The Road - Cormac McArthy

[NotUnderLaw]

Great book. Anyone read it? Interesting conversations could come from it, such as the man's view of his son as a type of messiah, the only hope for a world lost in decay and madness. The conversations about God in the book are brief but deep (not theologically deep, but philosophically).

Has anyone else read it? Any thoughts about it?

Yes, a baby gets eaten, and it's sad, but it's far from the most disturbing thing in the book. I was much more disturbed the man's failing compassion towards the end, with his only beacon of morality and humanity being the son. He kills a man that poses no threat to himself or his son, who was only trying to survive. The son begs and begs to go back to save the man, which his father obliges to, but it is too late. The man is gone. We never discover his fate but the boy seals it -

I wasn't going to kill him
But we did kill him, didn't we?

[Recovering]

(09-26-2011 07:40 PM)NotUnderLaw Wrote:  Great book. Anyone read it? Interesting conversations could come from it, such as the man's view of his son as a type of messiah, the only hope for a world lost in decay and madness. The conversations about God in the book are brief but deep (not theologically deep, but philosophically).

Has anyone else read it? Any thoughts about it?

Yes, a baby gets eaten, and it's sad, but it's far from the most disturbing thing in the book. I was much more disturbed the man's failing compassion towards the end, with his only beacon of morality and humanity being the son. He kills a man that poses no threat to himself or his son, who was only trying to survive. The son begs and begs to go back to save the man, which his father obliges to, but it is too late. The man is gone. We never discover his fate but the boy seals it -

I wasn't going to kill him
But we did kill him, didn't we?

I love Cormac McCarthy. I hadn't really thought about the son symbolizing the Messiah in a way, but I bet you're right. Have you read anything else by McCarthy? The Road was good, but it wasn't my favorite.

[Persnickety Polecat]

I read it a few years ago. It was very dark, I thought. I always wondered about the end, whether the people the boy ended up with were good people or bad people. It could have gone either way.

[Shoes]

one of my favorite books. it took the post apocalytic genre to another level. so much was left to the imagination. no explaination of what or who caused the terrible world they lived in. it was harsh and the writting mirroed that harsh landscape. as the father got more and more sick, i was freaking out for the poor little kid.

it was touching how much the father loved his son. it kinda freaked me out how he always obssessed about keeping 1 bullet for his kid. that was morbid, but in a twisted way showed his love.