The Road

The Road
by Cormac McCarthy

First published in Great Britain in 2006.


The Road first came into my life as the film adaptation.  I went to see it whilst at university and bought the book soon after.
My copy was published by Picador and to me the cover is very well-matched to the story.  It is in shades of white and grey with black splatters, and has a slightly rough texture.

The story begins with a male, known only as 'he', waking in a wood with a child sleeping next to him.  We follow the man and boy along their journey through a burned and ravaged America, as they head for the coast.  They only have a cart of food, the clothes they have on and a pistol.  The story is written from the man's point of view, and includes his memories of his wife.

It is clear that some apocalyptic event has taken place, but we are never fully told the details.  Instead, the focus is on the 'here and now' and the daily struggles and dangers the man and boy face.  These range from finding food, to hiding from men stalking the road.

A bit about the way the book is written now - I won't always write about this but this particular book was different to any others I had read in this respect.

There are no speech marks in the book; instead it reads much like a continuous train of thought.  Also there are no chapters.  This makes the story, although not actually long, seem everlasting and without breaks, much like the characters' slow journey.  Even though it made it harder than the plot already did to stop reading, I thought it was set out brilliantly.

There are only two main characters, and by not giving the man or boy names, the author creates people that could be anybody in any reader's life.  The man is focused and strong-willed yet caring towards the boy.  As a young child, the boy is obviously terrified a lot of the time, and shows the emotional side of the human personality.

I would say this is one to read if you are in a thoughtful, and probably quite a bleak, mood.  It sticks with you long after the last page and I can honestly say I went through pretty much every emotion whilst reading.  It's not often the same book that made me smile that also made me scared, cry, and really think about the human strength.

You will definitely be thinking what you would do in the same situation, and no doubt ask others what they would do.