
Buy Used: CDN$ 3.17
You Save: CDN$ 17.83 (85%)
New (26) Used (14) from CDN$ 3.17
Avg. Customer Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 190
Media: Paperback
Pages: 287
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0307387895
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780307387899
ASIN: 0307387895
Publication Date: March 28, 2007
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Condition: Save a tree, buy from Green Earth Books. Ships from USA; Allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery. All books guaranteed. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse
|
| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 44 | | ... 9 NEXT » |
 Different December 3, 2008
I loved this book. It was different from anything else i've read and i couldn't put it down. I'm excited for the movie!!
A Dark Hope August 7, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is my first Cormac McCarthy novel and it probably won't be my last. "The Road" is a stark narrative about a man and his son navigating their way south on an unnamed interstate enroute to the coast after some unknown catastrophic event which has grayed the skies, scorched the earth and left very little life. The only people alive are scavengers who pillage, steal and eat children.
Now, the uplifting part. McCarthy builds up the relationship between the man and his son providing a glimmer of hope in humanity amidst the destruction around them. The dialogue between the two is absolutely remarkable. The humanism is striking.
McCarthy's writing is raw and uncompromising. He likes to contrast extremes: "Human bodies. Sprawled in every attitude. Dried and shrunken in their rotten clothes. The small wad of burning paper drew down into a wisp of flame ... in the incandescence like the shape of a flower, a molten rose. Then all was dark again" (p 47). Though the prose is short and choppy at times, it is effective in showing the simplicity between father and son: "I want to be with you. You cant. Please. You cant. You have to carry the fire. I dont know how to. Yes you do. Is it real? The fire? Yes it is" (p278).
Two symbolic themes that appear throughout include "fire" and "the good people". The fire represents determination and sheer will. To have the fire is to survive at all costs. The good people represents the humanity. All humans are capable of good and evil deeds, especially when survival is at stake, but there is a sense of morality in humans, the desire to do good (but doesn't always win out).
What I got out of the book was that if you are a pessimistic person by nature, you'll only see darkness. If you are optimist, you'll see light. I'd like to think of myself as "seeing the light". Overall, I think McCarthy has written a terrific book, worthy of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
 bleak.... and anything else? June 2, 2008
Before I begin, let me say that McCarthy's "The Crossing" is one of my all-time favourite books - so I'm a McCarthy fan and was pre-disposed to like "The Road."
a lot of other reviews heap praise on the love the father has for the son in this book - and cite this love, with a mixture of faith and hope, as the reason that this book is so powerful.
I honestly don't see it (the power - the father's love is evident enough).
This book is kind of McCarthy for young adults. His other books tear your soul apart with the triumph of evil over good (Billy has to kill that wolf, and die beneath a highway overpass). Despite the starvation and destruction etc of this novel, it's actually a much lighter book than his other ones, and written in a much more readable style. In fact, in a way it is a two person play told in prose. The father and son walk through a post-nuclear world, surviving the best they can. Is there much more to it than that? If so - I don't see it.
Read the Border Trilogy first, then Blood Meridian, and then The Road. It is not going to be the book he's remembered for.
 UGH! May 30, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
I thought that since this book was raved about that it would be a great read. This has got to be the most boring book I have ever tried to read....I keep trying to finish it, but, wow...it just drags on and on. What a disappointment!
 Disappointing May 17, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I picked up this book almost by accident. At the time, I knew little about the acclaim it has received. After having read it without bias, I really cannot understand what all the fuss is about. Everything is burnt, black and death surrounds them as they walk and walk and walk. The story between a father and son is sort of touching, but I found the book somewhat pointless. The ending was strange too!
I've read worse, but not something I recommend those who are choosy!
|
|
|
Visit our main website for Free Online Jigsaw Puzzles for pictures and free online jigsaw puzzles
| |
|
