LemmiSchmoeker reviewed The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Life is to be cherished, even when there is no hope
5 stars
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 …
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.
