A Bleak World

The Road by Cormac McCarthy, reviewed by Steve on October 14th, 2008.



Cormac McCarthy's novel tells the haunting and tragic story of a father and a son, who walk through a landscape of post-Apocalyptic earth as they try to survive. They do not have names. They do not have anyone else. They are utterly alone.

The characters in this story, who have no real names and are referred to only as father and child or son, are hoping to find peace and salvation on the West Coast, which the father had heard was the only place left in the U.S. where they might find....something. Anything. The child yearns to see the ocean and the father indulges him, while at the same time hoping that there might be something left in what was California. During their journey, they find waypoints scattered along their trail; old houses with bomb shelters, buried foodstuffs, and deserted homes. Suddenly, canned peaches and cans of Coca-Cola take on a much more significant meaning--they are relics of civilization, luxuries of a time long gone. As they travel, the father makes certain that the son tastes these culinary relics and slakes his appetite while he himself forgoes such delicacies. For the father, all that matters is that the son survives and continues on, long after the father has crossed the threshold of death.

Despite receiving worldwide acclaim from the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Entertainment Weekly, and others, I found this book to be very disappointing. With its pared-back style and bare prose, the story is remarkably un-entertaining to read. It feels much the same as reading a phone-book, though it takes far less time.

Additionally, the story could be difficult to read because of an annoying thematic decision made by Mr. McCarthy; namely, to completely do away with the quotation mark in order to offset spoken words and paring back the indicators of who is speaking (i.e. George said, George exclaimed). At times, one can ignore this when it is clear who is speaking to whom, usually in a short dialogue. However, in longer conversations, it could be confusing as to who was doing the talking.

Likewise, the story seemed to have no purpose. I felt as aimless and lost as the characters. On one hand, this is a good thing and stands testament to the thematic component of the narrative. Well done, Mr. McCarthy! But on the other hand, it was dull and boring for me as a reader to feel aimless, lost, and that the story was not going anywhere.

When I read a book, I want to be entertained! I want to go on the journey with the characters, but I want to feel something. Whether it is sadness, passion, frustration, rage, glory, or bliss, the reader should feel as though they have developed alongside the protagonist(s). The reader should also, perhaps, feel as though they knew the characters of the tale. But unfortunately with The Road, I felt.....nothing. No attachment. No development. No emotions. Just. Nothing.

In all, I would have to rate this novel with an abysmal 2 stars. McCarthy earns points for creatively using the grammatical framework of the narrative to relate a theme, but loses more than he earns because the story itself lacks depth or significance.