The Road

This is the first McCarthy I've read. I've seen No Country but that's another story, literally.

I got a lot of Stephen King vibes from this. Not just that we're in a post apocalyptic world and follow survivors (The Stand, The Dark Tower, Night Surf, etc.), but the writing style is similar. Cormac uses a lot of the same phrases repeatedly in this story and King does the same in most of his, they even both use "You know that, don't you?" pretty frequently.

I feel for the father. I feel for the boy. I wanted to know more about Eli and some of the other characters. I want to know more about what happened to get us to where we are now.

I do feel like serendipity was a little too kind to our heroes at times. Just when they were at their lowest things always turned around with a boon. But that did allow me more time with the two.

I'm glad I read it.

After the premise is established – which is already fully outlined in the back cover blurb – nothing much happens: the setup is finished, and the protagonists have been introduced.

Every bit that follows, every stop at the road, is a new insight into the world. Most of it concerns human nature, but there is also the emptiness of status symbols without use, of towns and houses and cars that have no function anymore. And so we learn to appreciate life anew, to get a distance to the things we are used to, and have come to regard as essential.

What should be tedious and crushing really reinforces that basic idea: that life is to be cherished, even when there is no point to it, no hope for change or for a new beginning. All that is left is to continue living, and that is enough in itself.

McCarthy uses a reduced and tightly controlled language that is never emotional and, with two notable and powerful exceptions, only ever describes from the point of view of the man. That way, there is no distraction, and the events can unfold through the thoughts and actions of the main characters. There are some minor details that might be regarded as unrealistic (such as the overlong shelf-life of a soda can), but those are conscious decisions in favour of the story.

In the end, the reader is left with nothing less than a new concept of life and its meaning that will stick for a long time.