The Road
Cormac McCarthy
"Why did I want to read The Road, a novel by Cormac McCarthy? I guess it's because -- I hate to admit it -- but while I don't watch Oprah very often, I kind of sometimes do what Oprah tells me to do; and since it was a Book of the Month with Oprah, I said, "This book's gotta be pretty good."
The Road is about a father and his son, and arguably it's one of the most depressing and hopeless books that you could ever read. The book takes place after some sort of nuclear holocaust; I'm not clear exactly what happened, but it's clear that there has been a complete breakdown in society, a complete breakdown in the rule of law. Even though it's a completely hopeless situation that the father and son find themselves in, the connection that they have, the love that they have for one another, really spoke to me. It's a book that resonated with me because I have a son, and I know I would do anything for my little boy. In the book, the father literally does everything humanly possible for his son.
I would say that the book does give meaning to life. I highly recommend this book to just about anybody. I -- please be warned that if you do read the book, it is a hopeless one. If you're looking for some satisfying ending, it doesn't do that; but it's a book that makes you think, and it makes you think about relationships. How committed are you to your family? How committed are you to your friends? What would you do for them? I would rate this book as 4 -- stars."
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